BurtonFitzsimmons.com

As seen through the lens of Mike Deep, located at Banana Creek VIP Site, Kennedy Space Center, via spaceweather.com, the thunderous launch of shuttle Discovery appeared spectacular in night skies over the Sunshine State!  Godspeed to the crew on their mission, with greatest hopes for the safest of returns.

After hitting a historical 67th triple digit day in Austin yesterday, drenching showers and storms made their presence known with the heaviest rain day since May 16, ensuring August ’09 will be remembered as just the hottest, not the driest, August in our weather history.

24 hour rain totals:

2.11″ Onion Crk@US183
1.91″ Rosanky
1.42″ Austin-Bergstrom
0.84″ Burnet
0.78″ Leander
0.74″ Smithville
0.73″ Bull Crk@Loop 360
0.62″ Cedar Park
0.60″ Jonestown
0.57″ Austin-Mabry

A weak summer “cold” front we’ve been anticipating slipped into the northern Hill Country late yesterday, spawning the storms. With the front lingering nearby and just slowly sinking south, a few more spotty showers may develop — a less than 20% chance overall. Slightly cooler and drier NE winds bring a little bit of relief, and will help keep many areas from getting above the mid 90s in the next three days. You’ll especially feel the comfort in the morning hours as temps drop into the 60s for rural areas around daybreak.

The jet stream movie shows a well-defined trough of low pressure from the Great Lakes back to Texas, a setup that will allow another pocket of modified Canadian air to sink into our area this weekend, making Sunday slightly cooler than Saturday. September looks to start with mid 90s in part next week. The next best chance for organized rain appears by next Friday.

See the 8-day forecast for details. And check out the Climate Prediction Center’s page for a peek at the September outlook for rain and temps.

Tropical Update… Barely a Tropical Storm, Danny threatens the coast of the Carolinas with buffeting winds and waves through tomorrow, then may impact parts of New England with wind and rain. The official forecast shows Danny might travel a little closer to the eastern seaboard compared to Bill, but Danny will be much weaker in comparison.

Drought Links…
*Drought Monitor
*Seasonal Drought Outlook
*Climate Prediction Center’s Long-Term Precip Outlook

Enjoy your Friday and have a wonderful weekend.
Meteorologist
Burton Fitzsimmons