Now that July’s in the books, let’s take a look at the numeric record left behind.
There were 3 days where temperatures reached triple digits, topped by the 107 of July 14. But as a rule, July was remarkably cool – the average temperature of 78.2 was nearly 3 degrees below normal.
In fact, the average high in July was 89.3. That’s nearly 4 degrees cooler than normal. The highs in the low 80s late in the month were more than a dozen degrees below normal.
Measurable rain fell on 15 of July’s 31 days, but it didn’t add up to as much as you might expect. The total for the month, 3.55 inches, was only .24 of an inch above normal.
Walking downtown to pick up a sandwich for lunch, I couldn’t help but notice how autumnal the day felt. It was late July, but it felt like fall: cool, cloudy, with a wisp of north wind adding a slight briskness to the air.
“This,” I thought, “reminds me of Seattle.”
Sure enough, rain began to pelt me as I returned to my car with my meal in hand. Just out of curiosity, I decided to check the weather in Seattle for today: a forecast high of 100, with an excessive heat warning for much of the state.
To put that into perspective, Seattle has hit 100 once in July in the last 60 years.
Once.
High temperatures around Wichita the past several days have been a good 20 degrees above normal for this time of year, but no new records have been set.
That’s because all of Wichita’s record highs are in the 90s for the last two weeks of April. As warm as it’s been this week, Wichita hasn’t flirted with the 90s.
But I’m beginning to wonder if this is going to be one of those years where spring in Wichita is little more than a hiccup.
I’ve been hearing a lot of grumbling lately about how winter just doesn’t want to seem to let go this year.
But the average final freeze of the season in Wichita doesn’t arrive until April 9 – today – and freezing temperatures have been reported here as late as May 13.
Folks in the area just got spoiled by those warm days in March, which triggered a hearty case of spring fever.
Wichita wasn’t the only city in the Sunflower State to set a new record for low temperature on April 7.
Russell recorded an overnight low of 11, shattering the previous record by 6 degrees. Salina, meanwhile, recorded a low of 17. That topped the previous record by 2 degrees. Wichita dropped to 21, bettering the old record by 2 degrees as well.
All three previous records were set in 2007.
Dodge City reported 19 degrees, erasing the old record of 21 set in 1938 and matched in 2007. Garden City fell to 18, bettering the record of 21 from 2007. Medicine Lodge reported 19, several degrees below the old record of 24 from 1996.
Wichita hit 85 this afternoon, a new record for high temperature in the city on March 5. The old record of 84 was set in 1991.
That also happens to be the year a massive tornado struck Haysville, Wichita and Andover. Coincidence? Almost certainly.
But it still caught my eye.
Spring fever figures to be rampant today as temperatures soar into the mid-80s under sunny skies today in the Wichita area.
The record high for today is 84, and local forecasters say that could well be matched – or even fall – by the end of the day. Gusty south winds will surge above 35 miles an hour, and ease up only slightly overnight.
Dodge City set a record for high temperature yesterday at 86, and still more records should be set around the state today. Stay tuned.
Break out the sun screen and summer apparel, Wichita. Thursday looks poised to offer a sip of summer.
Temperatures could reach the mid-80s – warm enough to threaten the record high of 84 for March 5, which was set in 1991.
Other parts of the state could see records fall, too.
So did March come in like a lion or a lamb on Sunday? I’m not sure.
There wasn’t a storm blowing through. In fact, the sun was out. That would seem to tilt the needle toward “lamb.”
But it was awfully cold, with a low in the mid-teens and sharp winds that kept the day anything but shirtsleeve weather. Ask the folks who bundled up for the doubleheader between Wichita State and North Dakota State Sunday, and I’m sure they would vote for “lion.”
National Weather Service hydrologist Janet Spurgeon sounded a little conflicted, too.
“The sky was beautiful – just some high cirrus,” she said. “It wasn’t too bad.”
Well, except for the fact that it started out “a little cold,” she conceded. And there was that “nasty wind,” as she put it.
So maybe it was a lion after all, Spurgeon said. “Not a vicious lion,” she qualified.
Me? I want to stamp it a “lion” of a day, if for no other reason than that’s supposed to mean March will leave like a lamb. Then again, my birthday’s late in March, and the weather’s lousy on that day about 80% of the time anyway.
But I want to hear what readers think: Did March come in like a lion or a lamb?
Wind chills are in single digits and temperatures are in the teens as the sun climbs above the horizon on this first Monday morning of March in the Wichita metropolitan area.
Sunny skies and temperatures topping out in the upper 40s are in the forecast, though southerly winds gusting above 20 miles an hour will keep the day from feeling very warm.
Forecasters are calling for a gradual warmup as the week unfolds, however, with highs in the 60s by mid-week and the 70s the rest of the week.