Rain showers will likely douse barbeques and picnics and other outdoor public events this Labor Day weekend as San Antonians mark the unofficial end of summer.
You may need to grill with a spatula in one hand and an umbrella in the other. A plan to move the party indoors is not a bad idea.
The National Weather Service reports there is a lot of moisture still in the air over South Texas and the Hill Country to feed showers this holiday weekend and well into next week.
Rain chances are high this Saturday, Sunday, and on Labor Day on Monday.
Rain will still persist into at least the middle of next week. By next Wednesday, forecasters said most of San Antonio will have received 1 to 3 inches, but higher rainfall totals will be seen over areas where rain showers "train" from above.
During the last five days, the Del Rio area has been the winner of the rainfall sweepstakes. About 4 to 6 inches of rain has fallen on the border area. Up to 2 inches has fallen in the Uvalde area and about an inch has been recorded around Hondo. The New Braunfels area during that time as seen around an inch-and-a-half.
San Antonio has not been as lucky with only around a quarter to half-an-inch in some spots. Still, we will take what we can get after a miserably hot and dry summer that brought on water restrictions, killed lawns, and dried up lakes, rivers, and natural swimming holes.
San Antonio International Airport on Thursday morning was still reporting the annual rainfall deficit was around 13 inches with little more than five inches falling all year at the North Side facility.
Just one more 100-degree day will tie the hottest year ever in San Antonio — which was in 2009 when there was 59 days that reached 100 degrees or more. Fifty-eight such days have been racked up this year, mostly in June and July.
Some of the rains this week have fallen over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, pushing up the underground reservoir by a few inches to 635 feet or 5 feet above the mark where Stage Four restrictions could be triggered for water pumpers.
