Heavy Rain August 16-17

Much of Central and Northwest Missouri experienced heavy rainfall with a weak stationary front that slowly drifted SE through the state earlier this week.

Here is a list of the highest 2-day storm totals in the Kansas City area.

Location	Rainfall Total (inches)
Chillicothe, MO (DCP)	12.32"
Chillicothe, MO (COOP)	9.6"
Prairie Hill, MO	8.07"
Plattsburg, MO	7.20"
Leavenworth, KS	6.25"
Brookfield, MO	6.12"
Brunswick, MO	5.27"
Kansas City Int	5.05"
Trenton, MO	3.56"
St. Joseph, MO	3.15"
Lees Summit, MO	2.42"
Olathe, KS	2.75"
Kirksville, MO	2.14"
Sedalia, MO	0.45"

(Source: NWS Kansas City)

And their radar estimated totals...

(Source: NWS Kansas City)

The Cooling Continues

Besides a few warm days in the beginning of the month, it has been a carbon copy of July. On Monday, we experienced our first "dreary" day where the sun was nowhere to be seen. A reminder of things to come!
We are on the mark as of today in the rain bucket for August with a total of 3.61", only 0.03" behind the average for Fulton. Seems with the strong cold front passing through today we will have another above average month.

What Will Fall and Winter Bring?

With the unusually cool July we experienced this year, you have to wonder what is in store for us this fall and winter. Thanks to OSNW3's comment on the July Summary, and a wealth of data on the National Weather Service STL site, I was able to dig up pictures from the past that may shed some light on what is to come.

(click on table for larger image)

I didn't find anything too extreme with the fall temperatures, although they tended to be a little below average. The same can be said about winter temperatures as well, with the exception of 1904, which was a cold winter.

The real story is in the precipitation department. A majority of the time, the fall precipitation was below average, with the exception of 1905, when September recorded 11.54" (possibly a hurricane?). And every year except one recorded above average winter precipitation.

It'll be fun to see how this year plays out!

EAA AirVenture 2009

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) wrapped up its AirVenture event this weekend. I have to say, it is a class act. There is so much to see, too much for the two days we were there.

What struck me the most about the weekend was the awareness I experienced about the sights and sounds of World War II. Nothing can fully replace the experience of being in war, but I felt that they replicated it very well, with respect and admiration for any service man past or present. I think it's important to remember what veterans of war have experienced and the price that many have paid for the freedom we so often take for granted.

Here are the pictures I snapped while there. For more professional pictures of the event, visit the EAA website.

July Weather Summary

July has come and gone. As I sit tonight on the farm, listening to the chorus of nighttime in Missouri (and a sleeping dog in the room), I find myself reflecting on the pleasures of July. After-dinner walks with my beautiful girls, morning runs, fishing trips, and blackberry pickin'...there usually isn't much to speak of as far as the weather is concerned, but that's okay. It seems that even the weather needs a break, too. This July is no different as we haven't experienced any major weather events. The conversations you here today--and many other areas--speak the tone of how beautiful our weather has been! Here are some notable stats:

> Maximum temperature: 90° on July 11
> Minimum temperature: 56° on July 18, 19*, 20* (*record)
> Mean temperature: 72.3° (Second coldest July at COU)
> Days we've met or exceeded average max temp: 3

In the precipitation department, we have run a surplus this year once again. Last year's deluge near the end of the month offered us an unheard of total of 11.77" of rain. I was away for that 3-day event, but was welcomed home with a rain gauge filled more than half way! Here are the totals from the last three years:

July 2007 ..... 1.42"
July 2008 ..... 11.77"
July 2009 ..... 6.48"

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I did a little research on 100 degree days here as it seems that it's been a while. My hunch was right, we haven't experienced a day over 100° since August 16, 2007.

