Fires from space & next active day for Kansas

Welcome to Monday and the halfway point of October... already. After an active weekend of weather for parts of Kansas, the weather settles down the next 3-4 days. In fact, we may not see any clouds whatsoever until Thursday at the earliest. 

California Fires:

The massive fires burning in California have been so large that for the past week or so, the smoke plumes have been visible from space. The new satellite that was launched last November (GOES-R) has the capability of monitoring an area with 30 second to 1 minute images. So we are getting high resolution pictures of the smoke plumes from space. Here's an example of one from yesterday afternoon. One of the biggest fires still burning is the Tubbs fire, now 60% contained.

Northern California has a CHANCE for some rain later this week. A fairly large storm system will be impacting the west coast. Rain chances will ramp up a bit Friday, but the amounts will likely be under .50" They don't need a ton of rain, as it would lead to mudslides, but this will hopefully help firefighters take control.

Next stormy weather for Kansas:

The same storm that hits California Friday becomes one to watch for Kansas next weekend. A cold front will be coming back across Kansas Saturday, which should be our next chance for rain and storms. It's a little early to nail down exact timing and how much, but this will be the next bit of active weather for the Plains.