Good morning bloggers,
Hurricane Nicole has weakened and continues to weaken over Florida today.
Nicole made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane at around 3 a.m. near Vero Beach, Florida. Now that it is over land, it is weakening as it has lost its energy source over the warmer waters.
7 a.m. radar:
- A blizzard warning is in effect over North Dakota and northwest Minnesota today
- Hurricane Nicole continues to weaken and is no longer a hurricane this morning
- A thin line of showers is developing and heading toward KC near a strong cold front
As you can see above, there is a strong cold front approaching Kansas City. It was still west of Topeka at 7 a.m.
This means we will be in the warmer air for the first half of the day, and then we will get a cold blast dropping our temperatures from the lower 70s into the 40s.
There will also be a near 100% chance of rain this afternoon. The rain may increase later this afternoon along and south of Interstate 35 with a few thunderstorms possible.
So, we have a blizzard up north where over a foot of snow will fall with winds gusting over 40 mph, a weakening tropical storm over Florida and a thin line of showers heading toward KC.
This thin line of showers will grow later today and temperatures will drop. This rain will add to the blessing we had with the rain less than a week ago.
The rains that saved Kansas City
By Hugh Crowther National Weather Service meteorologist and University of Oklahoma graduate
Less than a week ago, we had an amazing rain event in Kansas City. In fact, it was the 26th wettest November by Nov. 5 after last Saturday's rain and snow.
Hugh Crowther wrote the following report about this rain that "saved KC." Let's take a couple minutes to read this information.
Much anticipated rains arrived Friday morning and did not disappoint. By the time some “wrap around” rains (briefly mixed with snow) came to an end during the mid-morning hours on Saturday, the Kansas City area had been drenched with 2-3 1/2 inches of rain. Showers on Monday, Oct. 24, had provided some relief from the drought conditions, but this rain likely will bring back to life a lot of lawns.
The rainfall total at the Kansas City International Airport of 2.43 inches smashed the previous record for the date of 1.56 inches set in 1956 and was the fifth-highest daily rainfall total of record for November. It nearly cut in half the deficit since Sept. 1, raising the seasonal rainfall to 4.98 inches (2.61 inches below normal) and raised the precipitation for the year to 31.83 inches (4.20 inches below normal), cutting that deficit by more than 1/3.
Another .43 inches fell after Midnight, raising the total for the month to 2.86 inches, tying 1909 as the 26th wettest November of record. At the start of the day, a broad band of showers and embedded thunderstorms associated with a cold front crossing the central U.S. extended northeastward from south central Kansas, across southeastern Nebraska and far northwestern Missouri. The cold front moved slowly southeastward across the Kansas City area between 5-9 a.m.
Rain began to fall at Saint Joseph, Missouri, after 5 a.m., rain began at the Kansas City International Airport after 7 a.m. and by noon rain was falling across all of the Kansas City area. Showers and isolated embedded thunderstorms produced moderate to heavy rain at times during the afternoon and evening hours. There was a break in the rain for a few hours, then an area of rain, at times mixed with snow, brought additional light rain during the early to mid morning hours on Saturday. Skies then cleared from west to east between 9-11 a.m.
By the time it was all over, more than two inches of rain had fallen across the Kansas City area, with up to 3.50 inches over southeastern sections. The 2.86-inch total was the most rain at KCI since 3.07 was received on Tuesday, May 31, and Wednesday, June 1, and trees and lawns and gardens all across the Kansas City area were saying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!”
The day began unseasonably warm. Strong southerly winds and increasing clouds kept temperatures in the upper 60s through most of the pre-dawn hours. The passage of the cold front then brought a sharp drop in temperature. The temperature at the Kansas City International Airport plunged from 70 degrees at 6 a.m. to 52 degrees at 7 a.m., while the temperature in Lawrence, Kansas, plunged from 70 degrees to 49 degrees.
Temperatures then slowly dropped from the upper 40s at daybreak to the lower 40s by sunset and remained in the lower 40s the rest of the evening. The temperature at the airport cooled from a high of 70 degrees at 5:08 a.m. to a low of 41 degrees at 11:59 p.m. The high of 70 degrees was 11 degrees above normal, the low of 41 degrees was three degrees above normal and the mean temperature for the day of 56 degrees was eight degrees above normal. Strong and gusty south winds prevailed ahead of the cold front. Strong gusty winds prevailed behind the cold front. Winds averaged 15.2 mph for the day, with a peak wind of 22 mph out of the north-northeast and a peak gust of 32 mph out of the west-northwest. The strong northerly winds produced wind chill readings in the 30s during the late afternoon and evening hours.
The cold front brought to an end the second warmest start to November. The average daily high of 77.7 degrees the first three days of the month was just shy of the record of 78 degrees for the first three days of November in 1938 and 1964.
The barometric pressure dropped from 29.82 inches (1009.0 millibars) at the start of the day to 29.60 inches (1002.4 millibars) by the end of the day.
Rainfall amounts from last week's rains that saved KC:
- 3.65 inches Raytown
- 3.50 inches Belton
- 3.20 inches Blue Springs
- 3.03 inches Kansas City, Missouri (8 SW)
- 3.03 inches Overland Park
- 3.02 inches Liberty
- 2.98 inches Prairie Village
- 2.87 inches Raymore
- 2.86 inches Kansas City International Airport
- 2.78 inches Kansas City, Kansas (5 WNW)
- 2.77 inches Shawnee
- 2.76 inches Gladstone
- 2.67 inches Olathe (Johnson County Executive Airport)
- 2.65 inches Lenexa
- 2.60 inches Kansas City, Missouri (Mike Weinrich)
- 2.55 inches Lee’s Summit
- 2.51 inches Parkville
- 2.41 inches Kansas City Downtown Airport
- 2.14+ inches Olathe (New Century Airport)
- 2.18 inches Smithville (6 SE) (Christa and Larry Jacobs)
Thank you to Hugh Crowther for this great information!
Kansas City weather timeline:
- Today: It will be mostly cloudy, windy and mild. South winds 20-30 mph this morning will switch to the northwest this afternoon. There is a 100% chance of rain briefly northwest of KC and a little longer duration along and southeast of I-35 later today. Temperatures will drop from the lower 70s into the 40s this afternoon. Rainfall amounts of 0.10" northwest to nearly an inch southeast of KC is likely.
- Tonight: Rain will end by midnight. There is a possibility of some black ice by morning, but most of the water should dry out and evaporate before it drops to below freezing. This is something we are monitoring. Low: 25°
- Friday: Partly cloudy with wind chills in the teens during the morning. High: 38°
Thank you for sharing in this weather experience and spending a few minutes of your day reading the weather blog. Have a great day!
Gary
