Ride along the cold front as it passed through the Central United States this weekend. We went from t-shirts to turtlenecks as temperatures dropped 50 degrees in some cities. The nose diving temperatures were accompanied by rain and gusty winds making for a very raw time.
Follow the front from northwest to southeast, as it dramatically drops temperatures first in Salina and Omaha, then Topeka and Kansas City, through Mid-Missouri and Springfield, before finally pushing through St. Louis.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
A slow-moving storm brought soaking rainfall to the Central Plains over the last few days. Topeka recorded a daily record of 2.55” of rain for August 25th. Milford Kansas, just west of Manhattan, recorded a whopping 6.01” of rain from this storm!
1-2 inches of rainfall looked like a good bet for Kansas City Saturday night. Many lawns were eagerly awaiting a good drink of H20, but it didn’t happen for Kansas City.
The radar screenshot from ~7pm Saturday evening (left-below) shows widespread thunderstorms developing west and southwest of Kansas City. An increase in winds just above the surface along with a warm, moist fetch of air from the Gulf of Mexico was expected to sustain the storms as they moved into the area. Taking a closer look, you can see a cluster of thunderstorms ahead of the main rain band straddling the Kansas/Oklahoma border. Thunderstorms had been moving northeast throughout the day, which is why Kansas City had good reason to be hopeful.
 Regional Radar 6:59pm |
 Regional Radar 10:00pm |
The next radar screenshot (right-above) is just three hours later at 10pm. The cluster of thunderstorms that was along the border raced eastward into Missouri. This cut off our supply of moisture and dashed any hope of significant rainfall. Unfortunately, this created a void over Kansas City as shown below.
Storm Total Precipitation
Saturday, August 25
It has been at least 65 days since any of the locations listed below have had an inch or more rain in a single day. For Kirksville, Missouri it has been a whopping 134 days!
While areas of Kansas and northwest Missouri have already seen significant rain, for the rest of Missouri it brings up an interesting question.
When was the last time it rained an inch in a single day?
Kirksville, MO – April 13
Sedalia, MO – April 29
Joplin, MO – May 31
St. Louis, MO – June 11
Kansas City International – June 11
Downtown Kansas City – June 11
St. Joseph, MO – June 11
Columbia, MO – June 16
Jefferson City, MO – June 16
Chillicothe, MO – June 16
Olathe, KS – June 21
Lee’s Summit, MO – June 21
August 24, 2012
We’ve been hearing comparisons of this year’s drought to the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s all summer. Are they really comparable? While this year’s drought is extreme, it is still far from the peak of the Dust Bowl in 1934, which ranks #1 in terms of U.S. area covered by drought conditions. In fact, July of 2012 ranks #20 in terms of area under moderate or worse drought conditions and #28 for area under severe or worse drought conditions.
Take a look at the Top 10 years for area of the contiguous U.S. covered by moderate or worse drought:
1) July 1934 – 79.9%
2) December 1939 – 62.1%
3) July 1954 – 60.4%
4) January 1955 – 58.3%
5) January 1940 – 57.7%
6) December 1956 – 57.6%
7) July 2012 – 57.2%
8) September 1931 – 54.9%
9) August 1936 – 54.4%
10) May 1925 – 54.0%
And the top 10 years for area of the contiguous U.S. covered in severe or worse drought:
1) July 1934 – 63.1%
2) September 1954 – 20.1%
3) December 1956 – 43.2%
4) August 1936 – 42.7%
5) January 1935 – 39.9%
6) January 1955 – 39.1%
7) July 2002 – 38.5%
8) July 2012 – 37.6%
9) August 2000 – 36.7%
10) July 1988 – 35.6
Could the Dust Bowl ever happen again? Researchers say unlikely, as the Dust Bowl was largely contributed to lack of erosion-controlling farming practices and drought-sensitive crops such as wheat. Agriculture was relatively new to the Great Plains, and farmers were rapidly replacing native prairie grasses with wheat fields. As the drought continued to expand and persisted the wheat fields failed, leaving exposed and barren top soil that was swept up by winds across Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and other areas. In fact, some researchers have indicated that humans helped cause the drought and heat in the 1930s due to the increasing barren land, along with the dust that was present throughout the atmosphere. Much better farm practices and more drought-resistant crops will likely hinder a Dust Bowl scenario from ever happening again.
