Another good rain looming - early fall just a week away

August is ending on a hot note as we once again see a building high pressure system across parts of the Plains states. We were lucky enough to avoid the heat dome at the beginning of the summer, but in the last month, it's been pretty stubborn. Even at this time of the year, when the high pressure moves overhead, you still run the risk of being near 100. 

Here's the summary of August in Kansas. Averaging out the highs and lows, you'll see that much of the state was near to above normal. It wasn't record setting, despite having anywhere from 6-10 days with triple digit heat.

Rainfall has been anything but widespread. Summer storms can be spotty, and that's about the only way you can sum up what has happened in the last 31 days. Even though drought has expanded, conditions could be worse. 

 

 

 

September averages look like this:

Next rounds of rain coming soon! We are anticipating a cold front into western Kansas Thursday evening and overnight. That brings a solid chance of rain back to western Kansas initially, and then it spreads east as we move into Friday. More clouds - rain - cold front = a return to 80s by Friday. 

 

The expectation is that Friday will have scattered rain/storms from morning into the afternoon. Latest models slow the front down, which should help to develop some nice rainfall amounts in a 24-36 hour period from Thursday night into early Saturday. Central and western Kansas may end up getting an inch of rain, while farther east the amounts will be slightly lower. But this could be our first widespread rain in quite some time. 

 

Early fall is showing up!

Just take a look at what happens right after Labor Day. Temperatures in the 70s and low 80s? Sure looks like we have a good chance of it. And with humidity going down too, I think you could call this the first taste of autumn. Who's ready?