Rain drenches Texas; more expected Wednesday

Showers and thunderstorms fell across much of Texas on Tuesday, and more rain was expected Wednesday with highs in the 70s in many areas, the National Weather Service says.
Golf ball-sized hail was reported near Berclair in Goliad County. Hail the size of marbles was reported in Goliad.

Danny Madrigal, an investigator with the Goliad County Sheriff's Department, said a firefighter near Berclair reported seeing a tornado on the ground for about five minutes but there were no immediate reports of damage.

There were isolated reports of penny-sized hail and winds of up to 50 mph Tuesday as the storms moved across North Texas, said Alan Moller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

South-Central Texas saw moderate to heavy rain and some road closures, said Mark Lenz, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service.

On Tuesday afternoon, emergency responders in San Antonio were called to five high-water rescues of motorists stranded in vehicles by rising water, but no injuries were reported, the San Antonio Express-News reported in its Tuesday online editions.

Meanwhile, Cameron County and Brownsville officials spent Tuesday surveying damage from a Monday storm that dumped more than 7 inches of rain in less than an hour.

Water reached near the front doors of St. Luke's Catholic School on Monday.

"We had kids that stayed a while in the portable building until it pretty much stopped raining," Ana Gomez, school principal, said in a story for Wednesday's editions of The Brownsville Herald. "We were pretty much covered in water."

In the Austin area on Wednesday, mostly cloudy skies were expected with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms and highs in the upper 70s. By evening, partly cloudy skies were expected with areas of fog after midnight and lows in the mid-50s.

A 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms was expected in the Dallas area with highs in the upper 70s. By evening, cloudy skies were expected with lows in the upper 50s.

In the Houston area, a 70% chance of showers and thunderstorms was expected. Some thunderstorms were expected to be severe in the morning and produce gusty winds and heavy rainfall in the afternoon. Highs were expected in the mid-70s. A 30% of showers and thunderstorms was expected by the evening with areas of fog late and lows in the upper 50s.

In the Amarillo area, partly cloudy skies were expected with highs in the upper 70s. By evening, partly cloudy skies were expected with lows in the lower 40s.

Fifty die as snow blankets Kashmir, rains pound northern India

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - At least 50 people were killed as snow engulfed Kashmir and torrential rains pounded the rest of northern India, officials said Tuesday.

Some 28 people were killed and 25 others received burn injuries in separate lightning strikes in Uttar Pradesh as rains crippled life in the populous northern Indian state, they said.

Seventeen people, including two children and a soldier died in landslides, cold and floods in Indian Kashmir and its summer capital Srinagar reported its heaviest March snowfall in 15 years, weather officials said.

Five other weather-related casualties were reported from other parts of northern India, lashed by rains since Friday.

In Kashmir, five Hindu pilgrims trekking to a snowbound shrine high in the Himalayas froze to death.

A police patrol discovered the five bodies huddled together Monday in a shelter built to protect travellers to the Vaishno Devi shrine.

"All five pilgrims died of hypothermia as they weren't wearing enough clothes and heavy snow had brought down temperatures," said Puneet Kumar, a senior official at the shrine.

Another 13 people suffered hypothermia injuries. Nine were in critical condition but were "recovering fast" in hospital, the official said.

The dead were all from Uttar Pradesh, and officials said they had underestimated the cold at that time of year in Kashmir where the mercury regularly falls below zero Celsius (32 Fahrenheit).

"Ten more people died due to hypothermia, landslides and caving in of structures across the state," a police officer said while rescue officials reported another two deaths in the snowbound region.

Snowstorms have paralysed life in revolt-hit Kashmir, shutting schools, knocking out power and telephone lines and closing the region's main highway, police said.

"The main highway has been shut due to heavy snow and nearly 800 vehicles are stranded," police officer Abdul Hameed told AFP.

Labourers were using bulldozers, snow removal machines and shovels to open up the 300-kilometre (186-mile) highway, the main route for supplies to the Kashmir valley from state winter capital Jammu and the rest of the subcontinent.

"It may take us a few days to restore power supply in the valley," senior engineer Nissar Ahmed said.

Offices in the region were still open but many people were late as they had to walk through the thick blanket of snow.

Earlier this month, India's air force airlifted to safety more than 5,000 people stranded for days in sub-zero temperatures on the main highway by avalanches and landslides.

The Indian army has a strong presence in Kashmir where it is fighting to suppress a deadly Islamic separatist insurgency that has raged since 1989.