April outlook - severe weather may ramp up soon

This very unusual time we are living in continues, but I hope that you are staying safe and healthy. Let's hope the peak of this truly does happen here soon so we can try and find some kind of normalcy again. Unfortunately, it looks like April is another "stay at home" month.

April is traditionally one of two "peak" months for severe storms across Kansas. Of course, they can happen any time of the year, but we expect severe storms and tornadoes to ramp up in the coming weeks. There are signs of an active pattern continuing throughout the Plains, so even though we've seen most of the destructive weather go around us thus far, our chances may increase very soon. 

Here's the pattern we are looking at for the first few weeks of April:

Anytime we have a persistent low pressure (or trough for those weather enthusiasts) in the west, it does raise concerns for severe weather setups. The finer details of where, when, and magnitude aren't really known until just days before, but looking at the next 2-3 weeks, we will continue to have several chances of thunderstorms and a risk for stronger storms. It may not necessarily be in Kansas, but the Plains states will have to be on the lookout.

April starts with normal high temperatures in the 60s, but that jumps into the 70s by the end of the month. April is also NOT traditionally our wettest month of the year, but we are expected to get more than our fair share of rain in the next 30 days (this includes western Kansas too). So look for April to be wetter than normal.

Temperatures:

It will be mild month, but the overall average may be "cooler" than normal in Kansas. Remember, where the warmer temperatures to the south meet the cooler weather across the north, that is where the more intense storms will fire up. It could be right over Kansas, and it could be just south of us too. We will monitor that in the coming weeks.

What's that bright start in the west during the evening?

That is Venus!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by to read up on Kansas weather.