Nighttime Surprise

I received a call at 6:15 Wednesday morning from Dan Dillon at KFDI to join him on the radio with the storm warnings off to the east/northeast of Wichita. It was a little surprising to see this activity, but it often happens in the summertime. The main area for severe weather shifts into the northern Plains and with the right conditions, the storms move right down into Kansas. In this case, the storms just popped up over central Kansas just after 5 a.m. The interesting thing to me is that when I went to bed, the sky was absolutely clear, but with the right wind speed and direction and a little moisture, you can get storms to pop up even in the overnight hours.

We are about to see our 2nd heat wave here in Kansas. I heard someone reference the "death dome" the other day and they are referring to the huge dome of high pressure that is going to set up for the rest of the week and into next week. When we see this on the weather maps, the better chances for storms usually occur on the outside edges of the high pressure. We sometimes refer to this as the "ring of fire" because storms fire on the outside edges of the high pressure system.

I'm not counting the days, but fall is just about 2 months away. I like warm weather, but when it gets above 100, it is too hot for me.

Harvest Help

I had a chance to help my parents harvest wheat this week and the crop was very good. There was some worry that the wheat would be damaged with the late freeze, but it didn't affect central Kansas as much as the southern part of the state and especially those in Oklahoma. The yields were good and so was the quality. Millie and I lucked out on Thursday when a storm developed in Rice county. On the way to the elevator, we saw the heavy rain and wind, which actually looks like blowing dirt from the dust bowl days in this picture. The rain cooled the air and temperatures fell back into the 70s and 80s for the rest of the evening. It felt really good.

Friday was hot with highs in the 90s and the humidity has just been unbearable. We should have a nice break from the excessive heat for at least a little while, but headed into July we know it will soon be back.

What are your plans for the 4th of July? It won't seem like much of a holiday this year since it falls on a Saturday.

Active week

It has been a very busy week for the Storm Team. Some very impressive storms Sunday, Monday, and then Tuesday, one storm just popped up in Cowley county that could be seen from northern Kansas. We've received some great pictures from viewers and I'll post some of them here.









It is definitely feeling like summer. Still in the upper 80s at 10 p.m. at night is definitely summerlike weather.

I'll be away for a few days enjoying my new nephew. If you are familiar with previous blog entries, you already know about Wade. He now has a brother, Pate. Should be exciting. Stay cool for the rest of the week and into the weekend. Millie is loving her haircut when it gets this hot. I may be in the harvest field at the end of next week. Hope the weather is hot and dry for the farmers.