August outlook - changes aren't far off

I've gone radio silent the last few weeks because - well - it's summer and we keep repeating the same thing over and over. Dry and hot. Dry and hot. But there's plenty happening behind the scenes to keep us busy, and we have some exciting changes coming to Always on Storm Team 12 (more about that in a minute). 

Here's a quick review of July rainfall (through the 30th):

From a statewide map (rainfall compared to average) looked like this - just look at all of the areas that finish the month very, very dry. Southwest Kansas had the heavier moisture, while much of central and south central is in rough shape. 

August Outlook:

Here are the averages or "normals" for the month ahead:

The latest heat wave should end in the first week of August. We've been covering it week after week - the high pressure system (or heat dome) that is the epicenter of the heat wave is going to break down early in August and shift back to Arizona, which will set us up for some bigger changes. 

It will be nice to cool things off, but where's the rain? I had a chance to talk with some county fairgoers in Ellsworth recently and everyone is talking about how strange the rain has been the past several months - VERY spotty. One place gets an inch but 4 miles down the road it's only a .10" The beginning of August could have some welcome rainfall and actually be WETTER than average for the central Plains. This could wind up being an inch to maybe two inches - this is for August 8-13th:

The month of August (overall) will likely be warmer than average, but not record warm. We will see a "cooler" stretch of weather coming up that may last into mid-month. 

Once we get into the second half of the month, I anticipate it getting hot again, but not for weeks on end and maybe not even as hot as it has been. Remember, our average high temperature starts dropping by August chances of topping 100° tends to end after about the first 5-8 days in September, and our average high temperature starts dropping on August 5th (back down to 92°)

I don't think August will be a month with significant drought improvement, but I think our chances for rain look a little better than they did in July (on a larger scale). Again, a "wet" month - unlikely for most. And maybe it's not saying much, considering we didn't get much rain in July, but August should have more rain. 

It has been hot lately, but we are not experiencing anything unusual locally (as far as temperatures are concerned). This is not a top 10 hottest summer and even the number of 100s don't stand out. 

New look at Always on Storm Team 12:

We are excited to debut our new and updated 12.2 Always on Storm Team 12 coming very soon (likely in the next few weeks). What you will see are several new map and more content than ever before. We plan to show extended outlooks (8-14 day rain and temperature maps), national drought maps, rainfall updates as they happen, lake levels, etc. It will give you more information than we've ever had on the channel, and it's a brand-new look. Be sure to let us know what you think once it finally gets on the air in the next few weeks. Stay tuned. 

This is the current version:

This is what the new version will look like: