Friday, August 8, 1997
Cool, wet weather provides relief for Big Country
residents, farmers
By JOHN STARBUCK
Staff Writer
Although autumn is still several weeks away, area residents
received an early dose of it Thursday as the thermometer flirted
with a record-low temperature and some Big Country cities received
up to 6 inches of rain, breaking a drought of several weeks.
In an unusual twist, Abilene recorded its high temperature
for the day with 72 degrees just after midnight. The mercury then
started dropping and, as of presstime, was sitting at 63 degrees,
a degree shy of the record low 62 degrees set on August 7, 1990.
"The record low would be normally set in the morning,"
Mark Deutschendorf, meteorologist with the National Weather Service
in San Angelo, said at 3:25 p.m. "We almost set a record
low this afternoon."
A cold front weaving its way through the state along with an
upper-level disturbance from the west were listed as primary factors
for the cloudy weather, which is expected to leave today.
Although Abilene received 1.07 inches of rain, precipitation
amounts were heavier elsewhere.
At Throckmorton, 2.12 inches fell while 6 inches was recorded
four miles south on the Chris Timmons property. Nearby Moran got
2.30 inches after a bone-dry July.
Rains of 1.70 inches in the De Leon area forced cancellation
of the tractor pull and the gospel singing at the De Leon Peach
and Melon Festival.
Festival directors had hoped for a rainless week after being
rained out three nights in 1996. However, they may take some consolation
from the fact that rains measured six inches at nearby Comanche.
The welcome rain storms brought some unwelcome power outages
in Baird, which recorded 1.80 in the first rainfall of the month.
West Texas Utilities spokesperson Beverly Salters said 30 percent
of Baird customers were without electricity for about two hours
Thursday morning. Eight customers near the edge of town were without
service for almost 11 hours.
She said repairmen had to "walk" equipment into some
areas to repair damaged lines because vehicles kept getting stuck
in pastures where they can usually drive.
In Nolan County, where up to 2-1/2 inches was reported, a potentially
serious brush fire southeast of Sweetwater was put out late Wednesday
with the help of thunderstorms.
The hard rain was welcome because fire trucks became stuck
and firefighters couldn't get close to the fast-spreading flames.
In Sweetwater, where 2-2-1/2 inches fell, at least one vehicle
stalled in water up to its windows at the Musgrove Street underpass
construction site. City workers blocked off the traffic until
the water receded.
Historically, the Musgrove underpass has been the site of major
drainage problems during rainy weather.
The underpass was dammed up by construction of the alternate
railroad bed causing flood waters to collect on the north side
of the soon-to-be-replaced underpass.
City planners had discussed methods of dealing with potential
flooding and were prepared when Wednesday night's showers moved
through the area.
Taylor County Extension Agent Gary Bomar was happy to see the
wet conditions, saying that fields were approaching a critical
stage due to the heat.
"I think it's going to be beneficial for our cotton producers,"
said Bomar, "because our cotton is in the stage of setting
bolls and fruiting."
He also said the rains will help range pastures because they
were starting to exhibit heat-related stress.
Today's forecast includes mostly cloudy skies with decreasing
clouds this afternoon. A slight chance of rain is expected and
the high temperature will be in the middle 80s. A high temperature
of near 90 degrees is projected for Saturday.
Other area rainfall reports include: Baird, 1.80 inches; Carbon,
2; Cisco, 1.50; Lake Coleman, .55; Dublin, 3; Eastland, 1.30;
Gorman, 1.80; Hawley, 1.40; Merkel, 1.70; Ranger, 1.45; Rule,
1.80; and Stephenville, 2.
(Correspondents Caryl Andrews, Suzanne Gaines, Carolyn Matthews,
Elma May Huskey, Billy Harris and Don King contributed to this
report.)
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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