{"id":883932,"date":"2026-10-16T04:10:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T04:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/883932\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T04:10:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T04:10:22","slug":"kansas-heat-continues-as-south-central-rainfall-deficit-persists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/883932\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas heat continues as south-central rainfall deficit persists"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"KansasKansas Drought Monitor – Oct. 13, 2026 – Map data courtesy of National Drought Mitigation Center<\/p>\n

Kansas Heat Continues as South-Central Rainfall Deficit Persists<\/p>\n

Kansas recorded temperatures 14 degrees above normal during the week ending Oct. 13, while rainfall fell well short of average, according to the latest Kansas Climate Report and Drought Update.<\/p>\n

South-central Kansas was the state\u2019s warmest region, averaging 74.3 degrees for the week. The region also remained the state\u2019s driest compared with normal for the year, with a precipitation deficit of 2.44 inches.<\/p>\n

The report, prepared by Kansas State University Assistant State Climatologist Matthew Sittel, showed a statewide weekly average temperature of 72.8 degrees. About 80% of Kansas Mesonet stations reached 90 degrees at least once during the reporting period.<\/p>\n

\"AreaArea Drought Monitor – Oct. 13, 2026 – Map data courtesy of National Drought Mitigation Center<\/p>\n

Lake City in Barber County exceeded 90 degrees all seven days. Ashland and Plainville recorded the week\u2019s highest temperature of 97 degrees on Oct. 12.<\/p>\n

Overnight temperatures also set records. Russell\u2019s official low of 72 degrees on Oct. 12 marked its latest fall occurrence of a low in the 70s. Dodge City recorded a similar milestone with a low of 71.<\/p>\n

Despite the heat and mostly dry conditions, drought coverage changed little. About 31% of Kansas remained in moderate or severe drought, while 51% was free of drought or abnormal dryness. The only change in the Oct. 13 U.S. Drought Monitor was the addition of abnormally dry conditions in part of Miami County.<\/p>\n

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Statewide precipitation averaged just 0.04 inches for the week, compared with a normal of 0.57 inches. South-central Kansas received the highest regional average at 0.13 inches.<\/p>\n

The report noted that additional rain fell after the Tuesday morning cutoff used to assess drought conditions. That rainfall will be evaluated in the next weekly report.<\/p>\n

The heat also increased moisture loss. Estimated water loss from grass and soil averaged 1.25 inches statewide, compared with a normal of 0.89 inches.<\/p>\n

Through Oct. 13, Kansas\u2019 average October temperature stood at 68.6 degrees, or 8.7 degrees above normal. The report cautioned that cooler weather later in the month makes a record monthly average unlikely.<\/p>\n

Data for this article was provided by Matthew C. Sittel, Assistant State Climatologist at the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Map data courtesy of NDMC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kansas Drought Monitor – Oct. 13, 2026 – Map data courtesy of National Drought Mitigation Center Kansas Heat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":883933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-883932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}