Atlanta Flooding

If you've been following the news lately, the flooding in Atlanta has been quite amazing. Some areas have received as much as 17-20 inches of rain and the flood waters have invaded Six Flags in Atlanta. Here is a picture of the Great American Scream Machine that has been turned into a water ride (if people were actually on it)

What is amazing is that this kind of flooding is not tied to any tropical storm or hurricane, which would be common this time of the year. And, even more interesting is that just a few months ago, this area was in extreme drought. Proof that one extreme follows another and Mother Nature really has a way of leveling things out.

On a different note, this summer was a cool one for many states. The National Climatic Data Center has discovered that it was the 34th coolest on record for the entire country. This map shows how many states recorded cooler than average temperatures for June, July, and August. An upper level storm system just parked itself right over the Hudson Bay and Great Lakes area and continued to draw in cool, Canadian air. When the excessive heat ended in early July, we spent the second half of the month and almost all of August in this cool weather pattern.

The Fair Ends Just in Time!!!

If you stopped by the KWCH booth during the fair to see Millie, I wanted to say thanks. We discovered during the fair that she is a big hit with many of you and I'm glad you enjoy seeing her on the air. We have fun with it and hope you'll continue to tune in, even if it is just to see the dog. Some of you took pictures of us at the fair and I'd like to see them if you have time to email them. My email is rjanssen@kwch.com

The weather during the fair was about as good as it gets. Other than a little rain on the first Saturday, it was mainly dry and mild. But, just as the fair ends, rain is coming back to Kansas it it will get VERY cool next week. Highs will be stuck in the 60s for most of us. Bad timing for farmers trying to plant wheat, but for any wheat that is already in the ground, this rain will help it sprout right away. And, this cool, wet pattern will be around for 5-7 days. Check out the forecast models. The upper low moves very little from Tuesday morning through Saturday morning. Forecasting in these types of situations are very tough, but it looks like a rainy and cool pattern coming up. Looking ahead, October may be off to a stormy start too. The atmosphere is definitely in a seasonal transition. Have a great week.

What is it with September?

The heavy rainfall event this week had me wondering, what is it about September that brings flooding rainfall to southcentral Kansas. It was almost one year ago to the date that record rainfall occurred in Wichita and surrounding areas. I'm posting graphics from the National Weather Service of the rainfall reports from last year and from this latest event (the one on the left is from 2009). You'll clearly be able to see that last year's event affected many people, whereas this year, it seemed to be a little more isolated. Last years big rain was driven by the remnants of a tropical system that collided with a stationary front. This year, it was a system that was much smaller. Even if you didn't have 8 inches of rain, most would agree, drier weather would be a good thing for us in Kansas as farmers get ready to plant the 2010 wheat crop. And, it is impossible to do that when water is standing in the field.

On another note, the Kansas State Fair is underway in Hutch. I mentioned in my last entry, my days will be Monday and Friday (the last Friday of the fair) and I'll most likely be up there until 7 or 7:30 in the evening. Come by and watch us do weather from the fair and yes, Millie will be with me. Pets aren't normally allowed on the fairgrounds, but they have made a special exception for us to have Millie there. Hope to see you there and hopefully, it won't rain.

Ready for the Fair??

It is that time of year again, time for the Kansas State Fair in Hutch. Channel 12 has a booth and it is nice to hear from our audience during this time. Millie has become a popular face, or icon, here at KWCH and so she'll make an appearance on Monday and Friday, September 14 and 18. Come by and see her. We are handing out her own autographed pads this year and because you are checking out the blog, you get an early look at what the picture looks like. It will be exciting to see how many of them we hand out.

Our weather was quiet over the holiday weekend. There is a huge storm system passing us by to the north, however, it will send a cold front this way that should bring some rain to the area by the middle of the week. Temperatures will be in the 80s for most of this week, but there is a big low pressure system that could be forming over the region this weekend. If the models are correct, we could get some rain for the start of the fair (which some would say it always rains during the fair) and get in on MUCH cooler air by Friday night. This will be something to watch this week. Needless to say, there is still no sign of any excessive heat building back into the region anytime soon.