Four Kansas cities, including Wichita, broke decades-old weather records

Eduardo Castillo
·3 min read
8

Update:

The Wichita office of the National Weather Service said on social media that record cold highs for Monday were broken in Wichita, Salina, Chanute and Russell.

Original story:

Wichita, Salina, Chanute and Russell set new daily records for coolest high temperatures on Sunday during frigid, below negative weather.

The National Weather Service in Wichita recorded a high of 6 degrees for Jan. 14. The previous record was a high of 7 set in 1979.

For the same day, Salina reported a high of 4 degrees breaking the previous record of 10 in 1972; Chanute a high of 7 degrees breaking the previous record of 9 in 1979 and Russell with a high of 3 degrees breaking the previous record of 6 in 1972, according to data from the NWS.

Weather data in Wichita dates back to 1888.

With a wind chill warning in effect until noon Tuesday, more record cold highs could be set on Monday, with forecast highs close to record highs.

“If our forecast highs happen the way we have them out, then chances are there will be a number of them [new records],” Wichita NWS meteorologist Eric Metzger said. “This time of year it’s really hard to break records because we’re in the coldest part of our winter.”

The Monday forecast high for Wichita is 9 degrees, Salina at 7 degrees, Chanute at 9 degrees and Russell at 6 degrees, according to Metzger.

The record coolest high temp in Wichita for Jan. 15 was 10 in 1930, with Salina at 11 in 2009, Chanute 13 in 2009 and Russell at 9 in 2005, NWS data shows.

“Russell and Salina look like they will fall today,” Metzger said Monday. “Chanute has a high possibility and Wichita’s that question mark because it’s really close.”

Metzger reiterated that it is difficult to break records during cold winter days.

“Just like in the summer between July and August, it’s really hard to break the records highs because they are just so hot,” Metzger said. “You really need a very, very unusual event to do that, especially multiple days in a row.”

For Monday, Wichita is forecast at a 40 percent chance of snow between noon and 5 p.m. and drop to 20 percent after 7 p.m. with wind chill values at negative 14 degrees, a detailed forecast shows.

Tuesday will see an expected sunny high of 20 with wind chill values forecast as low as negative 20 degrees.