WICHITA – The forecast for the coming week in Wichita can be summed up in just three words: sunny and hot.
Highs will be in the upper 90s with light southerly winds for the next several days in the metropolitan area, forecasters say. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. today for areas generally along and east of I-135.
The heat index is expected to reach 105 this afternoon, thanks to high humidity lingering in the region after the weekend thunderstorms.
Highs on Tuesday and Wednesday will again be near 100, forecasters warn, with high humidities pushing the heat index into the triple digits.
WICHITA – Strong storms are expected tonight in the Wichita area, forecasters warn.
A cool front is sliding south toward the region, where it will collide with abundant moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. The storms could produce hail and locally heavy rains, forecasters said.
That Gulf moisture will make the day humid as temperatures climb into the low 90s under mostly sunny skies. Southwest winds will be robust, blowing steadily in the 20s and gusting above 30 miles an hour.
Saturday brings another chance of thunderstorms, forecasters say, with highs in the upper 80s.
Doug Kiesling has posted video of two tornadoes that touched down in Butler County Monday night.
Butler County officials told me they documented a total of 8 brief touchdowns by tornadoes that evening. Other than some tree damage, however, no injuries or building destruction were reported.
WICHITA – This could be the hottest day of the year for Wichita, forecasters say.
Sunny skies will help the thermometer soar nearly to 100 today, with south winds surging from the teens into the mid-20s. The heat index – a measure of how it feels combining temperature and humidity – is expected to top 100 this afternoon.
Isolated thunderstorms are expected to strike south-central Kansas late tonight, forecasters say, though they are not expected to be severe.
I kept hearing from storm chasers that there was more than one tornado in the Belpre/Macksville area Monday, and a damage survey conducted Tuesday confirmed that.
In fact, there were five tornadoes that touched down in the region that day, according to the report filed by Jeff Hutton, warning coordination meteorologist for the Dodge City branch of the National Weather Service.
From Jeff’s statement posted on the weather service’s Dodge City Web site:
The first tornado was a brief touchdown in an open area about 5 miles north northeast of Dodge City at 4:26 p.m. The second touched down at 5:27 p.m about 5 miles south southeast of Dodge City, was on the ground for about 1.5 miles and was 120 yards wide. Ten minutes after that tornado lifted, the storm spawned another tornado at 5:37 p.m. about 4 miles southeast of Dodge City.
What chasers now call the Belpre tornado developed at approximately 5:56 p.m. about 6 miles southwest of Belpre and dissipated around 6 p.m. 4 miles southeast of Belpre. It damaged a grain bin and several utility poles and carried an oil tank for one-quarter of a mile. This tornado was rated EF1 in intensity.
The strongest tornado of the bunch was the last one, which touched down at 6:03 p.m. about 8 miles southwest of Macksville and passed within 3 miles of the city. Hutton determined it was a multi-vortex EF2 tornado that grew as wide as 3/4 mile and was on the ground for 12 miles before lifting at 6:30 p.m.
No injuries were reported in connection with any of the tornadoes.
Storm chaser Mike Parker captured striking images of a wall cloud as well a pair of tornadoes in central Kansas Monday night. The first tornado touched down near Belpre in Edwards County, chasers have told me, and the second about 4 miles southwest of Macksville.
I’m hoping to learn more about these tornadoes from the National Weather Service office in Dodge City. Warning Coordination Meteorologist Jeff Hutton was conducting a damage survey Monday afternoon.
WICHITA – The calendar says summer is just around the corner. Today’s weather says summer’s here in full shimmering, sizzling glory.
Sunny skies, muggy conditions and highs in the mid-90s are in the forecast for today, forecasters say. South winds will intensify during the day from single digits to gusts beyond 30 miles an hour. That will take the edge off the heat just a bit, but heat indices are still expected to top 100 near the Oklahoma border.
Even tonight’s overnight low echoes summer: it will only drop to 75, before temperatures soar near 100 on Thursday.
Dave McElhiney sent these photos taken by his friend Dianne Strange of the thunderstorms that erupted near Haverhill Road south of El Dorado on Monday night.
Kenny Felt, a photographer who lives in southeast Kansas, sent me this photo of a thunderstorm over Fort Scott on the night of June 9. Thunderstorms in southeast Kansas that night produced a pair of short-lived tornadoes, officials said.
Closer to Wichita, Wellington News reporter Teresa Lee snapped this shot of a thunderstorm moving near Derby.
WICHITA – Highs should soar into the 90s under mostly sunny skies in the Wichita area today.
It should be humid, too, with plenty of moisture remaining in the atmosphere from Monday night’s strong storms, forecasters say. In fact, there’s a slight chance of more showers today, though they aren’t expected to be strong.
Wednesday should also be sunny, hot and humid in south-central Kansas, forecasters say, with highs climbing into the mid-90s.