More cool coming - rain still spotty

June has been a hot month, but if the month ended today, it wouldn't be the temperature records that we'd be highlighting. Instead, it would be the lack of rain on a widespread scale. First, the map of rainfall compared to normal. Only the few pixels of green indicate where the rain was above normal (and there aren't very many). There's a small area in eastern Kansas and one area in the far west. 

 

Latest drought map: 

We are not seeing a major expansion of drought yet, but if we don't get an inch or two of rain in the next 10-14 days, we will begin to see quite a few areas going back to "abnormally dry", especially considering the last few weeks of heat. 

 

June Rainfall:

When looking at the numbers, you'll see that Salina, Dodge City, and Goodland are all on track for a top 10 driest June.

Late week storm chances:

Potential of rain will increase Thursday night and Friday. I know wheat farmers are hurrying, trying to get it all cut before rain impacts the quality. Initially, storms will be fairly scattered (Thu. night), but chances may increase a bit Friday for southern Kansas with the cold front interacting with VERY high humidity. When all is said and done, it looks like northern Kansas could get up to .50" with areas farther south closer to 1". 

It appears that we are heading for a nice finish to June (relative to how the first half of the month went). One of the things that is going to happen is the upper high pressure system (the heat "dome") is expected to retreat westward. This will place the hottest weather for the end of June west of the Rockies. And we could end up with a bunch of 80 days in Kansas for the final weekend of the month. 

 

Early look toward the 4th of July:

Models suggest July may be off to a cooler than normal start. This doesn't mean there couldn't be a day or two where things are hot and humid, but when you average everything out, it would appear that we are NOT heading into a major heat wave anytime soon. And the 4th of July has a chance of being somewhat tolerable with respect to temperatures.  

Have a great day.