Thunderstorms brought some much-needed moisture and cooler conditions to the Central Texas corridor this weekend, with particularly heavy rainfall Sunday.
“Most of Bell County has seen 1.5 to 2 inches,” said Meteorologist Matt Stalley with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.
“The highest in the county was near the Belton area, which got 4.66 inches since last Friday.” As of press time, 0.98 inches of rain fell in the Killeen area Sunday alone, according to the NWS.
“Chances are highest in the morning with a 50 to 60 percent chance.” The high temperature for today is forecast to be 90 degrees, according to the NWS.
Stalley said the weather may taper off as the week continues, with rain chances decreasing to 20 percent by Tuesday.
Unfortunately, the rain may not be enough to offset the substantial drought within the region that has prompted many local cities to enter stage 1 of water conservation plans.
Two of the major water sources for the surrounding communities, Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Lake, have risen to 589.29 feet and 614.77 feet, respectively.
These elevations represent a slight increase in the lake levels but do not suggest the recent storm systems had a strong impact on the drought.
“Most of the area had a pretty substantial deficit of rainfall this year so we do still have a ways to go to make up for the lack of rainfall over the last few months.” He said temperatures are expected to stay in the low to mid-70s throughout the rest of the week with highs to the mid-90s.
“For the second half of the week, there will be a gradual warming trend with a high temperature around 94 by Thursday,” Stalley said.