Rain/snow/thunderstorms now - Christmas

Thanks for taking some time from your busy schedule to catch up on some weather news here on the blog. There's a lot to look at heading into the holiday weekend. 

How about the incredible turn in temperatures throughout the week. Some of you had low temperatures last weekend down to -20 to -25 and now this weekend we are close to 60 degrees. Wichita had -10 Sunday morning and will be close to 60 on Christmas. Almost a 70 degree flip. And we know a big change in temperature like that can happen in just hours... it doesn't always take a week.

We have two storms coming through the area between now and Christmas afternoon. If you look at the satellite picture from the Pacific, you can see one system in southern California and the second storm hitting the Pacific Northwest. It's the second system that's going to stir up some strong storms AND produce a blizzard in the northern US. 

System #1:

This will bring some light rain and snow to Kansas today (Thursday) and into early Friday. This is not going to be a big storm and with milder temperatures in the Plains, we don't have to worry about icy roads. Any snowfall will be little more than a dusting, with most of it melting as it falls. 

2:30 p.m. Thursday

8:30 p.m. Thursday

9:30 a.m. Friday

System #2:

In recorded history, there haven't been any severe thunderstorms in Kansas (dates back to the 1950s). While we don't expect a severe weather outbreak, some strong to marginally severe storms are possible Christmas afternoon. The main threat will be wind gusts of 60 mph and the storms will move VERY quickly (close to 50-60 mph) Any possible wintry weather will be up in the Dakotas (along I-90) or north.

Coming up in tomorrows blog, we will take a look into January and I'll share some thoughts about when I think the bitter cold might be coming back our way.