Saharan dust to KS - more active weather headed this way

I've had a couple of questions in recent days regarding the huge plume of Saharan dust from Africa making it to Kansas. First, the plume is rather substantial and does continue its westward movement. It's not unusual to see dust coming through the tropics as this is part of the global wind patterns and something we see every year when we are watching for tropical development out in the Atlantic.

Will the dust make it here? - Not likely at all
The upper level winds around Kansas are coming from the northwest (that is the area circled below), so that should keep the dust hundreds of miles from the Plains. There might be some dust reaching a few Gulf coastal states, but Florida probably has the highest chance of a hazy sky due to the dust. The Caribbean is reported to have visibility down to 5 miles in some areas because of the thick dust.

More signs of active weather for the Plains
We've had some good soaking moisture in the Plains after what was a very hot and mainly dry first half of June. There will be some isolated storms for NW Kansas Thursday evening, but those will die out quickly shortly after dark.

Friday chances look more promising, and maybe the BEST chance of anything down the stretch.. Where it sets up and how far southeast it gets on Friday is still up in the air. The computer models have really been struggling lately with finer details, but I look for this front to continue its southeast push into the late evening hours and generate storms from western Kansas to central Kansas by early evening. During the night, these storms may shift into south central Kansas and drop some pockets of heavy rain. A few of the Friday storms could be severe.

If the front stalls and begins washing out Saturday, there will still be a threat of some scattered storms Saturday afternoon or evening. The chance is NOT as high for rain on Saturday though.

Next week - a rather large storm will be setting up in the Pacific Northwest early in the week. We don't normally see a low pressure system quite this strong in summertime and temperatures are going to be remarkably cool out in those areas. Can and will it make it to the Plains? It appears unlikely to cool us down in any dramatic amount, but it may help generate clouds and some storms. It's going to have to move closer than what the models are showing now. A few storm chances may setup early in the week, but I would say chances are low.

Early July - seasonal, but not scorching. If the storm mentioned above can help in any way, it should help to keep temperatures in check for early July. Right now, I don't see a major heat wave returning anytime soon. We had a VERY warm first half of June, but July looks closer to "normal", which would be highs around 90.

A surplus of rain seems unlikely too, but there should be (in the first week) at least some rain coming through our area. Right now, looks like some .5-1" for much of Kansas within the first week of July. There are some signs of it happening 4th of July weekend, but that's a ways down the road and certainly not a guarantee.