Rain totals and first hurricane of the year?

Welcome to July! This is one of the hottest months on average for Kansas and the 4th wettest month. Our average high today is 91 and at the end of July it's 92. The days keep getting shorter too, as you'll notice, with about 14 hours and 43 minutes of daylight at the beginning of the month and only about 14 hours by the end. 

The rainfall last night was once again very heavy for some, but little or no rain fell across northern Kansas. Here are the numbers:

Wichita (Mid-Continent): 2.25"

Pratt: 1.87"

Liberal: 1.71"

Newton: 1.53"

Hutch: 1.33"

Elkhart: 1.06"

Dodge City: 0.95"

Jabara Airport: 0.82"

Medicine Lodge: 0.64"

Garden City: 0.28"

Great Bend: 0.07"

Winfield: 0.03"

Salina: 0.01"

Russell: Trace

Current temperatures at 7 a.m. Tuesday

Cool and dry air is coming south from the northern Plains. So we are in for some really nice weather for the start of July. In the last several summers, we were starting to burn up by this point in the summer. Nice to have some green vegetation and something other than 100s to be talking about on the blog. 

Forecast track of what will likely become "Arthur"

Although it has zero chance of impact Kansas weather, what could become the first hurricane of the year is forecast to move up the eastern US later this week. It will likely become "Arthur" later today, but for now, it's just a tropical depression (or area of low pressure). The National Hurricane Center forecast calls for category 1 storm later this week as it grazes some of the major cities on the east coast. Hurricane season started on June 1st and will peak in September. It's not expected to be a very busy season, but all you need is one major hurricane to hit the US and it all of a sudden becomes a bad year. 

Enjoy the nice weather here in Kansas while we have it. Temperatures will stay mild right through the 4th of July, and then start heating up shortly thereafter.