Thursday, October 21, 2021

Active days ahead - two storms to watch

October will wind down with a series of low pressure systems tracking in from the west. You can see the different storms lined up out across the Pacific, with one just off the Pacific Northwest and another one in the Bering Sea. Over the next week, we will have at least two different features coming through our area with chances for rain and some thunderstorms.

Consider for a moment:

NO measurable rainfall. That does set a record, and finally ends with much needed rain coming across the West. The models are consistent in heavy rains falling where fires have been a problem. This is going to create mudslides and flooding, but these areas are in such dire need that even some runoff to fill reservoirs and streams has to be great news. 

Kansas will have some rain early Saturday (mainly southeast and east central). This stuff is going to be isolated and forms on a warm front that will be moving north. Another chance for some rain comes Saturday night north of I-70 (north of Salina and on toward KC).

The first low pressure tracking through the area will come Sunday. Scattered rains are coming, but this doesn't look like it will drop that much measurable moisture. In many cases, it will be under. 25" and southwest Kansas may get missed entirely.


A second, more robust storm emerges from the west Tuesday night/Wednesday. This one might be able to produce rains on a more widespread scale, and if it slows down a bit (which is something we are looking at), rain will carry over into Wednesday. We don't foresee any snow with the rain (that will be limited to Colorado and the Rockies) and the amounts of rain we get should be up to .50" - doubtful that it would be much more. 

You might recall last year in late October, one of the storms dropped measurable snow. At this time, that seems VERY unlikely to happen in our current setup, given that the coldest air is stuck farther north and won't be arriving until next month.

Early forecast to Halloween - doesn't look scary at all. A cold front may be arriving early in the day, but temperatures don't look too bad for kids getting out to trick-or-treat.


Have a great day.

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