I usually wish I was working on days of significant weather, today is one of those days. I was actually thinking about playing some golf later today but was overruled by my golf partner, so instead I decided to write a quick weather blog about the significance of the heat.

Now some would say the heat is nothing unusual, it's summer after all in KC...to ann extent that would be correct. However the potential for today is certainly very interesting and to me at least it points out how weather can be interesting/fascinating yet in a sense we're talking about the addition of a few more degrees compared to yesterday. Yesterday we were 100-105 and while interesting it was just a just another hot summer day this summer. Today though as we cross the 105 barrier, then things, statistically, get far more interesting to me.

The last time we were 106 was August 21st, 2001...
The last time we were 107+ was August 29th 1984 (109)

The record today is 104 set back in 1934 and tied in 1987

The ALL TIME record is 113 set back on August 14th, 1936 during the dust bowl days. (btw I just started reading a book about the dust bowl called "The Worst Hard Time"

I talked over the weekend about the likelihood that we would have highs between 105-110 today. The reasoning being that with SW winds ahead of a cold front, which we haven't had a lot of lately, a perfect storm, if you will , would be setting up. The furnace like heat that's been gripping areas to the SW from Wichita to Manhattan to Emporia and then farther SWards through Oklahoma City and Tulsa and then down through Texas, would move towards us. One key to that forecast of mine over the weekend was watching what happened in Emporia. They hit 107 on Sunday and that to me was telling. If they could get that high, we could do it as well...all we needed was a SW wind and today that's happening. We may still have a bit more moisture in the soil, especially N/NE of the metro compared to them, but from the stateline westwards we should be primed for a record high tody. Anytime you set record highs in August, that is pretty impressive in my book, hence the weather blog on my day off! As expected, today will be the hottest day for the entire summer...so I guess it's downhill from here right!

So as of 11AM we're already up to 97 @ KCI and 100 @ Gardner and Lawrence...some areas this afternoon will get close to, maybe exceed 110 especially from Downtown SW along I-35 and West along I-70 towards the Topeka area.

Here is the weather map from the 11AM hour...there is some relief showing up off to the NW of here in the form of that cold front...we should be some 15 degrees cooler tomorrow, as opposed to today so that's good.

The RED numbers are the temperatures.

It should be noted that after the front moves through tonight, the dewpoints which are dropping now and creating more desert like heat, will again surge upwards and it should be VERY muggy tomorrow despite the "less hot" weather.


Since I am blogging today, I also want to touch on Emily that is meandering through the Eastern Carribean. Wind are holding @ 40 MPH so it's a minimal Tropical Storm. The main concern for the next couple of days is the rainfall potential, especially for Haiti. There are still 600,000 folks living in tents there and with torrential rains possible and landslides likely because of deforestation, there is real concern about the residents of that impoverished island.

It's expected to intensify slowly and vary in intensity for the next few days as it interacts with some of the mountainous islands through that area. Here is the track forecast...

Obviously the Bahamas and FL will be on the lookout for this later in the week.

On the flip side of all this is the expanding and costly drought gripping the southern plains...now estimated at costing the nation $1.5 billion. 18% of the country is experiencing extreme to exceptional drought right now.. Records of this type of measurement began 12 years ago...so 1988 and 1980 aren't included in the historical reference.

No relief is expected down across the southern plains anytime soon...

Finally a sign that the seasons will be changing soon...for the first time in 3 months, tonight the sun will set in Barrow Alaska...@ 1:55 AM tomorrow the sun will go down...then promptly come back up @ 3:12 AM...what's fascinating up there is that they lose a ton of daylight per day now...and by the end of the month they are more than 8 hours shorter on daylight as opposed to today!

Stay cool and thanks for reading!

Joe