Wet end to June - cooler to begin July

The month of June comes to a close and we welcome in July with rainfall AND cooler than normal weather. We can't always say that, especially when you think of July as the peak of the summer season.

Here's what's happening for the rest of this week. The pattern hasn't changed much in recent days, so the chance for scattered storms continues. Gusty winds, some hail, and pockets of heavy rain will be the main concerns. It's almost like a railroad track has been placed over Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas. Once storms fire up, they follow the track right down into our state. Just as one railroad car follows another, one round of storms follows another. This setup should continue for the rest of the week. One feature that we expect to see is a cold front that will arrive on Thursday afternoon, and then it stalls for Friday, Saturday, and early Sunday. Heaviest rains may come Friday night through early Sunday. 

Your holiday weekend plans may be dampened by the chance for storms. I know it's probably not what wheat farmers want to hear. And it's not good news for those who wanted extra time on the lake, however, we do expect the wet pattern to shift before we get to the 4th of July holiday.

GFS Model

European Model 

The two models we compare most frequently here on the blog is the GFS and the European model. Both models can be pretty good, and sometimes one does better than the other. But the point here is that we have to watch for some very heavy rains between now and the 4th of July holiday. Where the heaviest rain sets up just depends on where the front winds up.

We passed the summer solstice more than a week ago, but going into early July, we still get more than 14 and a half hours of daylight. By the end of the month, the sun will be going down around 8:30 and we will have just over 14 hours of daylight. 

July (on average) is Goodland's wettest month with nearly 3.50 inches of moisture. Wichita averages over 3 inches, but July isn't our wettest month.