Austin weather: Warmer and drier today

Sunny and drier times are ahead for the rest of the week. Who's ready to see some sun? Yes, the countdown is on. The rain has shut off. The clouds are slowly breaking apart on our high resolution time lapse. Already cleared up out in the Hill Country. You can see some blue sky off to the north, so that's promising. But if you had the clear skies first thing this morning, some radiational fog is starting to settle on in, and that's what's happening up here in Williamson County and Georgetown. On I-35, visibilities are lowering to under a mile in some spots. We also have some fog, parts of Bastrop, Caldwell counties. The widespread thick fog is happening out across the hill country where you had clear skies for much of the overnight, allowing those temperatures to drop near the dew point. And when that happens, the air's got to condense. And you get this fog, and visibilities have dropped under a mile from Burnet, Marble Falls, Johnson City, Blanco, Stonewall, Fredericksburg, Llano, and Mason. If you're going to encounter some of that fog, you know the drill. Have the low beams on, first of all. So everybody else can see you decrease the speed and increase the following distance between you and the other drivers. This fog is going to last another hour and then it burns off. And for the first time in four days, this is an odd sight. There's no rain showing up on our Max Live radar and you will not need the umbrella. As promised, if you join us on Good Day Austin yesterday, most of the rain happened east of I-35 with the highest rain totals. South of I-10, but we did pick up some measurable rain in Caldwell, Bastrop, Fayette Counties, right around a quarter to a third of an inch. Not much in the Hill Country, a lot of zeros on the map. And then we had 1,500s in Bastrop. Just under a quarter of an inch in LaGrange. Here in Austin, just under a tenth of an inch, adding to our monthly totals. And no matter what happens for the rest of the month, at least the Camp Mabry site, November 2026 will end up wetter than average. And there's a good chance, the month is still young, we're going to add to these totals. And we need some more rain to erase the deficit for the year. We had another flood just west of the Hill Country with this event. Now, over the Hill Country, yes, we had a good soaking rain, one to two inches of rain. But west of the hill country, where you see the purples and reds, that's four to six inches of rain. Another example how a flood event outside the viewing area can impact our local rivers. Because the Llano River begins out here, and that flood water started to move on into the Llano River, and it's going downstream. And this is why the Llano River is still under a flood warning until this evening. I have a feeling it's going to be canceled early, because the Llano River has dropped below minor flood stage. It's two feet below flood stage. Flood stage still flowing pretty good. It did crest low over 14 feet yesterday. That flood water's got to go somewhere, and it's going downhill. Enter the Colorado River, went into Lake LBJ, a holding pond, along with Lake Marble Falls, and now it's ended up in Lake Travis. The LCRA had to start floodgate operations with all that flood water coming in from the hill country. We still have two floodgates open at Ward Dam. That's on Lake LBJ, and then we went from three to two. Opened floodgates at Starkey Dam that holds up Lake Marble Falls. And with that water flowing through the dams and the floodgates, it's ending up in the big holding pond called Lake Travis. And we're only a half a foot away from Lake Travis being full. At 99% full, it's gone up over three feet in the last couple of days. It could end up in the flood pool a little bit later on today and tonight. If you're wondering about Lake Buchanan, it's holding steady. The flooding rains did not happen in the Lake Buchanan Basin. The latest rain event, moving on out. It's moving down into the Gulf. We're on the western side of that departing upper low. That's the drier side, chipping away at the cloud cover. Rain unlikely for everybody today. You can pack lightly and keep the umbrella at home and along with the rain boots. Now, will we see a decent amount of sunshine eventually? And then we'll have a lot of clear skies tonight, setting the stage for some beautiful weather Thursday and Friday. We've got a front coming on through. Not a lot of fanfare with it. No wind, no rain. It's just going to dry us out and get rid of the cloud cover. And we'll get a full day of sunshine in here Thursday and Friday. I think we deserve it with all the cloudy, dreary conditions we've had lately. Not a huge cool down with this front. We could drop in the 40s in the hill country tomorrow morning. Most of the 40s right now from Amarillo to El Paso. 50s with the clear skies you had overnight out across the hill country. Now it's real foggy. 60s where we have the cloud cover from Austin, San Marcos, and La Grange. 60 in Pflugerville, 59 in Lake Wave. Pretty morning to be on the hike and bike trail. 61 degrees, not going to rain on you. Winds on the light side out of the northwest. At three miles per hour. The rain did a number on the pollens. Only thing showing up on the algae, slide, and mold in the low category. It is Veterans Day. Make sure you thank a veteran today. Turning warmer and drier with a high of 78. We're going to have 70s area-wide. It'll turn into 60s this evening. Very pleasant. Remember that front's coming on through to promote drier conditions and clear skies. So it's going to be cooler tomorrow morning. Lows in the 40s and 50s. That latest rain machine's getting absorbed by this. Huge area of lower pressure around the Great Lakes that's going to buckle the storm track and give us a dry and tranquil northwesterly flow. So get ready for dry skies, low humidity, and cooler nights for the rest of the week. It's going to be super nice around here. And then, of course, as we go into the weekend, we can't hang on to that beautiful fall weather thanks to this western low. It's going to take a different path than the last one. It's going to come out of the Rockies, but it's going to be still close enough to us to pull in the moisture, kick out the dry air. And turn that moisture into a chance of rain. It won't be a total loss for any outdoor fun this weekend. Yes, it will cloud up. It won't be as sunny and bright. But it's not going to be raining all weekend long. We'll have some isolated showers late Saturday. And now with this system taking a different path and slowing down, most of the rain could hold off until Sunday night. Highest rain totals just to our east, half an inch to one inch possible from Austin to Bastrop, Giddings and La Grange, quarter to half an inch this go-around into the Hill Country. And both long-range forecast models show rain, but they've really lowered the numbers compared to the last couple of model runs. That could change, though, so stay tuned and keep it right here on Fox 7 Austin. We'll keep you informed with the big weather changes heading this way this weekend. And buckle up and get ready for a wild-weather ride for the next two weeks. The Southern Branch of the Jetstream is going to activate, typical of an El Nino event. And this is going to send us rain events every two or three days, not only next week, but also the following week as we get closer and closer to Thanksgiving. Today, we're done with the rain for now. Sky's clearing up, 73 at noon. Let's go with a high of 78 on your Veterans Day. And then tonight, mainly clear, no wind with that front, but it's going to cool us off in the 40s and 50s as it reinforces the dry air. We'll stay with the cool mornings and comfy afternoons. With sunny bright skies for part two of the work week. And then the November gloom returns this weekend. Lots of clouds. Not a whole lot of rain late Saturday. More rain late Sunday. And then the rain faucet turns off. But the chill lingers all the way through early next week.