Wild weather is loading up for the Plains

Thanks for spending a few minutes reading the blog and checking in on what is shaping up to be a busy stretch of weather the next couple of weeks. We are likely to see more rain, more cold, more snow, and some hints of thunderstorms happening within the next 8-10 days (if you decide to stop reading now, I'll understand). The thunderstorm chance is a bit more questionable, but we are feeling confident on everything else. Spring breakers staying in Kansas next week might be wishing they were somewhere warm and sunny.

Next chance for rain (very early Wednesday):

This is a glancing shot of some showers and thunderstorms into early Wednesday. Severe weather isn't expected and they should be long gone before the sun comes up Wednesday. Highest chances will mainly be for areas east of I-135.

Huge system coming into the southwest late week:

The low pressure system coming into Arizona and New Mexico late week is one to watch. This could be another coast-to-coast system with rain AND snow chances as it crosses the Plains. A major March storm - probably not, but it will be a widespread chance of moisture and I know there are many areas that don't need it right now. Western Kansas is still in drought and I am certain there are areas that would appreciate any rain or snow. The snapshot below is early Saturday when some areas will be seeing snow (especially farther north)

Next week - several periods of rain and/or snow coming this way:

I'm a little concerned about repeated rounds of wet weather coming through the Plains. In the image above, I'm showing you the upper level jet stream that highlights a HUGE low pressure hanging out in the western US. If this actually happens, we'd be setup for several rain chances and very little opportunity to dry things out. This kind of setup in May would be a very significant severe weather episode and it can happen in March too, but I think we will be just too cool next week for any widespread concerns of severe storms (at least around Kansas).

There could be a stalled front in our area too, which will only help to develop more rain. I haven't quite figured out which days next week will have the best chances, but they could go all week long. And by the time we get to end of the week, some areas will have another 2-4 inches of rain from south central Kansas on to the east. Even farther west, it looks pretty wet (some of this will be in the form of snow) I'll keep you update when I get a better handle on timing.

Hope you have a terrific day