Work trip ends; summertime storms begin

View over Lake Tahoe (from our restaurant)

I'm back from Lake Tahoe where we had the 42nd American Meteorological Society (AMS for short) Broadcast Conference. If you've ever been out there, the scenery is fantastic. My first day out there was really windy, and there were some surfers trying to take advantage of 4 foot waves. I didn't get any time on the water, but had a couple of nights to enjoy some lakeside dining. This is my year to serve as chairman of the broadcast committee, so I didn't get a ton of free time, but did manage one day to hike up above Olympic Valley and see things from about 9,000 feet up (little higher than what we have here in Kansas)

Location of our conference

1960 Winter Olympics took place at Squaw Valley

View from our resort where the conference was held. 

So I get back in time to track some widespread storms Sunday afternoon and evening. It wasn't your typical summertime storms that fade at sunset, but the strongest activity seem to be winding down by 10 p.m. with lots of heavy rain over the area. Of course, the wheat harvest is likely on hold for many areas until the grain AND the fields dry out. It's probably the one time of year where farmers don't mind some hot and windy weather.

Our forecast this week isn't anything out of the ordinary for Kansas. We will have some storms in eastern Colorado and far western Kansas heading into Monday evening/night. The winds at 30-40,000 feet in the atmosphere are fairly weak, so any storms that develop should be slow movers. And because the winds are fairly weak, the likelihood of severe storms seems low for today, but some gusty winds and hail will still be possible.

Future Track for Monday evening

There will be some other chances for occasional storms throughout the week. However, most of the activity will remain spotty and not widespread (like the Sunday storms turned out to be)

Future Track for Tuesday evening

Rainfall totals (ending at 7 a.m. Monday)
Russell: 1.04
Salina: 0.55
Hutch: 0.29
Wichita: 0.81
Jabara Airport: 0.95
Winfield: 1.30
Great Bend: 0.56
Newton: 1.44
Concordia: 0.03
Dodge City: 1.77
Garden City: 1.76
Medicine Lodge: 0.71
Elkhart: 0
Liberal: 0.58
Pratt: 0.26
Hill City: 0.03
Goodland: 0.11
Hays: