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Lol. That drawling sucks.

Gary & team: Here's a good question I have had on my mind a while.

Which came first? Wind or water?

Gary,

Great pictures.  I've lived in Independence for years.  Our kids and our schools are great.

Try using a bit smaller treat to have Stormy catch off her nose.  You'll be surprised how quickly she can nab something smaller.

Kids, dogs and active weather...life is good, huh?

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Yes!  I do usually use smaller treats, but she did eventually get it.

Gary

Cold front is going through Topeka now and passed through here in McLouth about 30 minutes ago.  Our high was 57 and now it has dropped to 56.4, winds are still light 4.3 from the nw.

That band of precip in Iowa and Neb. looks interesting, will have to see how it evolves over time... the rollercoaster is almost about to tumble here in St. Joe!!! Actually from now through Wed. it will be more like intense "camelback" humps like at the end of the Mamba, try not to get "whiplash";)

Temps are overachieving prior to the next plunge in N Tx as well.  It's 79 currently, but it'll struggle to reach 50 tomorrow.  :(  Up and down the temps go.  Exciting temp-wise, but not so much precip-wise.  Speaking of dry, Mineral Wells, Tx (50 miles west of Fort Worth) finished 2008 with only a fraction over 20 inches of rain, which was over 11 inches below average.  If 2007 had not been such a wet year in this area, N Tx would be in a significant drought.  The overall dryness is worsening each month and drought conditions are not far off if more precip does not start falling by spring.  A severe to extreme drought already exists in south Texas.  Incredibly, the official temp station at DFW Airport registered the second-warmest year on record in 2008!  And December was the 17th consecutive month with above average monthly temperatures there.  Sometimes it seems the DFW thermometer reads a degree or two higher than what it seems it should and I have contacted the NWS Fort Worth office w/r/t this and they are looking into it.  (This was very noticeable during Monday's icing event, when DFW was 34 degrees while Dallas Love Field was 32 degrees.)  NWS tells me others have also inquired about this.  Gary, didn't KCI have an issue with their thermo reading a little too high a few years ago and you contacted them about it?  Was there a confirmed problem there that was then fixed?

According to the NCDC, here are a few statistics on average snowfall compared to what has accumulated so far to the west of Kansas City.

Goodland, KS: Average 37.7, This season 6.7
Dodge City, KS: Average 20.3, This season 1.2
Topeka, KS: Average 20.7, This season 5.6
Wichita, KS: Average 15.7, This season 4.6
Springfield, MO: Average 17.8, This season 0.8
Denver, CO: Average 60.3, This season 12.0
Amarillo, TX: Average 16.4, This season 0.6
Oklahoma City, OK: Average 9.5, This season Trace
Tulsa, OK: Average 10.0, This season 0.4
Lincoln, NE: Average 27.8, This season 5.5
Omaha, NE: Average 31.2, This season 5.6

These places will definitely need to see 1-2 major winter storms!

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Excellent information.  We will make a graphic and show it tonight at 5, 6, and 10 PM.

Gary

The cold air is really lagging behind the front this time around- not seeing such a drastic drop in temps like we have with recent cold fronts..the winds are howlling here is Central KS- 30-40 mph out of the N-NW

The current LRC is easing the drought in the SE U.S. while revving up a new drought across the southern and central Plains.  Maybe with the return of spring atmospheric moisture there will be some SE-moving MCS's that will help, assuming NW flow continues to dominate in the central states?  My fear is that a large and powerful anticyclone will develop this summer and generate fiercely hot and dry conditions over this incipient drought area in the Plains.

rstull- i sent you a message

JpnKC- I replied back

Winds are sure cranking up out west.

When will temps start to fall???  

Very frustrating to look at the long range maps and see all these storms skirt by to the NE.   We seem to be on the very edge of getting trace amounts while even St Louis will get hit in the next week or 2.     My buddy lives in Chicago and is sick of the snow... I am very jealous!

At least I got out with my dog and enjoyed the great day we had.  
Great Job Gary

Well the wind is really starting to kick here in McLouth.  13.6 gusting to 18.9 now, temp is holding pretty good at 55, but now that the wind is picking uup I am sure that will start crashing soon.

You can forget January and look forward to February for snow lovers.  

Great day today Gary!!  And great photos, too!

Sorry snow lovers, but you live in a place where January is the driest month of the year...so you end up disappointed a lot. It's just so hard for significant moisture to mix with cold air here....

I'm not for sure, but I would say the front is starting to move through St. Joseph. I was outside tryign to get the last of the Christmas decorations down from the house and yard, when the wind starting blowing out of the north and the temperature is dropping. We were at 56 its now down to 48. The difference was very noticable. If I hadn't been outside I probably wouldn't have known until I went to leave the house again.

Yes the northwesterly winds are howling again here in St. Joe, another cold front down in this season of strong fronts.  With this pattern that we are in and the dry conditions it is producing out west, it makes me wonder what kind of dry line situations we will have this spring...

Cold front through Basehor...from 63 to 52 already and winds out of the NW.  I knew it was too good to believe!  I am ready for spring! :)

If in the 18z GFS run, 204hrs and beyond doesn't just blow your mind...I am not sure what will.

Even as much as I am buried in the LRC, it blows my mind every time to see how it performs.  

As you go through each frame and watch the movement and compare to the most recent LRC forecast/prevous cycles is wonderful to watch.

The big change in regime [phase] happens just out of scope of the current run...what will the weather world say when this happens?  

