Hurricane Laura may bring little rain to Austin, while Austin sends help to the coast

With Hurricane Marco on his way out and Hurricane Laura on her way to Texas, Austin first responders will likely see some action along the coastal communities threatened by the storm—but residents here in Central Texas won't see much rain, forecasters told Austonia on Tuesday.

"It's actually going to have little to no impact on our weather here in Central Texas," said Aaron Treadway, meteorologist for the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio. "We may see some scattered thunderstorms with the outer rain bands tomorrow into Thursday, but we're only calling for a 20-30% chance of rain."

Winds are not expected to increase here at all, he said, meaning that the humidity and heat index is likely to stay the same throughout the week.

Laura was upgraded to a hurricane on Tuesday morning, with winds up to 75 mph, and expected to make landfall Wednesday along the Gulf Coast near the border of Texas and Louisiana. Before hitting landfall, Hurricane Laura is predicted to Category 3 hurricane or stronger, according to the Weather Channel.

(National Weather Service)

On Tuesday, the City of Austin, Travis County, Hays County and Williamson County activated the Capital Area Shelter Hub Plan— last activated in response to Hurricane Harvey—at the state's request to prepare to receive evacuees from coastal communities.

Several evacuation centers will open today, including one in Austin at The Circuit of the Americas at 4 p.m.

The plan has been in place for several years and is activated by major disasters and other events requiring mass sheltering.

The Austin Fire Department and Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services have deployed resources ready to help the coastal communities, both agencies announced.

Firefighters are sending six boat teams, two helicopter rescue crews and five urban search-and-rescue crews. EMS has ambulance and bus crews, a swift-water rescue crew and other support personnel.

Treadway said even if the storm moves more westerly, closer to Houston, rain chances would still go up in Austin but only slightly.

Moderately milder temperatures—80s mid-day, highs in the upper 90s—will give way to triple-digit temps come Friday, Treadway said, lasting at least through the weekend.