![]() ![]() Just like the compounding power of consecutive 100-degree days, having dry years back-to-back amplifies the damage those years inflict. A decade ago, Kansas experienced two historically dry, hot years back-to-back in 20. Depending on whom you ask, the Dust Bowl lasted somewhere between six and 10 years during the 1930s. Some of the most destructive droughts in Kansas history spanned multiple years. One thing we don’t know yet about this year’s drought? When it will end. The comparable highest temperature from a record set this year - 85.3 degrees in Liberal - is several degrees cooler than that. The warmest 20-day period for combined high and low temperatures happened in 1980 when Wichita, Eureka and Anthony all recorded averages of 93.4 degrees. In all, only seven of 159 Kansas weather stations set a new record for the hottest combined average temperature across a 20-day period in 2022 - compared with 40 records that still stand from 1980, 39 records from 2011 and 25 records from 1934.Īnd the record temperatures in 2022 aren’t as hot as their counterparts from past years. And those rising nighttime temps can have destructive effects on crops and livestock.īut 2022 still falls far short of being the state’s hottest year by this measure as well. Dodge City recorded its warmest nighttime low temperature ever this June. This shows not only which years had the hottest afternoon highs, but also which years had the warmest overnight lows.Ĭlimate change has slowly increased average low temperatures across Kansas since 1970 - nights have gotten 2.7 degrees warmer in Wichita. ivcXV1xTDG- David Condos July 26, 2022Īnother way to look at heat is to compare a combined average of the high and low temperatures. The months-long drought - paired with recent 100-degree temperatures - has fried a lot of the #westernkansas corn crop. I saw a bunch of sad corn fields like this one while I was in Finney County. “When considering flash - or rapid onset - drought,” Redmond said, “stringing together consecutive hot days is important.” The number of consecutive 100-degree days matters because the heat’s impact - on people, crops and the environment - is multiplied as more extremely hot days fall back-to-back. This year, its longest streak is only three days, which is actually tied for the shortest streak in Hays history. Hays saw streaks of 18 days and 15 days in 1934 and a streak of 17 days in 1980. That’s Wichita’s 47th longest streak ever. ![]() Its longest run in 2022 was five days in a row. Wichita experienced 20 days in a row in 1936 and an 18-day streak in 1980. That’s just the 81st longest streak in Ashland history. This year, it’s had two separate streaks of six days. Unlike the most extreme years in Kansas history, this year’s 100-degree days have been much less likely to be strung together consecutively.Īshland had 23 consecutive 100-degree days back in 1954 and 22 in a row in 1934. ![]()
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