Above average temperatures in Wichita this summer; how about Labor Day and next week?
The above-average temperatures in August, which included a hottest temperature measured at the Wichita airport in more than a decade, will persist into the beginning of September.
Labor Day has a high of 97, which is around 10 degrees higher than the normal highs this time of year, according to National Weather Service Wichita meteorologist Vanessa Pearce.
The hottest day next week is the possible high of 100 on Tuesday — this follows an August that had 10 days that reached triple digits, which is the most since 2011 and included the 111 degrees on Aug. 19, making it the hottest temperature measured at the Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport since July 30, 2012.
But how hot has this summer been and is there any relief in sight?
So far this summer
The average temperature in August was 82.4 degrees, which is 2.5 degrees warmer than the running 30-year average. The average temperature uses the lowest and highest temperatures from each day. From June through August, the average temperature was 79.8 degrees, which is 0.4 degrees warmer than normal, according to the NWS.
So while the summer has been, on average, hotter than in the past, it hasn’t been that much worse — though those 100-plus degree days may have made it feel that way. Between May through August, there were 20 days that reached triple digits, which is about eight more during an average year.
What’s ahead?
Most of next week is going to have highs in the upper 90s to around 100. Monday and Tuesday will also have stronger winds than normal, with Monday having gusts as high as 30 mph.
By next weekend, the highs could drop down into the lower 90s, which is still above normal for this time of year.
After that? Well, it’s a crapshoot.
The El Niño weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean “tends to bring cooler and slightly wetter conditions during the fall months across Kansas” and above average temperatures and precipitation for the winter, the NWS in Wichita said in a weather packet released Friday.
But Pearce did caution that the prediction based on that weather pattern is a “lose guide” based on limited data.
Wichita typically sees its first fall day with a high below 70 degrees between Sept. 13-23, the NWS reported. Based on available records, the latest its ever taken to get that low was Oct. 20, 1963.