A pleasant spring day is in the forecast for Wichita – and through the weekend as well, forecasters say.
Highs today will be in the low 60s under mostly sunny skies, and temperatures will top out in the low 70s Saturday and Sunday. It’ll be breezy today, with north winds gusting to nearly 30 miles an hour.
Lows tonight are expected to dip into the upper 30s tonight and recover to the upper 40s for lows Saturday night and the low 50s on Sunday night.
Winds should ease a bit on Saturday, forecasters say, topping out at about 20 miles an hour.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.
Storms failed to develop in southcentral Kansas tonight, and the National Weather Service has removed rain from the Wichita forecast for tonight and overnight.
That’s welcome news for residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Saturday night’s tornadoes as they continue picking up the pieces.
Dry weather is forecast for at least the next week.
Thunderstorms re-enter the forecast for the first time since Saturday’s tornado outbreak.
Though the storms aren’t expected to produce tornadoes, forecasters say, they could produce hail the size of quarters and winds of more than 50 miles an hour. Highs today under mostly sunny skies should reach the upper 70s. Winds will be out of the southwest in the teens.
Thunderstorms are expected to increase late tonight and into early Friday morning, forecasters say. Lows will dip to the low 40s, with winds shifting to the north-northeast and gusting to nearly 25 miles per hour.
Friday may add a few sprinkles to the Wichita area before skies clear in the afternoon, forecasters say. Highs will be in the low 60s, with breezy conditions. Gusts could approach 30 miles an hour out of the north-northeast.
The weekend should be sunny, with highs in the low 70s.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.
Today will be warmer and windier in the Wichita area, forecasters say. Highs should reach the low 70s under sunny skies, with south winds increasing from single digits into the upper teens. Gusts could reach the mid-20s.
Overnight lows will only fall to the mid-50s, then Wednesday is expected to reach the upper 70s under mostly sunny skies. South winds will be stronger, with steady breezes in the upper teens and gusts reaching the upper 20s.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.
The National Weather Service has released a map of the path taken by the EF3 tornado that struck the Wichita metropolitan area late Saturday night.
Meteorologist Ken Cook, who conducted the damage survey, said the tornado was a mile wide as it moved between the Kansas Turnpike and the west side of McConnell Air Force Base. It touched down at Broadway and 79th Street South on the south edge of Haysville, moved northeast through Oaklawn and southeast Wichita and spent much of its 15-mile path paralleling the Kansas Turnpike.
The tornado was on the ground for about 20 minutes, traveling at 40 miles an hour, then lifted just before it reached K-96 north of Central.
The same supercell thunderstorm produced several tornadoes before it reached Wichita, weather officials said. The strongest of those tornadoes was a mile wide and measured EF3 – with winds of up to 165 miles an hour – just southwest of Conway Springs before it lifted and spared the town.
The supercell had two significant tornadoes on the ground at the same time for several miles, weather service officials said.
“That would have been pretty cool to see in the daylight,” weather service meteorologist Robb Lawson said.
The second of those twin tornadoes lifted just east of Conway Springs.
A tranquil Monday will be welcome news for Wichita as clean-up from Saturday night’s tornado continues. Sunny skies and highs in the mid-60s are expected, forecasters say, with light northwest winds occasionally reaching double digits.
A few clouds will move in overnight, with lows slipping into the mid-40s.
Tuesday should see more sunshine and more wind, forecasters say. Highs are likely to climb into the low 70s, with south winds gusting to more than 20 miles an hour.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.
The National Weather Service has rated the tornado that tore through Oaklawn and southeast Wichita Saturday night as an EF3, with maximum winds of 165 miles an hour.
The most significant damage occurred on the west side of McConnell Air Force Base and in the Oaklawn area, where the Pinaire Mobile Home Park at 5205 S. Clifton was badly damaged.
The damage survey team is still assessing the tornado’s path, officials say.
The National Weather Service has produced a map of the tornado watches and warnings issued Saturday and early Sunday morning, along with where tornadoes were reported. It’s rather eye-catching.
The tornado that struck near Kanopolis Lake in Ellsworth County early Saturday evening has been given a preliminary rating of EF4 by a National Weather Service damage assessment team. That means it had winds of between 166 and 200 miles per hour.
Here are a couple of photos of that tornado shot by Topeka storm chaser (and my cousin) A.J. Dome.
A farmstead was decimated near the lake, trees were stripped of bark and nearby roads were scoured, officials reported. Because the tornado stayed in rural areas, few structures were damaged.
A total of 22 tornadoes were reported to the Dodge City branch of the National Weather Service Saturday.
Damage surveys are ongoing. Path lengths and tornado ratings will be posted later.
It’s likely that the confirmed number of tornadoes will be less than 22, since reports are often multiple sightings of the same tornado.
