The National Weather Service said areas of far western, southwestern and southern Kansas had above average precipitation for the month of July, and that has helped to ease drought conditions.
The Weather Service said in a climate and weather report this week that there has been improvement in much of western and south central Kansas over the past four to eight weeks, but areas of eastern and northeastern Kansas have had drought conditions get worse.
Wichita’s Eisenhower National Airport reported 4.6 inches of rain for July, which is 62 hundredths of an inch above average. It was the wettest month since 2020. Since the beginning of the year, the airport has reported 15.69 inches of rain, which is 5.84 inches below average. That makes the first half of 2023 the driest since 2011.
The report is expecting continued drought improvement through October. An El Nino climate pattern has developed in the Pacific Ocean, and overall it tends to favor near to below average temperatures with near to above average precipitation through the summer and fall across mid-America.
According to the report, probabilities favor above normal precipitation across the eastern half of Kansas from August into October, with below normal temperatures for northeast Kansas, and above normal temperatures in southwest Kansas during the next three months.
