Thunderstorms bring wind - little rain and damage.

Originally published in The Chron

A line of thunderstorms that moved through the Houston area overnight knocked out power in some neighborhoods, but brought little relief from the dry spell that has gripped southeast Texas.
No serious injuries have been reported, but gusting winds brought down a tree that badly damaged a mobile home in the Spring area early today. The residents got out safely.

About 95,000 CenterPoint Energy customers lost power during the storms, but spokeswoman Krystal Castro-Saavedra said electricity had been restored to all but about 4,000 customers, mostly in the Greenspoint and Humble areas, by daybreak.
The storms carried less of a punch than those that hit farther north on Tuesday and early today, including tornados that were blamed for at least eight deaths in Oklahoma and wind gusts that reached 88 mph in north Texas. Tornado watches were issued today for Mississippi, north-central Louisiana, southeast Arkansas and parts of Missouri and Tennessee.
The storms went through the central part of Harris County between 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. before quickly moving out. Rainfall amounts of up to a half-inch were measured around the Houston area.

“This was not a major rainfall event. It didn’t have enough time to dump a lot of rain,” said Robert Van Hoven, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.
The thunderstorms moved in with winds of about 40 mph, the weather service reported, and gusts of about 55 mph were measured at the airport in Sugar Land.
“We did have some reports of wind damages,” Van Hoven said.
Officials in the tiny Kendleton Independent School District in Fort Bend County canceled classes today because of a power failure.
While the overnight rainfall was a welcome change from the recent pattern, Van Hoven said dry weather will return today and at least for the near future.

“You’re going to need quite a bit more rain than this” to relieve the drought conditions that have led to warnings about outdoor fires, he said.

Today’s high temperatures will be in the low 70s, with northwest winds of 10-15 mph, Van Hoven said. Tonight will remain mostly clear with lows in the mid-40s and northwest winds around 5 mph, officials said.
The Houston area’s next chance for rain will come on Friday, when forecasters expect a 20 percent chance of showers.
mike.glenn@chron.com