KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Another great morning around the area will turn into a fabulous afternoon. Any small areas of fog have faded and skies are mostly sunny this morning. There is some light smoke in the atmosphere as well from the fires in the western U.S. and Canada.
The next couple of days will remain hot but dew points won’t be too bad really. That’s one reason why we’re seeing the delightful mornings lately. Lower dew points in the overnight hours allow temperatures to drop off overnight. There will be a cold front moving through early Sunday with some rain, and it appears my compromise thinking yesterday between the model solutions was a correct choice to make.
This means some rain in the region early Sunday and it also means the rain should move out quicker as well with a faster return of sunshine. Sunday should turn into a very nice day.
Then it gets hot again.
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Kansas City Forecast:
Today: Sunny and hot with highs in the mid-to-upper 80s.
Tonight: Fair and pleasant with lows in the low 60s.
Tomorrow: About the same. Upper 80s.
Saturday: Ditto.
Sunday: Any overnight rains end fast in the morning. Dry after 9 a.m. (or earlier). Rapid clearing with highs in the mid-70s. Breezy as well in the morning at least.
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Discussion:
Thought we’d start this morning with this amazing stat out of the western heat wave that continues.
Salt Lake City, Utah, yesterday hit 107 degrees. That is not only yet another September record high (I think their third or fourth one, they just keep getting hotter), it also ties their ALL-TIME record high which was set back in July. Remarkable for any day of the year, let alone September.
How far out of whack is the heat for them, despite a crazy hot summer?
The heat goes from the western Plains to California. Look at Denver, Colorado, they’ve had a real hot summer there too and today may be another 100-degree day there.
More record heat out in California as well.
So this means that Sacramento, California, over the last year has an all-time high, an all-time record wet day, and an all-time long dry stretch.
So how can I bring that home to you for KC? It would be the equal to us hitting around 114-115 degrees, getting over 8.84 inches of rain in one day, and having a 42-day long dry stretch (or longer). ALL happening in one year’s time.
It’s a parlay that just doesn’t happen, and it’s happening out there.
Amazing.
All the dry weather there as well as the changing climate and other human factors has created 1000s of fires. Hence, once again, we’re seeing smoke from those fires spill into the Plains. What once was a rare thing locally, in my experience, has now become an annual multiple-day occurrence.
The extreme heat and dryness will continue out there for another few days. What is interesting though to watch, the moisture from soon-to-be former hurricane Kay. This moisture may affect, especially southern California this weekend. There may be additional wild fire starts there over the coming days. Some gusty winds with the circulation of Kay may increase the fire danger. Then the moisture may actually help to damper the extent of the fires that will be enhanced by the winds of the former hurricane.
Kay is going to come ashore in central Baja California, Mexico, today. As it moves into cooler waters, it will continue to weaken and fall apart really.
It may maintain its tropical characteristics off the coast of southern California. The moisture from Kay will be increasing in southern California, and when you add in the heat and the moisture, along with winds that will be blowing from the east to the west up the mountains of southern California, you should get some strong storms with heavy rains.
This may lead to flooding rains in southern California.
So fires that are enhanced by the winds from fading Kay on Saturday, may be partially extinguished by heavy rains from Kay as well.
That is just bizzare.
Earl is still in the Atlantic churning away:
Danielle is almost off the chart. There are two other systems that may form as well. The one outlined in red is potentially Fiona
Back into KC.
When will the next front come to Kansas City?
Things with our next front are still looking like they are moving along. The front itself looks to move in later Saturday, but the rain will remain north of the front. So as the front sags farther and farther southwards, the rain will eventually make it towards the Interstate 35 corridor, sometime Saturday evening or overnight.
It will move out very quickly on Sunday and we should be left with a beautiful day. With the faster end to the rain and the breeze stirring the air around, we should see temperatures recover to around 75 degrees in the afternoon. So all the racing for the weekend looks good out at Kansas Speedway. No issues either day really.
I should mention that after a couple of cooler days, it will get hotter again later next week. In time for the home opener, upper 80s for tailgating in the shade, add 20 degrees for the pavement and the sunshine. Hot weather is expected right now for all the fun next Thursday.
The heat may linger too for awhile. Average highs by then drop into the upper 70s, so we will remain well above average perhaps into NEXT weekend.
So summer isn’t done with us quite yet.
The feature photo is from Kevin Kirkwood out at Grinter Farms in Kansas.
Joe
