Happy Tuesday, blog readers —
Do you remember the 2002 drought?
The 2002 drought was caused by a persistent Bermuda High that pushed hot, dry air into the Midwest and Mississippi Valley.
This prevented the formation of rain-producing clouds, resulting in the driest stretch of weather in Kansas City history when we went 41 days without rain.
This dry streak ended Dec. 26 with light wrap-around rain from a system near the Great Lakes. We measured 0.03" that day.
Our current dry streak was not quite that long, sitting at 26 days, but it did end in a very similar manner.
It may not be the longest dry spell in history, but it does rank in the top 35 dry spells for Kansas City.
Well, consider it over as of a few rain drops last night.
Pathetic and technical end to our 26 day dry streak... gosh we still really need some rain in KC! @KSHB41 #KSwx #MOwx #KCwx pic.twitter.com/rgfDIJx2iX
— ☀️ Cassie Wilson (@CassieKSHB) October 22, 2024
Last night's rain certainly left many of us thirsty.
The good news is we have a few more rain chances lining up, but the bad news is that possibly the best storm setup we've seen in months is eyeing Halloween.
Today, we've got a cold front approaching, kicking up warmth and wind as it moves into the area. Expect another mid-80° day in Kansas City, but a cooler Wednesday is loading.
Temperatures will cool as high pressure moves in behind this cold front, reinforcing a one day cooldown.
Then, that high moves through and kicks us back into a warm southerly flow for Thursday.
Thursday's cold front will be different as it has a connection to the Gulf.
We haven't been able to tap into Gulf moisture in a while, so this cold front will spark some thunderstorm activity alongside a cooldown.
Expect this front to bring storms in around sunset from the northwest, with impact in the metro closer to 10 p.m. or midnight.
We are not expecting any severe weather with Thursday night's activity, but noisy thunder and gusty winds are in the forecast.
If you have kids or pets sensitive to storms, prepare to be woken up. AKA — I'll be putting Zella in her thunder jacket and hoping we can all sleep through the night, but my dog woke up with last night's weak sauce rain, so here's to hoping.
The upcoming rain won't be a drought buster by any means, but it could bring up to 0.25" of rain to the area.
We will back away from our warm October trend behind this front for more than one day, though.
Expect temperatures in the mid-60s to low 70s Friday through early next week.
By Sunday, we begin to nudge away the chances to return to warm weather as a surface low looks to try and form on the backside of the ridge.
I am not fully convinced this system will bring rain yet. But what it will do is create the right runway for the next low.
Halloween
This weekend, we will be watching a low-pressure system move toward the Pacific Northwest.
The main core of low pressure will journey north back toward central Canada, but a secondary low is looking to form off the cold front near Denver.
This setup will be one to keep an eye on as it is looking to either bring rain right ahead of Halloween or on Halloween.
The timing of this system continues to fluctuate, but there is certainly consensus that wet weather will hit our area.
When it comes to Halloween, we tend to see rain about 1/3 of the time, so this wouldn't be too crazy.
The main focus, as a parent myself, is making sure you have room in your kiddo's costume for layers or a clear poncho ready to maintain the magic.
I do feel like we will be trending closer to normal temperature-wise, so it shouldn't be icy cold like it was last year.
Last year, we had a storm right before Halloween bring us snow flurries!
We will be tracking this end-of-the-month storm closely, so make sure to check back for updates.
In the meantime, enjoy the rollercoaster temps and be ready for some storms Thursday night.
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