Good Sunday bloggers,
You can hear the grass grow as more sun and warmer days follow the rain of last week. Today and Wednesday will be the best days to mow, and if your yard gets missed by rain Monday and Tuesday it will be good to get out and mow those days as well.
This last week of April will feature a pattern where we see fast moving systems track east from the Rockies and then southeast into the Midwest. This means we will have 2-3 chances of scattered showers and thunderstorms that do not last that long. Also, since the systems are moving fast they will not have time to pull up warm and humid air from the Gulf of Mexico. So, our severe threats are low through Thursday. It also means high heat into the southwest USA which is early even for them.
A bigger storm system will form Wednesday-Thursday in the northern Plains, but it will track through the upper Midwest and Great Lakes. It will drag a front through and this is one of our brief rain chances. Let's go through the forecast for the week.
SUNDAY: It will be near perfect as we rise to around 70 with a south wind at 5-15 mph. Later this afternoon we will see a band of clouds move by and a sprinkle is possible, but this will not take away from the nice day.
MONDAY MORNING: One of the fast-moving systems will move by between 2 AM and 2 PM bringing scattered showers and thunderstorms. Total rainfall will range from none in some areas to as much as .50" in others. Lows will be 55-60.
MONDAY AFTERNOON: Any showers and thunderstorms will end after 12-2 PM leading to a party to mostly sunny afternoon. It will be windy and warmer with highs in the mid to possibly upper 70s. The wind will be south at 15-25 mph.
TUESDAY: Monday night and Tuesday morning will be dry with lows around 60. Then, a cold front will sweep across the region around noon. This will bring a period of showers and thunderstorms for 1-3 hours. Highs will reach the 70s, dropping to the 60s in the rain. If the front is 2-3 hours slower, then we will warm up to 75-80 and this could allow the thunderstorms to become strong enough to produce quarter sized hail.
Wednesday will be windy and cooler with a few rain showers possible. Thursday is a nice day followed by a chance for a few thunderstorms Friday as warmer air moves in. Next weekend we will have to watch for the chance of some bigger thunderstorms.
RAINFALL FORECAST THROUGH THURSDAY: The heaviest rain will occur mostly east of the Mississippi river as the bigger storm next week tracks from the northern Plains to Midwest. We are on the western edge of the rain producers. The .39" is just for KCI. Not only could this change by +/- .25" to .50" but that goes for all locations in eastern Kansas and western Missouri. Total rainfall this week will range from a trace to around 1" as our events are fast-moving with scattered showers and thunderstorms.
Have a great week and stay healthy.
