Heat — Jewell, Kansas

2023-08-19 to 2023-08-25 · Jewell, Kansas

Wider weather episode

Across this six-county North Central Kansas area, the seven-day stretch from Saturday the 19th through Friday the 25th went down in the books as the overall-hottest week in at least 11 years, and one of the hottest on record for so late in the summer, making for an especially scorching week as local high school athletic practices kicked into gear for the upcoming fall sports season (not to mention various other outdoor activities). Throughout the seven-day stretch, all local counties were under an Excessive Heat Warning as peak afternoon/early evening heat index values consistently reached at least 100-110 degrees (F). Based on data from a few long-term NWS Cooperative observer sites at Smith Center, Beloit and near Plainville, this was officially the hottest week since June 2012. Focusing specifically on observations from Beloit, which reasonably-represented conditions across much of North Central Kansas, the overall-average temperature for the week was 88.7 F...derived from an average daily high temperature of 103.9 F, and an average daily low of 73.6 F. This marked the overall-hottest week since June 24-30, 2012 (89.6 F). Perhaps more impressively though, this Aug. 19-25 heat wave made for the overall-hottest week so late in the summer season since at least 1954 in Beloit, edging out an 88.5 F average in late-August 1983. Among other notable stats from local Cooperative Observer stations: 1) Near Plainville, the stretch of seven straight days of 105+ F highs was the longest on record for so late in the season...2) At Beloit, the stretch of seven straight days of 102+ F high temperatures was also the longest on record for so late in the summer...3) Also near Plainville, the high temperature of 110 F on the 20th was the hottest temperature recorded that late in the year in 76 years...since it reached 112 F on Sep. 3, 1947.

Turning to the meteorological background behind this oppressive late-summer heat blast, not surprisingly it was driven by an unusually strong and persistent dome of high pressure in the mid-upper levels. Specifically at 500 millibars, the heart of a sprawling anticyclone centered over Oklahoma on the 18th gradually shifted northward over the heart of the NE/IA/KS/MO region from the 19th-20th, then peaked in intensity between the 21st-23rd as heights reached the rare 600 decameter threshold. Finally, from the 24th into the 25th, the center of the upper ridge gradually sunk back southward to over the Southern Plains, flattened by a shortwave trough tracking along/near the United States-Canada border. At the surface, North Central Kansas actually got a sneak preview of what was to come on the 18th as highs reached the mid-90s F most areas. However, the mercury really shot upward with a vengeance on the 19th as temperatures soared to between 105-110 F in most spots. The 20th brought a very slight cool down to mainly Smith/Jewell counties as highs only reached the upper 90s F. But thereafter, torrid conditions took center stage area-wide each afternoon between the 21st-25th with highs commonly 102-109 F (fortunately, most of these overall-hottest afternoons featured southerly breezes of 10-20 MPH, providing some limited relief). At long last, the aforementioned upper trough sent a slow-moving cold front southward across North Central Kansas during the evening of the 25th, setting the stage for a very welcomed, cooler respite on Saturday the 26th as highs only reached the low-80s F. As for local heat impacts, one of the primary ones involved high schools and particularly athletic practices for the soon-to-kick-off football season, as administrators and coaches had to take steps to mitigate exposure to the heat.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1129760. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.