Warm Sunday, Warm Week Ahead.

Still find it hard to believe this is March. By the end of the month, our normal diurnal temperature range is 67/44 for the high/low respectively. As you can see by the forecast, we will be running 10-15 degrees above that throughout this last week of the month. Normally, our last freeze date is towards the end of March as well, and obviously there is nothing like that in our forecast anytime soon. These unusually warm temperatures together with the wet soils are producing a rapid green-up and one has to wonder about the potential for a late frost or freeze into April. At this time, there are no indications of any cold air headed our way and in fact the Climate Prediction Center continues to forecast temperatures above normal at least through the first week of April.

Speaking of the wet soils, the sunny skies for the next few days will help dry things out and only a few widely scattered showers/storms are expected for later in the coming week. In fact, the QPF map on the right which is valid through Thursday is obviously keeping most of what rain falls a little further north.

The reason for that is a weak frontal boundary that should make it into S KS before stalling out later this coming week. Some scattered showers/storms will be possible near that boundary which is primarily over the more northern counties or on into KS. At any rate, with the boundary in the general vicinity and the uncertainty that implies, have decided to keep a very slight chance of rain beginning late Tuesday and through the rest of the week. Obviously, this does not appear to be a big rainmaker; at least not at this time.

Also, with the front just to the north, there are no indications of any cooler air making it this far south and the southerly winds for the coming week will keep us quite warm. Look for daytime highs to be near 80 and overnight lows near 60 which as mentioned is 10-15 degrees above normal. Sunny skies for Sunday will give way to a gradual increase in cloud cover as the week wears on. A few more clouds in the sky along with the wet soils and the plant world continuing to green up should provide a lid on the high temperature potential. So, although we will be much above normal, it does not presently appear that we will be threatening any record high temperatures.

As always, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot