I find it hard to believe 2010 is already coming to a close, but here we are getting ready for another new year. There are a number of weather events that you may recall from the last year, and the two that come to my mind first is the big hailstorm that hit on September 15th. Softball size hail was reported in a few areas of southcentral Kansas and a number of homes needed repair following the storm. Overall, the tornado count was down for 2010 here in Kansas, but the storm chasers are probably the only ones that are upset about that. The other big weather story was the intense summer heat that was relentless. In fact, it was the hottest summer since 1980 for Wichita with an average temperature of 82.3, which was about 4 degrees above normal. There has been a significant lack in moisture too. The recent trends of storms passing north of Kansas will likely continue, but we hope that we'll get at least some moisture soon as the wheat crop could sure use it.
Making any resolutions for the new year? I try to avoid them because I almost never follow through with them anyway. We do have something exciting coming in 2011. Wichita will be one of the first locations to get an upgrade to the Doppler radar that we use almost daily in severe weather season. The radar was scheduled to be upgraded in early 2011, but there is a slight delay and the waiting game continues. However, we expect it will be installed before the start of tornado season in 2011. It will require some extensive training for the broadcast meteorologists, but we are excited as this is the first big change to the radar since 1988.
Happy New Year everyone!
1 comment:
The new radar sounds like it will have some great advances to help you guys see what is going on inside of the storm from the office.
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