Here is a list of 100° days as recorded at the Columbia Regional Airport (COU):

2009: None

2008: None

2007:

• 8/7 : 100°
• 8/11: 103°
• 8/12: 102°
• 8/14: 104°
• 8/15: 105°
• 8/16: 103°

2006:

• 7/19: 101°
• 7/20: 103°
• 7/29: 101°
• 7/30: 103°
• 7/31: 102°
• 8/1 : 102°
• 8/2 : 103°
• 8/6 : 103°
• 8/9 : 102°

2005:

• 7/20: 100°
• 7/21: 102°
• 7/22: 103°
• 7/23: 105°
• 7/24: 105°
• 7/25: 102°
• 8/3 : 100°
• 8/10: 101°

2004: None

2003:

• 8/17: 103°
• 8/18: 101°
• 8/19: 100°
• 8/20: 102°
• 8/21: 105°
• 8/25: 101°
• 8/26: 101°

2002: None

2001: None

2000: None

______________________________________

MO-CW-1 Daily Observations

Temperatures

As I walked out to my car yesterday morning before the sun was up, I was greeted with a familiar sensation. A warm front had passed through and brought with it the wet sultry air that fills your lungs this time of year. It sure made me thankful for the absence of heat and humidity last month.

High: 90° on July 10

Low: 56° on July 18, 19*, 20* (*record)

Mean High (Average): 81.8° (88.6°)

Mean Low (Average): 63.1° (66.3°)


Precipitation

Had it not been for heavy rain on the 3rd, this would have been a below average month for the rain bucket. Our daily total of 3.52" on that day helped us reach our surplus of 2.36".

Average July Precip: 4.12"


EAA Oshkosh

I went with my dad, brother, and his two sons this past weekend up in OSNW3's part of the country for the annual Airventure air show. The show impressed me on so many levels, and the weather followed suit. With the exception of a brief shower early Saturday morning in response to the cold front passing through, we had partly cloudy skies all day Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures struggled to get out of the 70s both days, too. I will post pictures later this week.

The time has almost come to get the kids back in the classroom. Since we don't have AC yet, here's to another cool month!

Toad Strangler!

I woke up a few times to thunder and heavy rain pounding against the house. Boy was I surprised to see the gauge this morning. 3.52" fell between midnight and my 7:32 a.m. observation time. I'm not sure when the precip began exactly.

July's average precip is 4.12". I'll post again with the combined total when the rain stops today.

Happy 4th!

--UPDATE--

We received 0.20" since the morning reading, bringing our total to 3.72" since last night.

June Weather Summary

June was a fun month for weather watchers in Missouri. Up to this point in the year, we haven't been impacted with anything out of the ordinary, but this month saw multiple heat advisories, dew point temperatures consistently in the upper 70s, and a mesocyclone with 1.25" hail in the area.

Daily Observations

We received 7 days with wind gusts at or equal to 20 mph. Four of these recorded gusts came from thunderstorms, the other three were sustained winds.

This station also recorded 11 days with thunder, either in the vicinity or directly impacting the station.

View the observations here

Temperatures

High: 97° on June 17, 19, 21, 22

Low: 49° on June 5

Mean High (Average): 86.5° (83.6°)

Mean Low (Average): 63.3° (61.8°)

Precipitation

As you can see from the daily observations, the majority of our rain fell during a very active period from June 7 - 17. This year has been the wettest of the past three years by over an inch.

Average June Precipitation: 3.87"

Big Storm...Close Call

Numerous reports of rotation and a wall cloud were coming out of the storm that hit the Fulton area tonight. We hit a high temperature of 96 today and I recorded a max dew point temp of 78! By around 4:00 p.m., I could see the signature cirrus clouds being blown our direction indicating a large storm brewing to our NW. Surely enough, a HUGE supercell had formed in Northwest Missouri, and was kicking up severe storm warnings with large hail reports.

Before long, another cell formed in northern Boone county and quickly intensified. It had a path headed straight for us, and the clouds ahead of the storm were simply amazing. Here is a shot I took, looking almost due West of the southern part of this storm:


What a beautiful storm it was.

Not long after this picture was taken, as the storm was approaching, reports began to come in of a wall cloud being spotted. As soon as that was reported, the sirens went off. So off to the tornado shelter we went (our neighbors across the street -- we don't have a basement!). The lightning was INTENSE! I wouldn't be surprised if two bolts of lightning hit our subdivision.

At 8:01 p.m., hail began to fall. It was very intermittent, and started as pea to penny sized. After a couple of minutes, the hail grew in size to a max of 1.25" (est).


This picture was taken about 10 minutes after it fell (I waited until the lightning was far enough away), so I'm sure it was a little larger when it fell.

A weather spotter saw a well defined funnel cloud to the north of Fulton, but to my knowledge, no tornadoes were spotted.

After this storm passed, the big supercell that was trailing it broke up, going to our north and to our south.