When will it rain again?

After such a wet spring and early summer, I don't think any of us thought we would be asking for rain so soon. However, after 4/5 days of 100° heat and wind, the need for moisture has returned. We aren't necessarily in drought, but if a couple more weeks pass without rainfall, we may begin to see some low end drought conditions show up in our state.

Here's the last 30 days of rainfall compared to normal:

The yellow and orange areas are DRY! And that's really much of the state. I circled areas that have had above normal precipitation, but there aren't too many. Rainfall this month of July has been very spotty.

What's ahead for rainfall?

Now - Sunday:

Rain chances DO show up later on in the weekend. Western Kansas will get the chance first, with a few showers or storms coming into the area Sunday evening/night. Other areas may get some rain into Monday, but as you can tell by the forecast amounts, this isn't looking to be anything huge.

Early - Mid August:

I just don't see any big swings in the weather pattern that would bring consistent rounds of rain and storms. So at this point, I would venture to say the next 3 weeks are likely to be below normal on rainfall. It doesn't mean you won't get a little rain here or there with a front passing through, but the chances of a 2 or 3 inch rain right now are VERY low. As disappointing as that might sound, there are some encouraging signs that temperatures won't be brutally hot all the way through August. In fact, mid to late August may end up cooling off nicely for much of the central Plains and upper Midwest. Time will surely tell.