AUSTIN, Texas – CapMetro will be suspending evening fares on July 4th to help Central Texans celebrate Independence Day.

What they’re saying:

Fares will be suspended beginning at 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 4.

CapMetro will also be operating a modified holiday schedule, including:

• Sunday-level bus service
• Saturday-level Rail service
• Regular Pickup service
• No UT Shuttle, Night Owl or Express service

For those looking to celebrate at Auditorium Shores for Austin’s annual Austin Symphony Orchestra July 4 Concert & Fireworks, CapMetro will have several bus routes available:

CapMetro says that after the concert and fireworks show, members of its team will be at the Vic Mathias Auditorium Shores Station, and South 1st and Riverside to help customers get home. 

Riders can also use the Transit app to plan their trip home.

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — An active pattern has brought significant improvements to our ongoing drought in Central Texas.

Since the start of April through June 27, Austin’s Camp Mabry picked up 16.01″ of rain. The last time Austin accumulated that much rain during the same time period was in 2019, when 18.36″ was recorded.

Drought Monitor

Drought statistics will be calculated by observing the Austin/San Antonio NWS WFO area, which includes 33 counties.

As of Thursday, which was the most recent drought monitor update, 44.17% of the area is in at least a level 1 of 4 “moderate” drought.

Sounds high? Well, three months ago, on March 24, 88.96% of the area was in at least that drought category. That’s a major improvement since our active weather pattern began.

What’s next?

The rain has definitely helped, but will the drought ever end? It’s unlikely, at least for now.

So how much rain needs to fall to end it? According to NOAA’s Drought Termination and Amelioration website, we’d need to see roughly an additional 12″ to 18″ of rain to fall in Central Texas in one month to end the drought.