The storm system that won’t go away!

7-7-25. 2:45pm. This update is brought to you by Dietz-McLean Optical. www.dmoptical.com As a family-owned business, our independence, in house lab, great customer service and eyewear warranties, allows us to tailor your eyeglasses, lenses, and fittings: we want you to only expect the best after working with us. With six conveniently located optical shops in San Antonio, Boerne, Marble Falls and Temple, it’s easy to love what you see.

With no jet stream in place over our area to send this incredibly long-lived mesoscale convective vortex (from remnants of Tropical Storm Barry) away from our area, we will just have to let it eventually play itself out, with high pressure building in from the SW tomorrow.

Here’s what the NWS is saying about it: “Satellite imagery shows a weakening but still present mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) over the Edwards Plateau and northern Hill Country, which is very slowly drifting west. The steady stream of moisture northward into this disturbance, as well as from the broader mid-level trough of low pressure over our area, resulted in the development of scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms from the Hill Country down to the Rio Grande Plains in the morning hours. The coverage and extent of rain has generally been less today, with a lull noted in the early afternoon. However, the atmosphere is only slightly less moist that previous days and continues to facilitate chances for scattered rains and heavy rain rates from the strongest storms: precipitable water values remain above the 90th percentile for portions of the region, and this is forecast to linger through tonight. Environmental conditions indicate rain rates could range from 2 to 3 inches per hour, with locally higher rates.”

While most of the heavy rain will stay to our NW, around Junction, there is a chance for scattered heavy cells to form as far south as an Eagle Pass to San Antonio to Austin line. A Flood Watch remains in effect until 7pm tonight for most of south-central Texas.

Loss of life from the Hill Country, including areas around and north of Austin continues to climb from weekend flooding. The last count I have seen is 89, with still more missing. Hearts and prayers go out for the families and search and recovery crews.

While there is no way of knowing if it could have made a difference, with limited cell service and no active sirens in the Kerrville portion of the Guadalupe River, NOAA radios are still a great and inexpensive tool for sending out alarms during tornado and flash flooding events. I have included all of the stations in Texas in a graphic, along with the link that will allow you to put in your zip code to know which station covers your area with the best signal. My favorite type of weather radio has a digital display and a crank to recharge the battery in case you lose power. Amazon.com: Raynic Emergency Radio, 5000mAh/18500mWh Weather Radio, Solar Hand Crank Radio with AM/FM/SW/NOAA Alert, Cell Phone Charger, Headphone Jack, Flashlight and SOS Siren : Electronics

A weak coastal trough moves into south Texas tomorrow, increasing rain odds along the coast and coastal plains. Once that moves out of our area, models suggest a return to more typical July weather, with a few afternoon coastal storms and mainly dry for the rest of us. We’ll dive into longer range rain odds later this week.

Stay safe!

Mark