Rain helps southwest Kansas, won't bust drought

(DODGE CITY, Kan.) — After a couple of weeks of hot, dry weather, it was the sight some parts of Kansas have been looking for.

This week Dodge City received more than two inches of much needed rain. The rainfall was even heavier to the north, with Haskell getting as much as five inches, and Garden City four inches. Experts say, while the rain will help with drought conditions, it will not break the drought.

"That hasn't broke the drought certainly," said National Weather Service meteorologist Larry Ruthi. "But it has certainly taken the top off some of the extreme stress we have had on the plants as a result of the really hot and dry weather that we had during the last part of June and early July".

Right now southwest Kansas is not expected to get back into 100 degree heat until later this month, but no major rain is in the forecast at this time. The U.S. Drought Monitor lists all of Kansas with some sort of drought conditions, the most severe in western Kansas.