8 p.m. update: Showers with light to moderate rainfall are moving north across Central Texas, the National Weather Service said.
Thunderstorms are expected Thursday into Friday in South Central Texas, with the possibility of small hail and heavy downpours where the storms are the strongest, the service said.
No other hazardous weather was expected in the area as of Wednesday afternoon, the service said.
The service also confirmed that a small tornado was reported over portions of Williamson County yesterday morning.
The tornado was reported Tuesday around 9:20 a.m. and had winds reaching up to 80 mph speeds. The service said the tornado caused minor damage to trees and a few homes along a 1.5 mile path in the Andice area, northeast of Liberty Hill.
National Weather Service.
Earlier:
Wednesday forecast for Austin: Anybody get any sleep last night? We didn’t either. So here’s what we know so far . . .
National Weather Service
An areal flood advisory is in effect until 8 a.m. in Central Texas, and a flash flood warning is also in effect until 5:45 a.m., the National Weather Service said. The flash flood warning means flooding is occurring or imminent. The “areal” advisory is not a misspelling: An areal flood advisory basically means there is potential for flooding over a large area. The weather service uses the word “areal” as an adjective (although I’m sure it’s been pointed out to the NWS many times before that the term can be rather confusing, if not awkward).
Doppler radar images continue to indicate patchy light rain across the Interstate 35 corridor, the weather service says. Additional rainfall of up to a quarter-inch is expected over the Austin metro area, including parts of Travis, Williamson, Hays and Bastrop counties. Minor flooding of small streams and pooling of water in low-lying areas will continue throughout Wednesday morning, the service says.
In the past 12 hours, Jollyville has received the most rain at 2.63 inches, though many areas throughout the Austin metro area have received between a half-inch to 2 inches of rain, according to rain gauges monitored by the Lower Colorado River Authority.
Several low-water crossings remain closed this morning. Shortly before 3 a.m., police asked that drivers be careful of water on the ramp from southbound Interstate 35 to westbound Ben White Boulevard because one crash had occurred already. Around the same time, Austin police also reported pooling water on North Lamar Boulevard near Third Street. Meanwhile in San Marcos as of 5 a.m., a semi crash had closed the northbound lanes of Interstate 35, but it was unclear if the incident was weather-related.
Austin Energy deployed 12 crews overnight to restore power to affected areas, and an estimated 860 customers were still without power around 7 a.m. — primarily in Jollyville and East Austin.
The weather service outlook for the rest of Wednesday calls for showers and thunderstorms, mainly before noon and a high near 74. A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms remains at night under cloudy skies and a low around 60.
As visitors to Austin start arriving at their hotels for South by Southwest, showers and thunderstorms are likely all day and all night on Thursday, with rain chances as high as 70 percent.
On the first day of the festival, and with President Obama flying into Austin on Air Force One, showers and thunderstorms are likely again. Rain chances ease up during the evening, before a weekend of sunshine.
