High Pressure

Beneficial rainfall last night and this morning, with many locations picking up a half an inch of rain or more (Salina 1.18" in past 24 hours).  A weak low pressure and cold front will continue to push across Kansas this morning, but since we'll have more sunshine, temperatures will actually be warming up across much of Kansas compared to Saturday. Highs will be near 80 with winds out of the north for much of the day. High pressure will build into the region tonight and with light winds, drier air and clear skies temperatures will drop into the 40s and 50s.  A nice evening to open up the windows and enjoy the freshness of fall.  The weather looks rather quiet going into Monday with mostly sunny skies and seasonal temperatures in the low to mid 80s.  Next cool down is slated for Wednesday and Thursday.

Tuesday expect gusty northerly winds to start our day but hang on, they should back-off to less than 15 mph by afternoon. Despite lots of sunshine Tuesday, very cold air will settle in for a one-day stay, resulting in afternoon highs only struggling into the low to mid-30s after morning lows in the teens to near 20. The wind will go calm Tuesday night as Canadian high pressure parks right over our area. Wednesday morning lows will drop into the teens but by afternoon highs should rebound into the 45-50 degree range across Kansas.

This morning, showers and storms stretch across much of eastern Kansas along a cold front advancing through Kansas.  Storms should exit most of Kansas by midday with sunshine returning to the region by afternoon.  Gusty north winds will follow the passage of the front keeping temperatures in the 60s across much of the state. Clear skies and light winds tonight with high pressure building into Kansas.  Patchy frost is possible mainly across western and north-central Kansas during the early morning hours on Easter Sunday.  Easter Sunday looks mostly sunny and mild with high temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s, with very little wind.

Any flurries will end this evening across south central Kansas, with no additional accumulation forecast.  A chilly night is ahead with lows in the single digits west with teens for Wichita. Mostly sunny skies will develop on Sunday for most of the state, with partly cloudy skies for the northwest.  Another chilly day is on tap with highs in the 20s to near 30 degrees!  More single digits are expected Monday morning as an area of high pressure works into the state.  20s and 30s are forecast yet again for Monday afternoon.  It will be followed by a slow, steady warming trend the rest of the work week.

Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” dates back many years. “This dates back to just after World War II,” says Dr. John Gries, professor of geology at Wichita State University. Gries says hydraulic fracturing is nothing new, but there's a reason you're hearing more about it. “What is kind of new is most fracking has been vertical to horizontal layers, but now what they're doing is horizontal drilling. They drill down and then turn.” About 45 miles outside of Medicine Lodge in Barber County, Osage Resources is drilling vertically and horizontally.

A very chilly night is expected across the Sunflower State as an area of high pressure settles overhead.  We'll have mostly clear skies and dry air in place, so expect some areas of frost late tonight and into mid-morning.  The coldest temperatures will be found in northern and western Kansas, where lows will drop to the lower to middle 30s!  If you have some potted plants outdoors, you might want to bring them indoors or cover them up.  For Wichita, we expect a low near 40 degrees, with upper 30s for Hutchinson and Newton.

A few evening clouds and even a stray shower to the east of Wichita will fade away as we lose today's heating.  Clear skies are forecast overnight with lows in the 60s in most areas. Sunny to mostly sunny skies will be the rule on Thursday, with light south to southeast winds.  Forecast highs should reach the middle to upper 90s.  Other than an isolated storm chance in the northwest Thursday night, the next 7 days look pretty dry as a big area of upper level high pressure noses in toward the mid-section of the country.  Temperatures will also heat up, with highs in the upper 90s to around the 100 degree mark.