How about some sunshine!!

This has been a very busy week with the Kansas State Fair going on in Hutchinson. Millie made an appearance on Wednesday and was very good. She sat in the window of the KWCH booth for about 4 hours and surprisingly, never complained. Thanks for coming up and saying hello; we like to hear from the viewers to see how we are doing.









What an amazing rain event we just had here in Kansas. Rain amounts over 10 inches were common in west Wichita and the flooding has been very significant. I am attaching the storm total precipitation as estimated by the Doppler Radar from Wichita. Very impressive to say the least. You can hold off on building a boat for now because the next 8-10 days look dry as we see a huge change in our weather pattern. Basically, high pressure will dominate both at the surface and in the upper atmosphere, which means we are in for sunny and mild weather. The leftover moisture from Ike will pass to our east, bringing heavy rainfall to the Mississippi Valley.

Football, Rain, and the Fair

There is a bunch of stuff going on at this time of the year. We have high school and college football games galore and now the Kansas State Fair is underway. Weather is a significant factor in both and for the first weekend of the fair, the weather has been rather cool. It seems like we get a wide variety of weather during the fair, so I'm anticipating some hot weather before the 10 day event comes to an end. It will turn off warm and breezy for Wednesday, but it doesn't even last for 24 hours. So we are in a very active weather pattern. This cool weather has people getting nervous about a long, cold winter. I don't think we should jump on that bandwagon yet, because these big changes in weather are common at the onset of fall, and it doesn't officially begin until September 22nd. Warmer weather will be back very soon.

I attended my first high school football game here in Wichita Thursday night. It was Heights vs. Bishop Carroll and as I walked up to the gate, I noticed everyone had to enter through a metal detector. I really couldn't believe it, but if it means keeping us safe, then I'm all for it. It's just a sign that times are different than they were when I was in high school.

I am headed to the fair Monday afternoon and Millie will be with me on Wednesday. She'll be close by my side so that someone doesn't mistake her for other Pronto Pups that are common on the fairgrounds.

Fall Already?

I think it's funny how the calendar rolls over to September and just like that, Mother Nature changes the weather on us. It's good football weather and the cool down comes just in time for the Kansas State Fair. I've posted a map of the fairgrounds so you can find our booth. It's in front of the Eisenhower Building.

My mom claims that it always rains during the Kansas State Fair, so I did some checking to see if there was any accuracy behind it. Actually, over the last ten years, 2000 was the only fair that turned out dry during the ten day event, so yes, more often than not, it does rain (and I don't normally doubt my mother; she's a smart lady) It will rain during the fair this year too, probably Friday night. I briefly spoke with Denny Stoecklein, General Manager of the Kansas State Fair, on Wednesday and he told me that if we have to get rain during the event, he hopes it comes during the overnight hours, or on Tuesday or Thursday. He said those are usually the slow days on the fairgrounds. And he did approve for Millie to make an appearance on Wednesday. We'll be up there in the afternoon, so come find us at the booth.

On an unrelated note, someone posted a question on the last blog entry wanting to know if I know the other meteorologists at the other stations in town. And yes, as a matter of fact, I know them pretty well and they are wonderful individuals. We do run into each other on occasion, and of course we tease each other about who is the better forecaster in town. It is just part of the competition involved in TV, but I think they are both great meteorologists.