August 20, 2012
Low dewpoints, clear skies and light winds were the perfect recipe for record low temperatures this weekend. Let’s take a look at how each of these factors contributed to some cool mornings…
START WITH – Low Dewpoints: The dewpoint is a measure of the amount of moisture in the atmosphere. When dewpoints climb above 60 degrees in the summer, the air feels warm and muggy. Warm dewpoints on a summer night also limit cooling. This is because as the air temperature gets close to the dewpoint, relative humidity increases and condensation occurs. The process of condensation releases heat into the air causing the temperature to level-off near the dewpoint. So when the dewpoint is lower, that “level-off” happens at a lower temperature. That was the case this weekend as dewpoints dropped into the 40s.
ADD IN – Clear Skies: Starry skies are needed for temperatures to fall close to the dewpoint. During the day pavement, buildings, vegetation and soil absorb heat from the sun. During the night, that heat gets released back toward space. When the nighttime sky is cloudy, those clouds act like a blanket at night, keeping temperatures warm. However, when the nighttime sky is clear, heat released from earth escapes into space causing temperatures to drop. Locations that saw record lows this weekend all had clear skies for a majority of the night.
In winter, we welcome the cloudy blanket for warmth.
MIX WITH – Light Winds: Wind speed is the final factor in how low temperatures can fall. Since air normally cools from the ground up, the air closest to the ground is the coolest overnight. As you increase in elevation off the ground, the temperature normally gets warmer. If the wind is strong overnight, the cool air near the surface mixes with the warmer air above, which limits the potential for cooling. However, on a night with light winds, the air near the ground continues to cool with no influence from warm air above. Wind speeds were generally less than 5 mph this weekend.
August 9, 2012
Rumbles of thunder and the pitter-patter of rain last night brought hope to many across the area. The biggest smiles were found in St. Charles, MO where they saw over two inches of rain! However, most of us felt teased as it barely settled the dust.
How much will it take to really make a difference?
A whole lot more than just normal precipitation is needed, especially in the Central Plains. An occasional inch or two of rain might green up your brown, crunchy lawn, but it will do little to regenerate your local water shed. An extended period of above normal precipitation is needed to chip away at the deficit and restore the water supply.
Most people across the region came to the conclusion that July was hot and dry, however just how hot and how dry? We have gathered data for several cities across the area, finding the Top 10 hottest and Top 10 driest Julys on record. Each city had a July average temperature that ranked in the Top 10, with St. Louis having the hottest July on record. While it was also dry across the region, the precipitation numbers vary a lot more than temperature as isolated thunderstorms provided hit and miss rainfall. For example, Omaha managed to have their driest July on record with only 0.01″ of precipitation, which also ranks as their sixth driest month ever! Meanwhile, Columbia managed to see a few of those hit and miss thunderstorms, which led to 1.56″ of precipitation, making it their 26th driest July. Check out how your city ranks with the graphs below:
Omaha, NE
St. Joseph, MO
Kansas City, MO
Columbia, MO
St. Louis, MO
Springfield, MO
July 26, 2012
The latest drought monitor has been released and the Central Plains saw conditions slightly worsen over the past week. Although there was some rainfall that occurred this morning across the area, the latest update only includes precipitation through 6am CST on July 24. The contiguous United States has just over 80% of the county with abnormally dry or worse conditions, a whopping 63.9% actually in some form of drought. To make matters worse, over 20% of the country is in extreme or exceptional drought, first time since mid-February 2003. Below is a closer look at individual states:
Nebraska
100% of the state is in severe or worse drought with a majority (64%) actually in extreme or worse. Eastern Nebraska has managed some rain recently which has provided it with slightly better conditions, while the central portion of the state sees the first exceptional drought rating for Nebraska since July of 2004. Like many other states, three months ago there was a single acre in Nebraska being designated in severe or worse drought, indicating just how quickly the lack of rainfall has built up.
Kansas
Kansas also has 100% of the state in severe or worse drought conditions with the latest drought update, and a large majority (over 72%) in extreme or exceptional drought. Extreme drought covers much of western Kansas and extends across portions of the entire state, including the metro areas of Wichita, Topeka and the Kansas City area. While less than a year ago there was nearly 18% of the state in exceptional drought compared to the current 9% the difference lies in the sheer expansive nature of this drought, only 75% of the state was in a form of drought then.
Missouri
As you could have expected, Missouri is another one of the four states that has 100% of their area in severe or worse drought (Iowa is the other along with Kansas and Nebraska). The southeast portion of the state is hardest hit, where parts of 11 counties have been designated in exceptional or worse drought. Extreme drought covers a large portion of the state, including the St. Louis Metro, Kansas City Metro and the cities of Springfield, Columbia and many more. The cities of Jefferson City and Joplin are currently designated in only severe drought, however with little rain in sight for the next week they could see the extreme category in the next update.
