17 June 2023
Showers and thunderstorms pepper central Kansas and the Wichita area as we start our Saturday with some lightning and a few heavy downpours.
Temperatures early this morning range from the 50s in far western Kansas to middle to upper 60s in central Kansas.
Storms should weaken and move out of central Kansas around mid-morning followed by breaks of sunshine and quickly warming temperatures for the balance of Saturday.
Afternoon highs will range from the 70s northwest to upper 80s father east.
Another shower and storm can pop-up around the area later this afternoon.
Yet another round of strong to severe storms will threaten Kansas tonight, especially in the west and south. The Saturday night batch of strong to severe thunderstorms will form in eastern Colorado late this afternoon and track eastward across Kansas tonight.
Tonight’s storms can bring Damaging winds up to 80 mph, very large hail up to baseball size and also a tornado or two. An Enhanced Risk for severe weather is in place for much of southern Kansas tonight with a slight risk from northwest to north central Kansas.
The best chance for a tornado appears to be across southwestern Kansas this evening with the largest hail from southwest Kansas to near the Oklahoma state line in southern Kansas. Storms will become more linear as they track east, leading to an increased reach for strong and damaging winds. As these storms speed across the state, they will also bring heavy rain and the threat for flooding. Storms will push east of the area early Sunday.
This will be followed by the return of sunshine and very warm, near-average temperatures heading back into the middle to upper 80s Sunday afternoon.
We soar into the 90s much of next week which is appropriate for the official start of summer on Wednesday.
It should be mainly dry with some sunshine for the first half of the workweek with more thunderstorm chances returning for the last half of next week.
6/17/23 KSN Storm Track 3 Forecast from Meteorologist Jack Boston:
Wichita:
Today: Mostly to partly cloudy. 30% chance of thunderstorms. Hi: 89 Wind: N/SE 5-15
Tonight: Mostly cloudy. 70% chance of thunderstorms. Lo: 64 Wind: SE/NW 5-15
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. 10% chance of showers and storms. Hi: 87 Wind: N/NW 5-15
Tomorrow night: Mostly clear. Lo: 66 Wind: NW/SE 5-15
Wichita Weekly
Mon: Hi: 93 Lo: 69 Mostly sunny.
Tue: Hi: 95 Lo: 70 Partly cloudy, breezy.
Wed: Hi: 93 Lo: 70 Partly cloudy, breezy. 10% chance of showers and storms.
Thu: Hi: 91 Lo: 69 Partly cloudy. 20% chance of showers and storms.
Fri: Hi: 90 Lo: 69 Partly cloudy, breezy. 10% chance of showers and storms.
Sat: Hi: 92 Lo: 70 Partly cloudy, breezy. 20% chance of showers and storms.
Meteorologist Jack Boston