Austin commuters faced a double whammy of dense fog and the threat of flooding on Tuesday morning, with visibility plunging to dangerous levels across the region.
The National Weather Service issued a Dense Fog Advisory active until 10 a.m., cautioning that the thick fog could lower visibility to less than a quarter mile in places, forecast.weather.gov reported, compounded by the slow-moving traffic, the forecast spells a struggle for the morning rush hour.
"A Marginal risk for severe weather exists Tuesday mainly for areas along and east of Interstate 35," according to the same forecast, including strong winds and potential hail as part of the tumult weather cocktail barreling down on Central Texas. Meanwhile, KXAN reported golf ball-sized hail had already been dealt with by one storm in southern Burnet County early in the morning.
Dense fog this morning. Otherwise, rain chances stay high across the region today. A level 1 to level 2 of 4 risk for excessive rainfall exists across the eastern 2/3rds of the area. More urban/low-lying flooding is possible. A few strong to severe storms are also possible. #txwx pic.twitter.com/UWZvYNQqIA
— NWS Austin/San Antonio (@NWSSanAntonio) January 23, 2024
Additionally, rains are set to continue as the city braces for a Flood Watch, in effect for Milam County until later this evening, and an onslaught of scattered thunderstorms expected to hammer down into the midweek, bringing an estimated one to two inches more downfall - with the week's collective rain possibly amounting to a whopping six inches in certain localities, the outlook for dryer skies appears only by the weekend when the sun is slated to shine brighter.
For those looking ahead, the weather service promises a reprieve later in the week, foreseeing "Mostly sunny, with a high near 69" by Thursday, though another batch of showers might loom on Friday, the pendulum swings towards sunnier days as the week winds down with a pleasant outlook for the weekend according to forecast.weather.gov.
