Is the coldest of winter behind us now?

Thanks for spending a few minutes here catching up on Kansas weather and what's coming next. A few weeks ago, I mentioned we might be moving into a little drier pattern and that still looks to be the case. We had some 1-4" amounts on Wednesday, and northwest Kansas picked up about an inch yesterday (Thursday). It would be unlikely for Kansas to get any moisture next week (week of Feb. 17) - and even if something does come through here it won't be more than a sprinkle or flurry.

Here's an update on snowfall for the season - still below normal, although many areas are seeing near "normal" amounts to this point in February.

What's next?! We've just dealt with the coldest air of the season in most of Kansas anyway. It was quite remarkable to see afternoon temperatures on Thursday never break 20° in most places, but it's not surprising with snow on the ground. What's next is a nice big warm up that will send us back above average, and this will spread across much of the Plains states. Warmest weather this weekend will in fact be Sunday.

It would be unlikely to have anything quite this cold returning this winter. We've said February would be cold, and it still looks like below normal temperatures will continue (even though it may NOT be Arctic air)

Next week - temperatures drop again:
Expect below average temperatures to return AFTER Monday. Chilly, but nothing out of the ordinary for February. Normal highs go to 50° next week - so below average now will most likely be highs in the 40s.

The moon swallows Mars - what?

Okay, so not exactly, but if you like astronomy, this might be of interest to you. Tuesday, the moon will pass in front of Mars (known as "occulting" and it will happen early in the day. If we end up with clear skies, you will see the Red Planet disappear first behind the bright side of the moon, then it will reemerge on the dark side of the disk nearly 90 minutes later.

• Starts around 5:52 A.M. Tuesday
• Ends around 7:20 A.M. - skies will be lighter as sunrise takes place before 7:20.

Mars, known as the Red Planet, is one of those that is regularly visible in our sky throughout the year. There are 5 occultations this year involving Mars, but this is the only one visible from the United States in 2020.