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Good morning bloggers,
It will be a bit cooler today, but then the heat builds back in the rest of the week. As you can see below, we are forecasting the heat wave to get to at least eleven days before a possible break:
Heat Wave June-July 2012
- Day 1, June 27: 102°
- Day 2, June 28: 105°
- Day 3, June 29: 102°
- Day 4, June 30: 101°
- Day 5, July 1: 99°
- Day 6, Today: 96° Forecast
- Day 7, Tuesday: 100° Forecast
- Day 8, Wednesday: 102° Forecast
- Day 9, Thursday: 102° Forecast
- Day 10, Friday: 101° Forecast
- Day 11, Saturday: Near 100° Forecast
- Day 12, Sunday: Possible change?
Another ridge aloft will be building over the plains states this week. There is some indication that we will have enough of a change in the pattern to produce some increasing chances for rain and a break in the heat wave by later this weekend into early next week. We need the rain, but those three days are the big days for the All Star game activities. I will go into more of the details of these possibilities on 41 Action News today and tonight.
Maybe I should do the weather like this guy? What do you think?
Have a great day and thank you for stopping by and spending a few minutes reading the blog.
Gary
Good morning Gary—I would rank last two-thirds of last summer through this winter and into this summer in my top five worst weather periods of my lifetime. Our heat wave according to NWS in Topeka started on June 23rd and has not let up—with the drought and other factors, our lawn which used to be great is hanging on for dear life despite my efforts in watering. Don’t heat domes usually last only 3-7 days and then break down with thunderstorms? That complex of storms Saturday night fizzled out just three-five miles from us just like that line did over two and a half weeks ago. Farming the Dustbowl by Svoboda describes many events like we are experiencing. He writes that the storms are right on his doorstep and then they die out. Keep searching for some hope—Take care, Michael/Topeka/Berryton
Mike,
I didn’t get a drop of rain on Saturday night either. It did hit parts of the KC metro, but not a lot. This is a long duration heat wave and at the beginning of summer. There is some potential for a break later this weekend into next week.
I will be talking with Toby Tobin tonight on 41 Action News. We will go over the lawns going dormant. Established lawns will be fine but they still should be watered about a half inch every two to three weeks during the dry spells.
Gary
Gary, we are still going through the LRC, right? I remember Memorial Day being pretty hot and humid, but then in June we had about 7-10 days of cooler weather. When will that cooler part of the pattern come? It should be on its way I’m thinking.
Yes, the pattern is still cycling and in the summer version of the LRC. There should be some good chances for rain and cooler weather potentially next week, but then this heat is likely to build back in even stronger later in the summer before fall shows up.
My guess is the pattern will break around August 15th or 20th. Thats the reoccurring cycle I use and it holds true most years. I hope I’m wrong and it rains next week but I sure wouldn’t bet on it.
Since we have been 3-4 weeks ahead maybe that change will come in the middle of july.
Seems like most years we do get a rain around the 4th so maybe this weekend is that chance.
Not holding my breath for either.
Had 0.08 inches of rain Sat. night in KC North. Did no good for the drought, but was a brief emotional boost to see some rain unexpectedly.
Gary,
How long do you think this cooler weather will last ? Hopefully more than just a week. I would pefer the rest of the summer but I know that is wishful thinking! I will gladly take a couple of weeks instead. I read in one your responses that the heat will come back stronger later in summer; when do you think this will happen and what do you mean by stronger? I would like my last couple of weeks before I report back to my school to be nice and not be trapped in my house like I was last week!
Megan
We will address this in tomorrow’s blog. We are forecasting a very hot first half of August.
Gary
I don’t give a flip if it rains on the All Star Game. In fact, the chance of rain might cools things down enough to make it bearable for those going to the ball park. We need the rain more than being concerned with the brief interruption of a sporting event.
The Richmond forecast was a hoot! I love the lava flow and Godzilla forecasts.
And the fact that he said he didn’t know what the weather was going to do.
