Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Wind, storms, & a forecast through mid April



This month of March has been a very windy one across Kansas. I shared some of these numbers last night on the late newscasts because some of you have been asking about the wind. March, on average, is one of our windier months because the weather is in transition and the storm systems that cross the US are much stronger right now (and will be for the next few months)



More wind is expected today (Tuesday), but what might help keep the fire danger down some is the higher humidity that continues to flow up from the Gulf of Mexico. The moisture flowing north will lead to more clouds, some drizzle, and eventually, chances for storms over eastern Kansas. It's unfortunate that with so much moisture moving our way there won't be more rain, but the setup isn't looking favorable.


Severe Threat:
The severe threat for Wednesday still looks to favor the Flint Hills and areas to the east. You can see in the map above that by 1 p.m. Wednesday, the highest energy in the atmosphere for severe storms will be east of I-135. Hail (up to 2 inches) and wind gusts (to 70 mph) seem possible over eastern Kansas.



Week of April 4: Another storm will be pushing in from the west coast early in the week. This storm is likely to stall over the western part of the US at the beginning of the week. It's not likely going to be a big moisture producer for Kansas. I do expect warmer than normal temperatures for the first week of the month and more wind coming our way too.

Week of April 11: There is a chance for a storm to drop into the desert Southwest at the beginning of this particular week. In this case, Kansas would be looking at chances for showers and storms to increase. And this storm could be a slow moving system too. 

It's not looking like there will be a ton of rain in April. Drier than normal weather is likely to continue for the upcoming month. I hope I'm wrong by saying that, but in looking at the long range setup, there just doesn't seem to be any really good setups for widespread, soaking rains.

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