……from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center: As I reported earlier, 2009 offered the second-coldest October in the 115 years that such records have been kept.
But there’s more – the three-month period of August through October was the coolest on record for Kansas….and only a dozen Octobers in the last 115 years have been wetter than 2009 in Kansas.
Patchy fog can be expected in the Wichita metropolitan area this morning. While the fog should lift by late morning, the clouds should linger all day.
Highs will top out in the upper 50s or low 60s, with light winds out of the east. Clouds should begin to move out overnight, forecasters say, and Thursday should be windy and warmer.
Temperatures are expected to climb into the mid-60s again Thursday and Friday before the weekend brings another chance of showers – along with highs in the 50s.
Patchy fog and intermittent drizzle can be expected in the Wichita area this morning, forecasters say.
The fog and precipitation should go away by this afternoon – but the clouds won’t. Highs are projected to reach the low 60s, with light northeast winds.
Clouds will linger overnight and into Wednesday, but temperatures will continue to be above normal. Highs should reach the 60s through the end of the week, forecasters say.
Showers and thunderstorms are likely in southern and central Kansas today – including the Wichita metropolitan area, forecasters say.
Brief periods of heavy rain are possible with the strongest thunderstorms, but severe weather is not anticipated. Rain is most likely along and west of I-135 in the morning, and east of the Flint Hills this afternoon and evening.
Highs should reach the low 60s, with light winds out of the south in single digits. The winds will shift around to the north as the day progresses.
Chances for rain persist through the evening, but skies should be partly cloudy on Tuesday with a high in the low 60s.
The first Friday of November is going to offer a rather convincing display of spring-like weather, with gusty southerly winds and temperatures soaring into the upper 70s.
Those winds out of the south-southwest will be blowing steadily in the upper teens to low 20s, and gusting beyond 30 miles an hour.
The forecast high isn’t close to the record high for November 6 – which is 83, set back in 1891 – but it’s still a good 15 degrees above normal.
Dry weather, sunny skies and highs in the 70s are expected through the weekend.
Sunny skies and highs near 70 are forecast for the Wichita metropolitan area today. South winds in the teens, with gusts near 25 miles an hour, are also expected.
Friday should see more of the same, forecasters say, with highs in the mid-70s and gusty south winds.
The tranquil weather pattern is expected to last through the weekend, before chances of showers appear early next week.
More sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s are in store for Wichita today, forecasters say.
North winds ranging from single digits to gusts above 20 miles an hour will give the conditions some sting.
Patchy frost is expected overnight, when lows are forecast to hit the upper 30s. The National Weather Service in Wichita has issued a frost advisory for 21 counties in southern and central Kansas, including the Wichita metropolitan area.
Highs on Thursday will approach 70 under sunny skies.
…than this one since records for Wichita began being kept in 1888, according to the National Weather Service.
The average temperature at Wichita’s Mid-Continent Airport was 51.2 degrees, a substantial 7.4 degrees below normal. Only 1925, which had an average temperature of 49.0 degrees, was colder.
But 2009 still put up some remarkable statistics: 25 of 31 days recorded below normal readings, with 13 of those days at least 10 degrees below normal.
Record low temperatures were set on Oct. 3 (37 degrees) and Oct. 11 (34). Record cool high temperatures were set on Oct. 10 (42) and Oct. 11 (45).
This October was on pace to be the coldest on record until a warm-up late in the month boosted the average temperature. That warm-up looks to continue for several more days.
Today will be even nicer than Monday for the Wichita area, forecasters say.
Sunny skies and highs in the mid-60s are expected, and those gusty north winds that gave Monday some bite will ease into the single digits. Overnight lows will bottom out in the low 40s.
Highs on Wednesday should again be in the mid-60s, with light north winds. Warm, dry weather is in the forecast through the weekend.
Sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s are in the forecast for Wichita today – but so is a northeast wind that will give conditions a bit of a bite.
Those winds will be steady in the teens, with gusts to about 20 miles an hour, forecasters say. Highs should reach the mid-60s, then fall into the low 40s overnight.
Tuesday will see winds shift to the south, with highs again in 60s.