Rain, cooler temperatures bring short-term relief for area
After facing several days of temperatures of more than 100 degrees, area residents welcomed slightly cooler temperatures yesterday and rain this morning, but the heat is expected to return again, starting Tuesday.
Saturday’s high temperature was 106 degrees in Breckenridge, according to the National Weather Service, but then a cold front came in and Sunday’s high was only 94. The NWS predicts today’s high to be 91 degrees. So far today, Monday, June 4, the low has been 64, which the thermometer hit at about 5 a.m. and remained there for several hours.
The rain started at about 3:30 a.m, and by 10 a.m., Breckenridge had received about 1.5 inches of rain. The total from Hubbard Creek Lake was 1.33 inches. According to the NWS, the chances of rain continue all day but lessen in the afternoon.
The rain did come in the form of a thunderstorm, which caused some problems, according to Breckenridge Fire Chief Calvin Chaney, who said firefighters responded to an early morning fire that was started by a lightning strike. The fire destroyed a storage building in the Village Inn neighborhood northwest of Breckenridge. He said two fire units and three firefighters responded and it took them about 30 minutes to extinguish the fire. They were on the scene about an hour. There were no injuries, Chaney said.
Breckenridge firefighters also responded to three wildfires over the weekend. Chaney said one was a wildfire on County Road 120 and was caused by a cigarette that was thrown out. He said the other two fires were in Palo Pinto County and the BFD assisted the other departments there putting the fires out. He said those two fires were caused by lightning.
The burn ban remains in effect Cheney said.
The NWS shows a heat wave starting Tuesday and continuing at least through the end of the week. The AccuWeather website reports that the 100-degree temperatures are about 10 degrees higher that the historical averages for this time of the year, and Saturday’s 106 was almost 20 degrees higher than the average high of 88 degrees for that date.
The expected highs for the next few days are 100 on Tuesday, 102 on Wednesday, 101 on Thursday and 100 on Friday.
Cutline, top photo: A pickup drives through high water on East Williams Street next to Stephens Memorial Hospital on Monday morning, following rains that came through the area earlier. According to the National Weather Service, Breckenridge received about 1.5 inches of rain. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
