More 100 Degree Days and Cute Video!
I’ll save the cute video for the end of the blog, because frankly we’ll deserve it.
Nothing really has changed concerning the latest data. Highs today should be somewhere between 100-105°. As of 1PM KCI is 1° hotter than yesterday at the same time and Downtown is 3° hotter. There is less wind though reducing mixing a bit, but by the same token the humidity is lower (dewpoints are near 65° as opposed to 70° from yesterday at this time) so the heat index values are going to be very similar to the temperatures, or at least within about 5°.
Really the only change is in the “dryness” of the air that is on top of us. Here is a look at the dewpoints in the region. Notice the thicker stuff is up to the north of here, toward the I-80 corridor.
Notice how dry the air is towards the Ozarks. Their dewpoints are in 40s, which is VERY unusual for this time of the year.
Here is the 1PM map. I’ve outlined the 95° area in black and the 100° area in RED. There’s a lot of real estate seeing 100°+ weather.
When you click on the above map, you will also notice a weak front closer to the I-80 corridor. This will remain nearly stationary over the next several days and perhaps flare with renewed convection in the PM hours. It’s the reason why the potential for scattered storms is a pinch higher up there. This will need to be watched for the potential of convective debris cloud cover to move across the region over the weekend. If you want to get your hopes up, probably wasted hopes, the hi-res NAM model is actually trying to create some sort of outflow from N MO storms and move it towards the KC Metro area on Saturday, firing up some additional convection. At this point we will not insert that into the forecast but something to barely think about tomorrow. Maybe though it’s suggesting the potential for a bit of cloud cover. Regardless the forecast will remain unchanged essentially. “Less hot” weather is expected SUN-MON with 95-100° in the forecast. The ridge (hot air generator) will intensify a pinch by Tuesday so we should nudge closer to 100°
The fires out west continue, hundreds of homes have been lost in Colorado Springs as officials are wrapping the hands around the destruction. The smoke from said fires have spread across most of the country east of the Rockies to varying degrees. Here is a satellite loop showing the extent. The fibrous looking haze is the smoke in the atmosphere. if you look closely enough you can actually see the origination of the smoke as well.
It’s likely that today will be the “hottest” day of the heat wave, until the ridge intensifies again. The latest EURO suggests we may be nudging back into the nastier stuff heading towards next weekend. There continues to be no real good chance of any convection unless something weird happens with the trof/front across the I-80 corridor. That boundary will lift farther north early next week which isn’t good news for rainfall hopes closer to home.
The latest drought report came out, and it showed little week-to-week change across our region. That’s because of the beneficial rainfall we saw last week. That moisture that recharged the soil is now tapped out but the dry heat/sunshine and wind. Unless something dramatic happens, I would suspect the report next week will be VERY gloomy concerning the drought situation.
Finally some cute video of a puppy taking on a crab on the beach! I wish there was an ocean nearby!
Joe
