Good morning bloggers,
The picture below was taken on Saturday by Linda K. Lewis, Overland Park. The sun was setting as the remnants of Hurricane Ike were moving in.
It is a major change in the weather pattern. We will look back and then look ahead to some fantastic weather in this mornings blog entry.
Four tropical systems have had a significant impact on our weather this summer (Dolly, Gustav, Lowell, and Ike). Dolly was earlier in the summer, but the other three have helped our September rainfall totals add up. Let’s begin by looking back at the first 14 days of September. It rained 12 of the first 14 days of the month. Here are some rainfall totals from these two extremely wet weeks:
We were affected by two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and a tropical storm from the Pacific. Hurricane Gustav on September 2nd, and 3rd and a cold front was absorbed into Gustav’s circulation with this combination producing some heavy rain in the region. And, then Tropical Storm Lowell in the Pacific Ocean sent copious amounts of moisture across Mexico streaming our way. And, then this combined with the influence from Hurricane Ike on Friday and Saturday. This influence created a unique set-up that resulted in tornadoes across eastern Kansas and western Missouri on Friday afternoon. The following graphics come from the Pleasant Hill National Weather Service website:
I was writing a blog entry last week when the first tornado warning was issued by the National Weather Service for a cell over Henry county, MO. I was showing the surface set-up that was primed and ready to provide the ingredients for these tornadic cells. There may have been as many as 9 tornadoes including this one that you can see above on the Doppler radar image. You are looking at the couplet with the bright red showing the winds blowing away from the radar (the raindrops are moving away from the radar site in Pleasant Hill) and the bright green showing the strong winds blowing towards the radar. This is a strong indication that there is a tornado, and it was producing damage near DeSoto, KS. While DeSoto was being hit by this EF0 tornado there were many other cells close to doing the same thing in a line right near Kansas City. Go to the National Weather Service Site to see more pictures.
The weather pattern is calming down. I don't even see our next chance of rain, and if you feel that you were robbed of the last part of summer, well, here comes summers last harrah! It should warm up nicely this week. Look below at the 500 mb forecast for mid-week:
The jet stream is retreating and there is an anticyclone forecast to be over Colorado by Wednesday and this will help us heat up to near 80 or higher this week.
Oh, yeah, and I was at the Chiefs game yesterday. Ouch! That was painfall to sit and watch. It actually hurts to sit out there (emotionally). But, as the season goes on, it will be interesting to see if the Chiefs can win one game. They have lost ELEVEN in a row, and if they lose all 16 this year it will be a 25 game losing streak, unheard of in the NFL. That's my sports statement of the day.
Gary