Good Friday bloggers,
April has been a rather active month as it rained 16 of the 30 days and 12 of the last 14 days. But, keep in mind the end of April, May & June are on average the wettest time of year. We average 10"-13" of rain.
KCI, which is the official sight for records in Kansas City received 3.34" of rain. This is 0.71" below average. Also, on the April stats we see our last freezes occurred on the 6th and 8th of April. This is right around the average dates for our last freeze.
Rainfall varied greatly across the area from around 2.50" in northwest Missouri to over 10" across southern and central Missouri. Amounts ranged from 10.38" at Sedalia, MO to 2.44" at St. Joseph, MO. Even in the KC metro area amounts ranged from 3.34" at KCI to 5.02" at Lee's Summit, MO to 5.69" in south Overland Park, KS.
These are 30 day radar estimated rainfall totals. Amounts ranged from under 2" around Maryville, MO to a foot of rain around Butler, MO.
When we widen the view, look at the rainfall from the southern Plains to Tennessee Valley. Amounts are in the 15"-20" range!
What is next?
We are tracking a storm system today that is coming from northern Nebraska. This system will track across northern Missouri today swinging the band of rain to our northwest through the area this morning. The main system will bring scattered showers & a few thunderstorms this afternoon, ending this evening.
Yes, there is a southern system bringing more heavy rain to Oklahoma.
The initial band of rain has sped up to 40-45 mph. So, it will arrive between 8 AM and 10 AM.
The storm moving through today will stall around the Mississippi river as a new storm system enters the western USA. A ridge will form in between the 2 systems. It will make the jet stream look like the Greek letter Omega. This is called an "Omega Block". These can last 2-3 days or up to 10 days. We are getting the 2-3 day version.
The upper level flow for Saturday shows this pretty well.
The ridge part of the block arrives Saturday and exits Monday. It is under the ridge part where you find the nice weather and it is perfectly timed for our area during the weekend.
You can see the block breaking down in the upper level flow for Monday. All the features are drifting east.
By Wednesday the western system is in the Plains. This will bring areas of rain and thunderstorms to many locations. But, severe weather will be limited as the main jet stream is flowing across Canada. It is the stronger flow with the main jet stream that brings severe weather. You can still get a few severe thunderstorms with the drifting upper level low, but nothing like severe weather can become in May.
TODAY:
Scattered showers and thunderstorms will begin 8-10 AM and not end until 8-10 PM. A few thunderstorms could have brief very heavy rain and small hail.
By 6 PM, the main system is twirling through northern Missouri. Some locations could see .25"-.50" of rain while others do not see a drop.
THE WEEKEND:
The storm system today will stall around the Mississippi river. So, central and eastern Missouri will see lots of clouds and a few showers and thunderstorms. This will keep highs between 55° and 65°. The ridge will bring 100% sunshine to the western Plains taking highs to 65°-75°. We are in between as usual. So, we will see a partly cloudy sky all weekend with highs around 65° Saturday and make a run at 70° Sunday. Lows will be in the 40s with a light wind.
MONDAY-TUESDAY:
Monday will be a nice day with highs in the low to mid 70s. Tuesday may stay dry until evening when the initial band of rain arrives.
WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY:
The storm system that arrives Tuesday evening will linger these days. This means periods of scattered showers and thunderstorms. Highs will be mostly in the 60s with lows in the 50s.
THURSDAY:
FRIDAY:
RAINFALL FORECAST NEXT 7 DAYS:
The storm system next week is responsible for most of the rain the next 7 days. The locations that have seen 15"-20" of rain the last 30 days will see 2"-4". A few locations may see 4"-7". Our area should see .50"-1" which is a bit below average for a 7 day period this time of year. There is a chance we see 1"-2 of rain next week. We average 1.33" of rain per week in May for a total average of 5.32" which is the wettest month of the year. June is a close 2nd at 5.25" of rain.
The storm system should exit for Mother's Day weekend. But it could linger into Saturday.
Have a great weekend.
Stay healthy
