Smoke, rain chances, and severe storms

The smoke was pretty thick last night in so many different areas around the state. As much as we hate getting inundated with smoke, the controlled burns are a pretty important part of maintaining grassland and keeping some unwanted vegetation under control. The sunset was extra red yesterday evening (picture courtesy Gary Fiedler). Kevin Swinicki shared another photo from near the Hillsboro area where there were more controlled burns Tuesday afternoon. 

Rain chances are coming back to Kansas today (Wednesday), but only to a few areas. The setup today involves a front across western and northern Kansas that will help to get a few spotty storms going. The chance for severe weather is very low, but that doesn't mean we couldn't have some small hail from time to time. And rainfall amounts (where it's heaviest) could pick up some .50-.75" by early Friday morning.

Friday afternoon is looking windy and warm. Any rain will get out of here very early in the day.

Our Easter weekend forecast calls for storms Saturday evening/night. This setup could allow for some severe storms to develop over southwest, central, and eastern Kansas. Main threat will be some hail, wind, and some very heavy downpours. As we head deeper into Saturday night, the rain will gradually shift south and east, and by Easter morning, much of the rain will be out of our area.