April still has nearly a week left in it, and forecasters are already tossing triple digits into the forecast.
Pratt, Medicine Lodge, Coldwater and other parts of central Kansas are projected to hit 100 on Wednesday. Upper 90s are forecast in western Kansas and low 90s are expected in the Wichita area.
Predictably, temperature records will topple all over the Sunflower State. Wichita’s record high for April 25 is 90, set in 1901. Russell and Salina hit 94 in 1989. The record for Dodge City and Garden City is 90, set in 1989.
This graphic posted by the National Weather Service offers a glimpse of what to expect on Wednesday.
It won’t be a record for earliest 100-degree day in Kansas, though. Garden City hit 100 on April 22, 1989. But it’s still an early sampling of sizzle.
Summer hasn’t settled into the heartland two months early. Wednesday’s wicked temperatures are the result of downslope winds – air rapidly compressed as it comes rushing down the front slope of the Rockies. Temperatures climb dramatically, thanks to the friction between air molecules.
Winds will shift again on Thursday, allowing temperatures to subside toward seasonal norms. Mondays high, in fact, is projected to top out in the upper 50s.