Healing rains falling in fire-ravaged southwest Kansas
Thirsty southwest Kansas received another helping of needed rain Saturday — and it rewrote the record books in the process.
Dodge City recorded 2.44 inches of rain Saturday, more than doubling the record for April 1, according to the National Weather Service. The old mark of 1.21 inches, set in 1988, was broken by 6 a.m. Saturday.
Saturday’s rain followed substantial rains that fell in the middle of last week, ranging from 1.3 inches near the Colorado border to about 3.5 inches in central Kansas.
The record rainfall for the day on April 1st in Dodge City is 1.21". That record was broken by 6 am. #kswx
— NWS Dodge City (@NWSDodgeCity) April 1, 2017
Larry Ruthi, meteorologist-in-charge of the Dodge City branch of the National Weather Service, said more than 2 inches of rain fell in Clark and Comanche counties, where devastating wildfires last month burned more than 500,000 acres.
“We should see very rapid green-up in the next week or two” in the fire-ravaged areas, Ruthi said in an e-mail response to questions.
More rain is expected in southwest Kansas by midweek, forecasters say.
Wichita also received a hard rain on Saturday, but it was brief and didn’t amount to much: just .09, according to the weather service.
Stan Finger: 316-268-6437, @StanFinger
This story was originally published April 1, 2017 at 10:36 PM with the headline "Healing rains falling in fire-ravaged southwest Kansas."