Parched & Dry No More!

Finally! Tomorrow would have marked the one month mark of no rain in Tonganoxie. A few storms have come through during the mini-drought but they have all missed us ... but not this one! We had a doozy hit us in the middle of the night that dropped 1.40" of rain and brought Tyson flying into bed with us. Lightning storms out here will do that to ya. On an even more positive note, the computer was plugged into a surge protector/battery back-up. Whew!

The Tonganoxie Split

You may have seen a lot of weather related stories on the news as of late concerning flooding and excessive rain in the Midwest. Unfortunately, that doesn't include us. We're dry as a bone here ... even when you consider that areas around KC have been getting more rain than we have. Must be that infamous Tonganoxie Split they talk about. Legend has it that the ol' Chief Tonganoxie is buried somewhere 'round these parts and it's his spirit that keeps us safe and dry. Well ... that theory was blown away (no pun intended) when a tornado hit back in 2000. It has cooled down though ... which is nice ... but a little rain would be nice. Just not as much as what our neighbors have been getting.

The Lightning Storm

We have witnessed a fair share of wild and intense storms since we've moved to the Midwest but nothing compared to the intense electrical storm that blasted the area on Wednesday night! We kept a close tab on Doppler radar as a fierce storm cell closed in on the area from the north. It hit us around 11pm with the most wicked display of lightning I had ever seen! Nature's display of power and fury illuminated the night's sky like a strobe light. Rain pelted the house in sheets and dumped over 2" of rain in an hour's time. LIghtning danced all around and the thunder clapped in applause. There were times that the thunder and lightning were instantaneous and we knew the strikes were close. How close? One particular strike split the bark off a tree no more than ten feet from our house! The result? It blew out our television set, our cable modem, our router and our new computer that I just built two weeks ago. Amazing to think that Tyson slept through it all as well.

Steamy ... and Hot!

We were spoiled all summer long ... till now ... with some of the most pleasant temperatures that summer could offer. But now it's hot ... and steamy! With temperatures hovering around the century mark and dew points in the 80's, the heat index (what it really feels like outside) is at 115! Holy smokes that's hot! The dog isn't alone in panting anymore.

Mother Nature's Fireworks

Never have I experienced better summer weather than I have this year ... it's been nothing short of ideal. We've now had 3 ... yes, three ... days where the temperature has reached 90°. On top of that, it seems like we get a good soaking once a week or so to keep things green and beautiful. Then there's the icing on the cake ... the severe weather! The 4th of July was no exception as a wild storm raced in from the north bringing high winds, downpours and lightnings. Tornadoes weren't far off too - the city of Lawrence reported a funnel cloud (see pic) and we witnessed some rotating clouds above our house as well. Mother Nature's own fireworks rivaled that of our neighbors for sure!

Rain ... and Fall-like Temps

I've never seen the month of June end with weather like this ... 3-4 days of drizzling rain which dropped 1.25" of rain at our place. Perfect. Temperatures struggled to make it to 70°. Perfect. Indeed, it felt like fall in the Midwest. While we enjoyed the cooler temps, others in the Midwest weren't as lucky. Some folks received over 15" of rain in the same time period! Take a look at the attached graphic and see how wide spread and diverse the rain distribution was. At least we'll be safe to blow things up next week for the 4th of July! For additional coverage of the heavy rain that drenched Eastern Kansas, click here.

254 Days of no 90°

What a streak! 254 days without a temperature in the Kansas City area above 90°! But that of course ended this week as we had heat and humidity. It was sticky and humid every day with no rain ... but hey, the yard still looks great! Speaking of streaks, despite some reasonable stormy weather this season, Tonganoxie is yet to have a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning. Bummer.