A moderate-to-strong chance of showers begins Tuesday night and continues through Sunday for the San Antonio area. Two separate upper level troughs pushing in from the Western U.S. will combine with gulf moisture to trigger the rainy week ahead.
"The combination can lead to periods of rain as we go through the week. One of those opportunities will start tonight and then into the overnight hours," said Matthew Brady, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in New Braunfels.
One of the troughs moved into position Tuesday to trigger the rain expected tonight and overnight, from the west to east. Brady said 1 to 3 inches of rain is possible through Wednesday.
There is a marginal risk for damaging winds and large hail for the area, but the risk of flooding is low since the area has seen little rainfall during the end of summer.
The second trough moves in late Thursday or early Friday triggering more showers. By Sunday, the area's rain total for the week is expected to be between 3 to 5 inches.
After a cooler and wetter start to summer, San Antonio saw very little rain in August and September.
Drought conditions have yet to officially return to Bexar County, according to the U.S. drought monitor, but the San Antonio Water System has instituted Stage 1 water restrictions that allow residents to use sprinklers or automated irrigation systems just one day a week based on their street address.
Hand-watering with a hose is still permitted at anytime.
The Edwards Aquifer Authority on Tuesday reported the water level in the aquifer stood at 656 feet — or 4 feet below the mark were Stage 1 restrictions are triggered.
Stage 2 restrictions, which further limit landscape watering hours, are imposed when the aquifer dips below an average 650 feet for 10 days.
San Antonio also usually sees some rain relief in the late summer and early fall from the remnants of a tropical storm or hurricane striking the coast, but those too have been rare this season.
One hurricane and two other tropical disturbances, however, now sit between the Caribbean and the western coast of Africa.
