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Hello Spring! Mother Nature has treated us with a day more typical of April on the final day of January. Record highs fell across the region as temperatures warmed to around 70 degrees! Kansas City broke the record high for January 31st which was 69 degrees set in 1989. Back on Monday we were the only local weather source to lock onto the big warm-up for today. Here is a look at the high temperatures in a few locations and the previous record.
- KCI Airport 70 (69 1989)
- Downtown KC 72
- St. Joseph 71 (70 1989)
- Tampa, FL 64
The warm weather is great for those that want to enjoy some time outdoors, but the warmth combined with the very dry conditions led to an increased fire danger.
Today there were several reports of grass fires around the area. One in far southeast Kansas City and another in northern Clay County between Excelsior Springs and Lawson. Red Flag Warnings were in effect Saturday afternoon, and here is part of the statement that the NWS included with the warning:
A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.
The following two pictures were taken by John Hill of a large grass fire in Raymore, MO. The first picture showes the large flames. You can see the flames leaning more toward the right as the wind pushed the fire along.
The second picture shows the flames nearing a farm. The firefighters from Raymore, Belton, Grandview, and Peculiar battled the flames and saved the farm.
Thankfully I did not see any injuries reported with the various fires around the area.
One weather condition that helps to produce a high fire danger is an extended period of dry weather. January was bone dry across the region. In Kansas City January will go down as the second driest January on record. Here is a look at the top five driest.
- 1986 0.02"
- 2009 0.05"
- 1961 0.05"
- 1919 0.07"
- 1908 0.13"
Another thing January will be remembered for will be the temperature swings. Overall, January ended up slightly above average for temperatures. Most of this is due to the fact that high temperatures for the month were over 1 degree above average. Somewhat surprising is the fact that low temperatures ended up a little below average. Here are a few of the warmest January days this month.
- January 31 70
- January 22 64
- January 3 63
- January 9 59
The coldest stretch of weather was from January 13-16 when lows were in the single digits above and below zero. In my mind, the most memorable part of January will be the dry conditions. Looking back from December 1 to January 31 there has been 1.88" of precipitation at KCI. But if December 27 had not occurred our precipitation total from for the past two months would be standing at only 0.62"!
The news doesn't look very good for moisture this week. Right now a few flurries or some snow showers could arrive late Tuesday, but that chance is only at 30% right now. The focus in the near term will be the cooler air spilling in for Sunday and Monday. Highs should still be around 50 for Sunday. Hopefully something a little more exciting will be awaiting around or just after next weekend!
Thank you for stopping by Kansas City's #1 weather blog! Make sure to check out our newscasts on Sunday from 7-8 a.m. and after the Super Bowl and The Office at around 10:30 p.m. Gary will be issuing his February forecast update! Talk about must see TV!
Jeremy