I guess while others will be scratching their collective NAO/PNA soaked minds and scurring to backpedal [er...update their Winter forecasts AGAIN]...perhaps we will look at the calander and think it is right on time.

Amazing.

Very true, Rdub.  Based on the pattern, and the climate for this area in January, big snowfalls will be very tough.  Perhaps a shortwave here and there, and a quick dusting or so, but very localized.  

Perhaps toward the end of the month, we will have some better chances as the pattern begins to shift.

39 Now in McLouth and falling now at the rate 8 per hour.  This is not nice.  The wind is 17 gusting to 26 from the nw.

How much snow will fall near JoCo Airport, a dusting is all I want!

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There will be no accumulation. We will be lucky if we see some snowflakes.

The better chance for snow will be coming soon.

Gary

Come on Gary lets keep our feet on the ground.  I saw you just before the news started off saying snow is developing.  Give us all a break.  If that is not hype, then there is no such ting.  That small bit of snow is so light and subject to so much wind, not to mention the sir aloft is so dry, that little if any will reach the surface.  Probably not even to show as even the slightest dusting.  I agree with most of what you say, but this time you went to far overboard.

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Maybe, maybe not!  I will take the criticism, but I am telling you I didn't imply that it would snow in Kansas City any more than blowing in the road.  You have to remember that Maryville, Trenton, and many spots to the north are also in the viewing.  Am I allowed to get excited for them?

Gary

Here in Osawatomie it went from 60 to 44 with a windchill of 35.  It dropped about five or ten minutes ago when the wind kicked up & started howling.

So I'm guessing it was the front moving through.  The wind is still pretty strong, at least the wind chimes are getting a work out!

Here we go again the North wind is blasting in. House is creaking.

The winds seem stronger than 30 MPH. Are they going to be stronger than this tonight???

And is there going to be another Artic blast next Saturday. I wasn't quite sure what Gary said about another blast. So is there on on Wednesday into Thursday and then another one after that. And I assume these will be accompanied by strong winds too?

Well 32 now in McLouth.  The weather station here is indicating a 6 degree per hour drop.  Winds out of the nw at 17 gusting to 33.  Just talked to a friend up north of Concordia. that stuff isn't even reaching the ground that radar is showing.  I didn't think it would.  Even if it did, the wind is blowing so hard it would have to snow like a banshee to amount to anything.  This one will fizzle, spit and sputter far from KC.

The wind shifted here near Centerview about 10 minutes ago.  Farmgirl, our house is creaking too.  

I hate the wind so much that I am looking at Ranch style homes with siding and low ceilings - no more 16 foot open ceilings for me! Been out with the realtor for the past three weekends. Not many nice ranch homes that are set-up for livestock and have 20+ acres.

My current house is 2 story with huge windows and is only 10 years old. You'd think it would be better built to handle the wind and not creak so much... but it has been blasted by several severe storms and a tornado so I guess it is to be expected.

I'd go to an earth contact, but hubby doesn't like them. So the search continues tomorrow. One good thing is that I'll be able to see if I can see or feel wind inside some of the homes.

FYI

The movie Twister just came on.  Go to TBS to watch! I love this movie.

Farmgirl -

I have no clue where you live or where you are looking to move, but along the k-32 corridor between Bonner and just East of Linwood has several stand along farms.  Not sure on the acreage or where you want to move.  I have noticed a ton of homes + land up for sale.

Gary,

What kind of Features are you working for AWP? When we get to see them?


PS: I love the new Howie Do it show!!

It has really cooled down outside. It was 60 degrees this afternoon in Mission and now it is 35. It wasn't quite the dramatic sudden temperature drop that we've seen with some of the other cold fronts this winter, this one was a little slower. But it is still impressive!

Fergenson I think that painting is pretty good for 5th graders.... And Gary I know we might see a snowflake or two tonight, but when do you think we could see the next accumulating snow?

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There is a chance early to mid-next week and then later this month and February will be quite active.

Gary

Gary,
I sent you an email.
Doug

I think K.C. should take the "windy city" moniker away from Chicago! Just a hunch, but I bet our average wind speed is greater than theirs. They can have the snow...

I was going through my photos on my laptop tonight. I was looking at photos of Spring. It is a totally different world. I forgot how green and pretty everything is. sigh..

Gary you are absolutely allowed to get excited for every town, city and rural area.  We would expect nothing less out of someone like you, who I at least consider the most enthusiastic and accurate weather man this region has ever had.  Its just the way you implied the snow in Nebraska was coming and it was going to leave a considerable amount in its wake.  When you were on the air with that broadcast just before the news I was talking to my mom who lives in KC.  She was watching tv also and heard and saw you.  She wanted to hang up and head to the store before the storm got to her.  It took me quite a while to bring her back to earth and type a blog message to you.  I know you love snow and demand it at every occassion between November and March, I don't like snow and ya'll are crazy that do.  Try working in the stuff its not fun.  But even though I don't like it, the winter wheat, hay fields and Christmas Tree farms need it bad.  This has not been a good winter for anyone involved with any of these three.

I really feel uncomfortable now at my school Lee's Summit North as a school shooting broke out tonight after the basketball game.  What is this world coming too?

good morning from a very windy unconfortable st jo. 23 degrees but feels much cooler. not good dog walking here.

We had a very light dusting if you could even call it that at the International airport about 630 this morning.  It was enough to blow across the street and that was about it. It was also enough to start deicing airplanes.  How annoying... ;)

Light snow in harrisonville this morning.  Blowing in the roads.