Our weather pattern is getting unsettled again.
Showers and storms Friday morning are the herald of a potentially wet and stormy next week. The showers and storms currently moving across Kansas as of 8 am will continue off and on through Saturday night. Totals as of 8 am:
*KVOE studios: 0.60 inches
*Emporia Municipal Airport: 0.54 inches
The activity currently in the forecast for Saturday night has a marginal severe weather risk for wind gusts up to 60 mph and hail up to the size of quarters, or 1 inch in diameter. A of Friday morning, potential rain totals do not appear to be impressive, with up to 0.75 inches expected through the weekend.
There is a long list of community events for the weekend, and some schedule or operations adjustments have been announced. Saturday’s Zoo Brew benefiting the Emporia Friends of the Zoo is sold out, and it’s moving inside the Zoo Education Center, according to Zoo Director Brenda Young.
The Emporia Arts Council’s Chalk Fest may move indoors Saturday, depending on rainfall and/or storms. Currently, the plan is to have Chalk Fest outdoors in the 10 block of West 8th between 9 am and 2 pm.
Plans are also in place to move the Front Porch Jams event Saturday night if necessary. The current plan is to have the concert at the Steve and Diana Kuhlmann residence, 815 Road J-5, but the event will move inside the Olpe Knights of Columbus Hall if it’s raining or stormy.
Dry conditions move in between storm systems for Sunday and Monday. Tuesday opens up the chance for wet conditions for the rest of the week. The National Weather Service Forecast Points information page is currently forecasting up to 3 inches of rainfall total between early Tuesday and early Friday, although forecast models may change significantly between now and then.
Meanwhile, the heavy rain totals from the last few weeks have rearranged the US Drought Monitor’s latest update. The map a week ago had abnormally dry conditions across most of the KVOE listening area, save for central and southern Greenwood County, which were in moderate drought. The map released Thursday keeps moderate drought in central and south Greenwood County, but it pushes the northern edge of abnormally dry conditions from near Florence to Matfield Green to Hartford and across all of Coffey County.
So far this month, the KVOE studios have received around 5.2 inches of rain excluding Friday’s totals.
KVOE and KVOE.com will have updates on Saturday’s severe weather potential and the extended chances for potentially heavy rain.
