Monday’s high hit 102 in Wichita, tying the record for June 6.
The only other time it reached 102 in Wichita on June 6 was 1933, when the Great Depression was crippling the world’s economy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in the White House and the drive-in movie theater made its debut.
Tuesday figures to set another temperature record. Forecasts call for highs of at least 100, and the record is 99, set in 1958.
Officials have announced that three more people injured in the Joplin tornado last month died over the weekend, raising the number killed by the May 22 twister to 141.
In Alabama, officials announced a man seriously injured by the tornado that struck Tuscaloosa and Birmingham on April 27 died Sunday. The man lived in the Birmingham suburb of Pleasant Grove. His wife of less than a year was killed in the tornado. The death toll for the outbreak of tornadoes in Alabama now stands at 241.
The number of people killed by tornadoes this year is 527 – the highest total in 75 years.
Not sure what to have for lunch or dinner today? Here’s a suggestion:
Pizza Hut is donating 15% of all of today’s sales – from dine-in, carryout and delivery – at stores in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas to the United Way Tornado Disaster Fund to assist victims in Joplin and other parts of the Midwest. I presume that includes Reading as well.
Another 100-degree day is in the forecast for the Wichita, following a weekend of triple digits as well.
Sunny skies and southwest winds out of the teens will be fueling the heat again today, forecasters say. Those southwest winds are a key to these scorching temperatures, because they’re coming in from the deserts of the southwestern U.S. Western Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas are all quite dry as well.
It’s creating something of a blast furnace effect, raising temperatures about 15 degrees above normal for this time in June. Today’s high could reach 101, forecasters say.
Lows will stay in the 70s, and Tuesday is expected to hit 102, which would be a record in Wichita for June 7. Cooler temperatures aren’t anticipated until late this week.
For more information on conditions, go to our weather page.