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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Monday, October 13, 2003
Weekend rains hit Trans-Pecos, Big Bend areas
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
PECOS, Mon., Oct. 13, 2003 -- Heavy rains hit areas of the
Trans-Pecos over the weekend, dumping as much as four inches of rain in
some spots between Friday night and Sunday.
Rainfall inside Pecos wasn't as much as in outlying areas, but the
severe thunderstorm that passed just north of town Friday night was
enough to cause a one-hour delay in the Pecos High School 2003
homecoming game against the Kermit Yellowjackets. Showers began just
before the announcement of the 2003 homecoming queen, and while the
rain let up after about 10 minutes the teams remained off the field for
another 45 minutes, due to the threat of lightning from the storm that
built up west of town and then slowly moved just north of the city.
More showers arrived in the area late Saturday night and early
Sunday morning. The precipitation was generated from upper-level
disturbances moving in from Baja California, and caused heavier rains
to the south, in the Big Bend area, and down along the Rio Grande
towards Laredo and the Brownsville area.
KIUN radio reported receiving only 1.1 inches of rain over the
weekend, though that still represented about 20 percent of the city's
rainfall so far in 2003. After receiving just above the average annual
rainfall of 10.99 inches in 2002 - the first above-average total in a
decade - the city has gotten just 5.75 inches of rain during the first
101/2 months of 2003, according to KIUN's figures.
To the west of Pecos, the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
reported receiving 3.5 inches of rain this weekend, according to Mike
Murphy, Senior Research Associate for the Experiment Station.
"I got 2.2 inches at my house on Duval Road," he added. "Most of it
came either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
"It really rained west of town. There was water coming down the
Duval Road (FM 2119), and there was still water coming down the bar
ditch on the Duval Road this morning," Murphy said.
"We need the rain, but it's a little too late to really help the
cotton farmers," he added.
To the east of Pecos, Gail Fritter with Coyanosa Co-Op said they
didn't have an exact figure for the weekend rain, but estimated that
two to four inches fell around the area. She added that the area north
of Fort Stockton received four inches, while KFST on the south side of
town received 2.3 inches.
Over in Balmorhea, weekend rainfall totals was put at 3.3 inches.
The Balmorhea area has gotten more rain in recent months than in the
Pecos area, with heavy showers both during Memorial Day and Labor Day
weekend this summer.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning
for the Pecos area Friday night, while flash flood warnings were in
place for most of the weekend for Pecos, Brewster, Presidio and Terrell
counties to the south.
In the lower Rio Grande Valley, state highway officials said U.S.
281 and other roads remained closed this morning, and at least one
death was blamed on weekend flooding.
Felipe Padron, standing barefoot in knee-deep waters, scooped up
debris from the floodwaters as they slowly spiraled down a storm drain.
"It's going down really slowly," Padron told The Brownsville Herald
in Monday's editions. "If we don't do it, we'll drown."
Padron and his neighbors spent hours trying to keep streets
draining and flood waters from seeping into their homes. Cars elsewhere
in Brownsville stalled in the middle of city streets and their drivers
were left stranded or were rescued from low-lying areas.
On Sunday, thunderstorms pounded much of deep South Texas, with
rainfall in excess of 7 inches causing flooding in some areas, the
National Weather Service said.
Monica Mendoza barely had time to escape, a daughter under each
arm, as water entered her trailer home and she joined six neighboring
families that were flooded out in the Rio Grande Valley.
Among the worst-hit counties were Brooks, Hidalgo and Starr, said
Tim Speece, a NWS forecaster in Brownsville.
Between two and four inches of rain fell across parts of
Brownsville from noon and 3 p.m. Sunday, with isolated areas receiving
four to six inches.
The heavy rains were blamed for at least one death. A woman died
Sunday from injuries suffered in a traffic accident Saturday afternoon
on a rain-slickened highway in New Braunfels. Two other women were
critically injured.
Museum hosts Friday bake sale
PECOS, Mon., Oct. 13, 2003 -- Friends of the Museum will be sponsoring
a Bake Sale beginning at 9:30 a.m., Friday, at the West of the Pecos
Museum, First and Cedar Streets.
Delicious baked goods will be for sale and all proceeds will go
towards the museum.
Weather
PECOS, Mon., Oct. 13, 2003 -- High Sunday 78. Low this morning 54.
Forecast for tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows near 55. West winds 10 to 15
mph. Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Highs near 70. Northeast winds 10 to 20
mph. Tuesday night: Partly cloudy. Lows near 50. Southeast winds 10 to
15 mph. Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Highs near 80. Light and variable
winds becoming southwest near 10 mph in the afternoon. Wednesday night:
Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s. Thursday: Partly cloudy with a 20
percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. Thursday night:
Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of thunderstorms in the evening.
Lows in the mid 50s.
Obituaries
Maria Hernandez and Karen White
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2003 by Pecos Enterprise
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