Good morning bloggers,
It was another fascinating weather day across the U.S. on Monday.
Tornadoes formed in Colorado near and just north of Denver. An organized complex of thunderstorms tracked south of Kansas City from Texas and Arkansas into Alabama last night.
While these things were going on, Kansas City again missed the rain. I say "again" lightly, but it means more to me than it may mean to you. I titled the blog "It's amazing it has rained at all in KC," because we have had near average rainfall in 2021 and yet it has been quite undramatic.
It never reached 90 degrees in May and we had 17 days when rain fell. Now, here we are in June waiting for our first measurable rain. Here are the May statistics:
And here is the rainfall so far this month:
Yesterday was a fascinating weather day across the U.S. The most fascinating was what happened north of Denver:
This tornado is fascinating for so many reasons. Look closely at the funnel cloud near Firestone, Colorado.
There is a point here, no pun intended, that I have been making for my entire 36-year career. Look at the point, the bottom of the funnel, the whitish-gray point that is actually what is called a condensation funnel.
If you put your hand over the debris cloud on the ground, then it looks like just a funnel cloud. This is a great example of how you can see a funnel cloud, and it appears it is not on the ground.
The condensation funnel, the light gray part, is caused by the extreme low pressure forming in that part of the cumulonimbus cloud. This allows for the funnel to form and condense into a cloud.
The funnel, however, actually extends to the ground. There just wasn't any condensation yet.
Condensation could occur in just seconds, and I have seen it happen in many video examples. This tornado was on the ground as you can see here.
I thought this was what is called a "land spout," but after analyzing I believe it is a legitimate tornado formed from a mesocyclone in the cumulonimbus cloud.
A "land spout" is a type of tornado anyway. They form more like waterspouts do over water, and are usually rather weak.
While this tornado was forming, Kansas City had no rain, but one shower just south of the city produced this beautiful rainbow.
The weather pattern is cycling perfectly according to the LRC.
Yesterday, in the blog, we shared the forecast for the Olympics in Tokyo. We are now 46 days from the opening of the Olympics, which just happens to be the cycle length of this year's LRC.
The pattern now will return during the Olympics, and this allows us to make an accurate prediction for the Olympics this far out. The prediction will be as accurate as our 7-day forecast is today.
The weather pattern is right on schedule. This part of the pattern is so similar to the other cycles, and at the same time we are now experiencing the almost summer version.
The jet stream is retreating. Tornado season is about to end, and it was the quietest one in Kansas City history.
Yes, we have set the record for the quietest severe weather season ever, and it comes after the second quietest severe weather season ever a year ago.
There will likely be a complex of thunderstorms Friday in the morning northwest of Kansas City. This may be our best chance of rain in the next week. We will discuss this on 41 Action News.
We have been tracking this next part of the LRC for a possible tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico.
The water is still a bit cool for anything major. Rarely are there hurricanes in June, but tropical storms are possible. This is due in between June 10th and 20th.
Let's see if something forms.
It will be a nice late spring day with a high near 87 degrees. A few cumulus clouds will build up again.
The chance of rain is 10% and a few isolated showers or weak thunderstorms may form. There is a 90% chance you will not have one today.
Put that sunscreen on. It will be a nice pool day.
Thank you for sharing in this weather experience. Have a great day!
Gary
