Wichita area to see rains, but not from Hurricane Laura

The remnants of Hurricane Laura aren’t likely to reach Kansas, forecasters say, and that’s bad news for a thirsty Sunflower State.

While there’s a chance that fragments of the powerful hurricane could brush southeast Kansas, the most likely track for the remnants will be the Ark-La-Tex region before moving east into the Ohio Valley, said Eric Metzger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The good news, Metzger said, is the front that’s going to block Laura from paying a visit is expected to bring some rains to the region this weekend.

“There’s a decent shot of some decent rains” across much of the eastern half of Kansas this weekend, he said. “I really don’t see it as a drought-buster. It also really depends on how strong this second front is coming in on Monday.”

The Weather Prediction Center projects about a half-inch of rain for much of eastern Kansas, including the Wichita area, from the storms this weekend. Even more accumulation is expected from the second round of rain early next week.

More than an inch of additional rain is projected in parts of eastern Kansas. While the rain will be welcome news for farmers fretting about their wilting fall crops, it’s what else that second front is bringing that will garner most of the attention.

“We’re in for a powerful cold front coming through Monday evening into Tuesday,” Metzger said. “If it comes in as advertised, it will feel like our first shot of fall.”

Morning temperatures will feel “crisp,” he said.

That will bring jackets out of closets and fire up longings for pumpkin spice and everything else that autumn brings.

While the Drought Monitor shows western Kansas is the driest part of the state, southeastern Kansas could also use a drink. Chanute is nearly 10 inches below normal for rainfall this summer alone.

Wichita also is below normal for the year, though it’s less than 2 inches. But it’s been a dry August, with only .08 of an inch of rain for the entire month through Wednesday.

The Drought Monitor shows 15 counties along or near the Colorado border in moderate or severe drought. The western half of the state isn’t projected to get much relief from the same systems expected to bathe eastern Kansas, however.

“We could use a winter with a decent amount of snow,” Metzger said. “The ground and crops need it.”

For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac is predicting Mother Nature will answer Metzger’s wish.

Kansas and the northern Great Plains can expect a cold, snowy winter. In particular, the Almanac reports, the Southern Plains can expect “copious amounts of snow, sleet and rain” in February.

While studies have shown the almanac’s accuracy is on par with a coin flip, this much is known: it was not an unusually hot summer in Kansas.

Only twice has the temperature reached triple digits in Wichita, Metzger said, and both times it was only 100.

“We haven’t had the extreme heat that we normally get,” he said. “The past couple of summers haven’t been that bad.”

This August has been steamy, however, and the storm front early next week should wipe that away.

“If it’s’ going to shut this humidity off, I’m all for it,” Metzger said.

This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 4:46 PM.