Did We Need More Rain?

Not really, but at least we are out of drought.

A severe warned thunderstorm, but the area of concern seemed to be to the east of my location.  Lots of rain and temps dropped down into the low 60's.

Rain, Rain, Rain, Thunder, Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain

Well at least the lakes and rivers are full.

Rain

What a difference a year makes.  We've suffered through drought the last three years to the point that city leaders were looking for new water sources.  July made the difference.  7.68" of rain fell in a moderately cool July (12+ degrees cooler than the average daily temp in July of 2011 and 2012 (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=ict&storyid=96380&source=0).  Unfortunately, a side effect of this rain has been flooding.  Lindsborg, KS has been hard hit by flooding rains affecting up to 50 people in town.

Monday, I decided to take a little walk and revisit one of the places I went to last October, the Little Arkansas River.

October 2012, Little Arkansas River near 21st and West streets.

October 2012, Little Arkansas River

After 7+ inches in July.

Meeting of the Little Arkansas and Arkansas Rivers.  There's usually a small waterfall here.

Wichita's saving grace, the Big Ditch.

 More rain may be coming between tonight and next Wednesday.  Flooding chances still remain a possibility.

Storms near El Dorado (Non-Severe) 07/29/2013

There's thunder outside to the east as we finish off one of the cooler and wetter July's in memory.  Enough rain has fallen in the area (6-12 inches depending where you are), with flooding in some places this evening.  Earlier today there was a slight threat of severe weather and I went running up toward the El Dorado area that had some weak, broad rotation.  Watched a very brief wall cloud develop and fall apart quickly.  There were funnels spotted near Medicine Lodge but nothing touched the ground.

07/23/2013 Big Storms and Lightning Everywhere

After last night's storms, a boundary moved through the area promising some severe storms and heavy rains for the drought stricken area.  They exploded around 5pm and quickly moved south.  When they hit Hutchinson, Kansas, there were reports of hail from baseball sized to grapefruit (4 inch) sized hail.  Several roofs were peeled back and parking lots were full of shattered glass.

The scary looking cloud next to the trademark may have quickened a few pulses.

Luckily the storm lost some punch as it came near the Wichita area and turned into one of the most impressive lightning storms I've seen in a couple years. I did not have my lightning detector in the field so I came home and waited for the strongest part of the storm to pass.  The photos below were taken on a 4-6 second timer while hiding in the garage.  With the lightnings strobe-like frequency and continuous ground strikes, it was not a good night to be the tallest in the field.  

Left Reaching Lightning

Not a scientific term by any means, just a strange realization that all of my lightning went left this evening.  Some storms were severe but nothing reached the Wichita area.

Streak to the left was one of several planes that landed in Wichita this evening. 

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