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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!
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.
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.
It's still tornado season here in the Midwest and we have a good chance of some more severe weather this week ... we'll keep our fingers crossed! Came across an article in a weather blog I visit every day related to the 50th anniversary of the Ruskin Heights tornado that hit the Kansas City area. The F5 tornado was 71 miles long! Whew! Click here to see some wild pictures of the tornado and damage that took place in our neck of the woods 50 years ago on Sunday.
The thought of building an arc crossed our minds. While we avoiding the devastating tornadoes in south-central Kansas, we were blasted with over 3 1/2 inches of rain over the weekend. Roads were closed, counties evacuated, and water invaded basements all over the Kansas City metro area. Our sump pump has been running almost non-stop and the ditch on the east side has been full ... but we're safe and sound in the Midwest, but our thoughts and prayers go out to those less fortunate in Greensburgh, KS.
Just a quick note to let you know that we are alive and well in Kansas. The deadly storm that destroyed the town of Greensburg, KS is quite a ways away from where we live. No tornadoes here - just a lot of lighting and torrential downpours. We'll update our rain totals and weather later this week ...
Saturday marked the the 1st time I've ever mowed the lawn wearing thermals, a winter hat and gloves. Unseasonably cold ... even record-breaking cold for this time of year. We haven't been above 32° for almost a week. Even are hardy garden plants like peas and lettuce couldn't survive temperatures that sank to 16° over the weekend. The hummingbird feeder looks like a frozen popcycle and the dog is leery about going out. At least it hasn't snowed again ... yet.
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!
