KANSAS CITY, Mo. We’re almost done with the first week of March. On Sunday we change our clocks an hour further to mark the beginning of daylight saving time. The sun sets around 7:22 p.m., so the evening light will be later. It might be looking like spring out there.
This past weekend felt like spring with temperatures in the low 70’s yesterday. A cold front has swept through the region and our early morning high of 62 degrees is about as good as today.
Temperatures will slowly come down to some extent throughout the week. No more 70s. In fact, after a good day today, the 40s will likely be the main feature of the week through weekend. And with the cooler weather, there are numerous chances of rain to contend with.
Again, there seems to be only rain, with no risk of snow. So it’s all about these parts. There are still some signs of snow hazards on the road, but this snow road is getting shorter and shorter as winter tries to wrap itself up to some degree.
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Kansas City Forecast:
Today: Alternating clouds with more sun in the south than in the north, at least for the morning. Today’s highs range from the mid to over 50s on the north side to about 5 degrees milder on the south side. Breezy this afternoon too.
Tonight: Partly cloudy and cooler with lows reaching almost 32 degrees.
Tomorrow: Increasing cloudiness in the afternoon and showers into the early evening hours. Highs can only be in the 40s.
Wednesday: Lots of clouds, at times some drizzle. High mid 40s.
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Discussion:
A word on the weather this week. meh
As we all know, March can be a volatile month in these areas. It could be the 80’s, it could be the 30’s. It might rain a lot, it might still snow a lot. Typically there is a lot of wind, and sometimes there are also severe weather risks. Like I said, usually a volatile month.
Usually the weather does not last for many days. The pattern can change rapidly from one end to the other. And after today the temperatures will trend down.
March also sees a nice rise in average highs, especially. For example, today the average high is 51 degrees and the average low is 30 degrees. At the end of the month, the high is 61 degrees and the low is 39 degrees. Record highs are also beginning to rise, with some records reaching into the 1990s. So things start to change.
Overnight and this morning we saw a cold front coming through, pushing yesterday’s milder weather south of the subway. Still not too bad this morning, although clouds are trying to creep in from the north this morning.
We should be getting some sunshine for a few hours north of Interstate 70 this morning. Then the clouds in the north are the problem.
They are there, crawling south. At the same time, they also begin to dilute and to some extent dissolve.
Winds also increase from the north during the day. Yesterday we had more of a southerly component to the winds and they would gust to almost 40mph. The winds are different today and that difference is that cooler air is blowing southerly.
Chance of rain this week in KC
Apparently this cooler air will stay with us for some time. There will be faint disturbances in the cooler air tomorrow. This will help keep the atmosphere humid and allow some uplift to create areas of showers and maybe some rumble, mainly in the afternoon and early evening.
These disturbances are not strong. They move fast and the rain will not be excessive.
Tomorrow afternoon you seem to be heading straight for the subway. You can see it quite clearly as we ascend to about 18,000 feet, which is what we call the 500 millibar level.
Why am I showing you these types of maps at this particular level? Because it’s about halfway up the atmosphere. Downward, the surface pressure is about 1000 mbs, while up (nearly 30 miles up) the pressure is 0 mbs. The reality is that half the mass of the atmosphere is in the lower 20,000 feet of the atmosphere. So it’s a key level to track things.
This disturbance should occur in some areas with fast-flowing rainfall. However, not much.
Then on Wednesday we are in no man’s land, so to speak: a cool and somewhat humid lower part of the atmosphere, with very little support for much rain at altitude. No identifiable areas of disturbance in the flow, possibly some areas of drizzle or fog. Overall, there just aren’t any real areas of lift to achieve anything more meaningful.
A larger wave will come towards the area on Thursday. This will be coupled with a stronger upper level feature moving toward the Plains near the I-80 corridor. Another fast-moving disturbance to the south of this feature will be zipping through the region. Speed should keep rain levels on the lower side.
Overall the Rainfall this week should be about 1/4 inch to 1 inch. Not a ton, but certainly enough to keep the soil wet and moist.
Not much changes over the weekend. Friday should be drier, but there may be some rain on Saturday. A cool weekend is also expected.
So March is a volatile month.
Tomorrow morning is the full “worm” moon. Why?
The ‘Worm’ moon will reach full phase before dawn and will be visible for much of the night tonight. Other names for this moon include the Ojibwe tribe’s ‘sugar moon’, denoting the time of year when the sap of the sugar maples begins to flow. The Dakota, Lakota, and other Native American peoples of the upper Midwest call this the sore-eye moon because the bright sunlight reflects off the melting snows of late winter. This last full moon of winter is also known in Christianity as the moon of Lent, the next being the Easter full moon after the equinox on March 20.”
By Tony Rice
The main photo is by Vickie Norris Anderson of Dearborn, Missouri.
Got some things going tomorrow… questionable blog.
yeah