I loved the deadpan delivery in the Weather Extremes video. Pretty funny!
Can someone explain why just two counties east of KC, thunderstorms are popping up all the way to st. louis today? Why there and not here? Confused.
Looks like the NWS rolled out their new interface. This will take some getting used to.
The NWS just put us under a Heat Advisory from noon tuesday to 7pm Saturday
Gary,
I am starting to think that a cool down will never happen and we will spend the entire month of July and August in Heat Advisory or Heat Warnings. I have live in Kansas all my life and don’t remember it being this bad. I have given hope that we will have a “normal” summer. I long for the days of 92! Please tell me that there is something on the horizon.
Were you here for 1980?
We had some big snowstorms and an ice storm in the early 80′s as well.
I was four years log so don’t really remember
It should said four years old
You should have a contest to guess how many 100 degree or hotter high temps at KCI from May 1 – Oct. 1.
Will be more than 20. May be most in recorded history.
Drought will be the bigger story. Lots of folks predicted wetter than normal Spring. Didn’t happen. Exceptional drought by end of July. More government payouts to farmers.
We have a LONGGG way to go to set the record for most 100 degree days in a summer. During the Dust Bowl in 1936, Kansas City had something like 53 days of 100+ temperatures.
Happy Birthday Davie! Impossible to stay cool on the tee box, but think cool thoughts. Hope your Mom is feeling better every day.
Was the extreme heat in the dust bowl days blamed on mankind like it is now? ? ?
Yes. One of the primary reasons for the Dust Bowl, was over cultivation by farmers, which caused increased erosion.
Thank you, sedsinkc! I had asked several days ago what the record number of 100˚ days for a Kansas City summer was and if we had a chance of breaking that record but no one had answered so at least I have an idea of how many days we could potentially have 100˚…
I’m wondering if, because of the dry weather and wind tomorrow, home fireworks should be banned. It occurred to me that I haven’t heard any today. I always hear a constant stream of them as soon as the tents open. Maybe homeowners are being cautious.
I think the best bet is to head for the coastal area in Richmond so to catch the 100-200″ of rain from that global tidal wave and so I can finally see Godzilla in person. WAY more exciting than constantly watering or watching my new sod die. I’m a little concerned about exactly what to say to Godzilla since every “documentary” I’ve ever watched the soundtrack was off by about 30 seconds and everybody talked so fast but I’ll wing it. Probably a good idea to get there early to avoid the volcano/lava flow in Charlottesville area. That will just be a complete traffic nightmare.
Keep up the good work Gary!
I concur with everyone that this weather pattern is immensely frustrating, not only for the well-being of my lawn but for my own comfort level. Just how many times this past year have decent rains dodged the KC area? Weather usually tends to average out over the long run, but it doesn’t seem like it here.
Anyway, I’m new to the blog and this may have been mentioned already, but one major difference this summer compared to past years has been the surprising lack of humidity with dewpoints consistently in the mid 50s to upper 60s. We just haven’t been that sticky (sticky = dewpoints > 70 degrees) this year, and obviously the lack of rain has played a role in this.
After moving here 10 years ago, I was very surprised to find that dewpoint levels can commonly reach the upper 70s in these parts anytime between May and September. It was just amazing to me that we can be over 800 miles from the nearest beach and yet have the same humidity levels as south Florida. No doubt the normally high spring precipitation (>5 inches per month) plays a role, but crop irrigation and associated evaporation/transpiration has to be another culprit too.
Nevertheless, if this drought continues into August, it seems to me that our dewpoints should remain in check but that our temperatures could really spike if this evil anticyclone (the “heat wave generating machine”, per Gary) doesn’t go away. Would you rather have 95 degrees with a 77 degree dewpoint or 107 degrees with a 55 degree dewpoint? Both sets of conditions are bad, but I think we’re in for at least few days of the latter this summer.
Stay cool everyone! And I mean in a physical as well as a mental sense!