The remnants of Hurricane Isaac will bring rain to eastern Kansas over the next couple of days – including the Wichita area.
Forecasters say showers and thunderstorms are possible generally along and east of a line from Salina to Wichita to South Haven after 2 p.m. today. Highs will top out in the low 80s under mostly cloudy skies. Winds will be out of the northeast, with gusts nearing 25 miles an hour.
More showers and thunderstorms are possible tonight, when lows are expected to bottom out at 70. Winds will remain persistent out of the northeast.
Chances for showers persist through Saturday, forecasters say, but they’ll diminish as the day goes on. Highs will be in the upper 80s as skies gradually begin to clear.
Sunday should be sunny, with highs in the mid-90s. Labor Day will be sunny and hot, forecasters say, with highs in the upper 90s.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.
If you were to plot the winds blowing across the U.S. continent, they would look something like this:
The map is featured on The Atlantic’s web site, and you can learn more about it here.
Half the state of Louisiana is without power, and floods are ravaging other states along the Gulf Coast. Don’t let “Category 1″ fool you – Isaac packed quite a wallop.
Here are a couple graphic displays showing the projected path of Isaac’s remnants. Portions of far southeastern Kansas could see heavy rains Friday into Saturday, and showers are also possible in the Wichita area.
But flooding shouldn’t be a concern for Wichita. This first map is from the Wichita branch of the National Weather Service.
This second graphic is a broader view of Isaac’s track, produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center.
Summer isn’t quite ready to let go of Wichita.
Temperatures are expected to climb into the mid-90s under sunny skies today, forecasters say. Winds will be light out of the southeast, not reaching double digits.
A few clouds are expected to move in overnight, when highs slip into the upper 60s. Winds will shift to the east but remain light.
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms enters the forecast on Friday, when the western fringes of what’s left of Isaac arrive in the Wichita area. Cooler temperatures are expected, forecasters say, with highs in the mid-80s. Winds will intensify out of the east-southeast – fitting, that’s where Isaac will be – as the day goes on. Gusts are expected to top 20 miles an hour.
Showers and thunderstorms are also possible Friday night and Saturday, forecasters say, when highs will be in the upper 80s.
More sunshine is in store for Wichita today, with highs climbing into the mid-90s.
Forecasters say winds will be light out of the east-southeast, staying below double digits. Overnight lows should be in the mid-60s under mostly clear skies. Winds will remain light and variable.
Thursday will seem like a carbon copy of Wednesday, with sunny skies and highs in the mid-90s. Light winds will persist out of the east-southeast, forecasters say.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.
Wichita storm chaser and extreme weather photographer Jim Reed is documenting Isaac, the tropical storm expected to become a hurricane sometime today as it bears down on the Gulf Coast.
Reed is with Dag Kittlaus, co-creator of Siri, the voice on iPhones. They are in Gulfport, Miss., monitoring developments.
This first shot is workers boarding up the hotel Reed, Kittlaus and assistant Katelyn Pfeister are staying in.
The second shot shows the Gulfport shoreline in what could be dubbed the calm before the storm. This was taken Monday.
The morning commute could be foggy in the Wichita area today, forecasters say, so drivers should stay alert.
Any fog should begin to clear by about 9 a.m., with calm conditions making way for light winds out of the southeast. Highs under clear skies are expected to reach the low 90s.
Skies should remain clear overnight, forecasters say, with lows bottoming out in the upper 60s. Winds will remain light out of the east.
Wednesday offers more sunshine and highs in the low to mid-90s. Winds will be calm again in the morning before stirring later in the day out of the east-southeast.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.
Residents of Kansas should pay attention to what Isaac does this week, a local weather official said, because the storm’s remnants could unload on the Sunflower State by this weekend.
One forecasting model has the storm pushing up into eastern Kansas, bringing potentially flooding rains to the Wichita area, said Chance Hayes, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Wichita. Another has the rains missing Kansas but reaching Kansas City.
“Keep an eye out,” Hayes said.
If the computer model proves accurate, he said, the remnants of Isaac should reach the Wichita area by Friday or Saturday.
AccuWeather Vice President Mike Smith is skeptical that Isaac will affect Kansas.
“Atlantic hurricanes don’t get us,” Smith said.
The jet stream routinely pushes the remnants east before they get far enough north to reach Kansas.
“Our far better chance is a hurricane that comes up in the Baja (of California) and then into Kansas,” Smith said. “That’s where we get our hurricane rains.”
Smith said updated computer models indicate Kansas won’t see rain from Isaac, and he’s convinced later models will merely reaffirm that forecast.
Wichita residents may have seen a familiar face on television over the weekend.
James Williams, spokesman for the Midway Kansas chapter of the American Red Cross, was interviewed on the Weather Channel about preparations being made for the imminent arrival of Tropical Storm Isaac in Florida.
Williams was sent to Miami last week as part of an advance public relations team to let media around the world know what the Red Cross is doing to assist those affected by the storm. He told me he’d be there for about a week. He shared this photo from Key West, where Isaac struck over the weekend.
This isn’t Williams’ first brush with a tropical storm/hurricane. He was sent to the East Coast last fall to assist the local Red Cross when Hurricane Irene struck the Northeast.
“It was an eye-opening experience that helped me prepare for the public affairs demands during and after the Wichita tornado” in April, Williams said in an e-mail response to questions.
He’s packed a smartphone with GPS, a DSLR camera, a flip cam and laptop with Skype. But he also added wet wipes, in case the water went out, and granola “if you’re stranded without a meal,” he said.
“These are incredible adventures,” Williams said. “It takes a great deal of flexibility, but from the moment you arrive they’re some of the most rewarding 14-hour days of your life.”
Local storm chaser and extreme weather photographer Jim Reed will be documenting Isaac with Dag Kittlaus, cofounder of Siri – the voice iPhone users hear when they ask for directions or assistance. They left for the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday with assistant Katelyn Pfeister.
After a weekend of welcome rains, sunshine and highs in the low 90s return to the Wichita area this week.
Highs today will be around 90, forecasters say, with east-northeast winds staying in the upper single digits. Overnight lows under partly cloudy skies should dip to the mid-60s.
Tuesday will offer more sunshine and highs in the low 90s, forecasters say. Winds will again be light, shifting to the east-southeast.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.
