Published: March 11, 2008 10:32 am      

Rains fall, wrecks rise

San Marcos soaked with 3.18 inches

San Marcos — The strong line of thunderstorms that moved through San Marcos at rush hour Monday morning contributed to dozens of accidents but none serious, police said.

Most notable of what Sgt. Dave Waugh described as "a stack" of accident reports generated that morning was a car that ran off the road and into the San Marcos River at Thompson's Island during the heavy rain.

"The person got out of the vehicle," Waugh said. "There were no injuries but the car was completely in the river."

Almost four inches of rain fell in places, with the National Weather Service reporting 3.18 inches at San Marcos Municipal Airport, more than two inches of which fell between 8:15 and 8:55 a.m.

NWS Observer Steve Sands recorded more than two inches at his weather station near the River Road Water/Wastewater Treatment Center by mid-day.

Neither San Marcos or Hays County reported any road closures because of the rain.

Sands welcomed the water. "It's been so dry the last few months," he said, noting that the downpours surpassed the 2.08 inches the NWS says is average for San Marcos.

The drenching should be good news as well for the Edwards Aquifer and San Marcos Springs. The Blanco River at Wimberley surged from 49 cubic feet per second (cfs) at 8 a.m. Monday to 76 at 3 p.m. At Kyle, the Blanco was flowing at a rate of 28 cfs at 8 a.m. and 44 cfs at 4:30 p.m.

In readings taken Monday before the rains began, the Edwards Aquifer Authority said the J-17 well at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio measured 683.8 feet above mean sea level, which is 14.7 feet above the historic average for March. Monday morning San Marcos Springs was flowing at 176 cfs, 2 cfs under the historic average for March.

This morning, the J-17 well was at 684.3 cfs, 15.2 feet above the historic mark, while San Marcos springs had rebounded to 187 cfs, 9 cfs above the monthly average.

So far this year, Sands said San Marcos has received 4.15 inches of rainfall.

Regardless of the rain, burn bans remain in effect for Hays and Caldwell counties.