First 100 degree days looming - will it last?

We are just 14 days away from the official start to summer and our longest days of the year. Kansas gets just under 15 hours of daylight around the summer solstice. It's barely dark long enough to get your 8 hours of sleep squeezed in.

I'm expecting our first 100 degree temperatures to arrive before we get to the summer solstice. You can see our weather pattern in the image below. Just ahead of the giant "L" in the West, temperatures are going to soar and be nearly 15° above average. 

Last year, this was the 100 degree count:

• Wichita = 10 days
• Dodge City = 5
• Goodland = 6
• Salina = 18

The heat and wind will most definitely ripen the wheat in a hurry, so combines will be rolling soon. This is harvest weather!

Should we be bracing for a long stretch of hot weather?

The short answer is no. We already see temperatures cooling back to near normal next week, which would mean more days with highs of about 85-90. A cold front will be around Tuesday, which may spark some storms for southeast Kansas.

Longer range models indicate that temperatures may fall back below normal heading into our 3rd full week of June. If in fact that happens, we would likely end up with more 70s and low 80s. So just as harvest gets ready to go into full swing, some cooler weather should be sweeping through the Plains.