Welcome fall... winter for some!

So much change taking place in our weather. This is my favorite time of year. From a meteorologist's perspective, it's exciting watching all of the adjustments going on in the atmosphere. The cold fronts are getting stronger, the jet stream winds at 40-50,000 feet begin increasing, and before you know it, the summer heat is gone.

7 a.m. temperatures

Look at the 7 a.m. temperatures across the central and northern Plains, and then look up into Canada. You can see the darker blues on the map. Temperatures are only in the 30s. That kind of chill in September is a little extreme, but the way things are looking, it's very possible by Saturday morning we will see some lows in the upper 30s around here.

Future Track for 10 a.m. Thursday

And SNOW?!? Well, not in Kansas, but it does show up on the Future Track across South Dakota and Wyoming. And it gets as far south as western Nebraska by Friday morning. I mentioned yesterday here on the blog that if this were November or December, we could have a real winter storm on our hands. But considering the time of year, I expect just a cold rain in western Kansas.

Future Track for 7 a.m. Friday

Rainfall Totals from last night (through 7 a.m. Wed)
Russell: 1.25"
Hutch: 0.57"
Concordia: 0.51"
Great Bend: 0.47"
Garden City: 0.37"
Salina: 0.36"
Newton: 0.24"
Jabara Airport: 0.09"
Dodge City: 0.05"
Goodland: 0.03"
Wichita: 0.02"
Winfield: Trace

Millie and I had a chance to swing by the Kansas Highway Patrol on our way off the fairgrounds Tuesday. It was hot and windy, so it was nice to poke our head into the air conditioned facility for a few minutes to have our picture taken with some of the wonderful staff there. We will be back in Hutch tomorrow for one final visit.