Less than a month after a late July heat wave brought the hottest temperatures in years to parts of Kansas, another heat wave arrived on Saturday, August 19, and brought even hotter temperatures than those experienced just a few weeks ago. This second round of heat is still in progress at the time this article is being written, and will be summarized in a forthcoming article next week once the heat has (hopefully) diminished. For now, let’s take a look at some of the superlatives surrounding August 19 across Kansas.
The average high temperature across the Kansas Mesonet on the 19th was 105.3°F. In terms of average high, this was the hottest day in over 11 years; back on June 27, 2012, the statewide average high was 106.5°F. That day still holds the record for the warmest average high temperature in the 38-year history of the Kansas Mesonet. The average high for August 19 ranks as the 6th warmest on record (Table 1). Only six Mesonet sites failed to reach 100°F, and eight of them recorded highs at or above 110°F (Figure 1). It had been exactly 13 months since at least one Kansas Mesonet site hit 110°F or more. Since 1985, there are only 39 dates on which at least one Kansas Mesonet site has reached 110°F. On August 19, eight sites reached that number. That’s the third-highest count on record. Only August 2, 2011, and June 27, 2012, had more; 11 stations reached 110°F on each of those days.
Table 1. The 10 hottest days in Kansas Mesonet history, as ranked by average high temperature for all stations on the given day.
|
Rank |
Date |
Average Maximum Temperature (°F) |
Number of Mesonet Stations |
Warmest Maximum Temperature (°F) |
|
1 |
Jun. 27, 2012 |
106.5 |
44 |
114.9 |
|
2 |
Sep. 1, 2000 |
105.9 |
14 |
110.1 |
|
|
Jul. 10, 1995 |
105.9 |
14 |
112.0 |
|
4 |
Aug. 1, 2011 |
105.6 |
34 |
110.1 |
|
5 |
Jul. 29, 2012 |
105.5 |
46 |
110.2 |
|
6 |
Aug. 19, 2023 |
105.3 |
79 |
113.6 |
|
7 |
Jul. 27, 2011 |
105.0 |
34 |
112.7 |
|
|
Jun. 28, 2012 |
105.0 |
44 |
111.5 |
|
9 |
Jul. 11, 1995 |
104.8 |
14 |
110.2 |
|
|
Aug. 27, 2000 |
104.8 |
14 |
109.7 |
Figure 1. High temperatures measured at Kansas Mesonet stations on August 19, 2023. Source: Kansas Mesonet https://mesonet.k-state.edu/
The hottest Kansas Mesonet reading on the 19th was a scorching 113.6° at the Ashland Bottoms site in southern Riley County. While 113.6°F wasn’t the hottest ever recorded by a Kansas Mesonet site, it wasn’t far off. The hottest on record is 114.9°, recorded at the Mitchell County site on June 27, 2012. Ashland Bottoms’ high ranks as the 4th hottest reading ever in the history of the Kansas Mesonet and the warmest reading at any location since 2012 (Table 2). Rock Springs’ and Overbrook’s highs on the 19th also rank in the top 10 hottest.
Table 2. The ten hottest high temperatures ever recorded at a Kansas Mesonet site.
|
Rank |
Temperature (°F) |
Location |
County |
Date |
|
1 |
114.9 |
Mitchell |
Mitchell |
Jun. 27, 2012 |
|
2 |
114.2 |
Meade |
Meade |
Jun. 26, 2011 |
|
3 |
113.7 |
Hays |
Ellis |
Jun. 27, 2012 |
|
4 |
113.6 |
Ashland Bottoms |
Riley |
Aug. 19, 2023 |
|
5 |
113.2 |
Rock Springs |
Dickinson |
Aug. 19, 2023 |
|
6 |
112.9 |
Hays |
Ellis |
Jun. 26, 2012 |
|
7 |
112.9 |
Osborne |
Osborne |
Jun. 27, 2012 |
|
8 |
112.9 |
Overbrook |
Osage |
Aug. 19, 2023 |
|
9 |
112.7 |
St. John 1NW |
Stafford |
Jul. 27, 2011 |
|
10 |
112.5 |
Butler |
Butler |
Aug. 2, 2011 |
Seventeen Mesonet sites recorded their hottest temperature on record on the 19th. Eleven have been in service for five or more years (Table 3). Of these, the Manhattan site has the longest period of record at over 38 years. Four sites bested their all-time high that was set less than a month ago in late July: Ashland Bottoms, Elmdale 1SE, Gypsum, and Overbrook. It was a close call for the site in Clay County; their high of 108.0° tied their all-time record set on June 30, 2011. Clay was one of seven locations that, while not setting an all-time high, recorded its warmest reading in over a decade (Table 4).
Table 3. Kansas Mesonet sites that set all-time station records on August 19, 2023. Only stations in service for more than 5 years are listed.
|
Location |
County |
Maximum Temperature (°F) |
Length of Record (years) |
|
Manhattan |
Riley |
111.4 |
38.7 |
|
Washington |
Washington |
109.2 |
13.4 |
|
Ashland Bottoms |
Riley |
113.6 |
9.8 |
|
Rock Springs |
Dickinson |
113.2 |
9.7 |
|
Rocky Ford |
Riley |
112.0 |
9.4 |
|
Haysville 3SE |
Sedgwick |
108.4 |
9.4 |
|
Olathe |
Johnson |
104.4 |
9.4 |
|
Gypsum |
Saline |
112.4 |
8.5 |
|
Overbrook |
Osage |
112.9 |
6.4 |
|
McPherson 1S |
McPherson |
109.1 |
6.2 |
|
Elmdale 1SE |
Chase |
111.6 |
5.1 |
Table 4. Kansas Mesonet sites where the high on August 19, 2023, was the warmest temperature in over ten years.
|
Location |
County |
Maximum Temperature (°F) |
Last time this temperature was exceeded |
|
Clay |
Clay |
108.0 |
Jun. 30, 2011 |
|
Butler |
Butler |
109.3 |
Jul. 29, 2012 |
|
Hutchinson 10SW |
Reno |
108.5 |
Jul. 29, 2012 |
|
Woodson |
Yates |
106.6 |
Jul. 29, 2012 |
|
Ottawa 2SE |
Franklin |
106.4 |
Jul. 29, 2012 |
|
Silver Lake 4E |
Shawnee |
103.6 |
Jul. 29, 2012 |
|
Osborne |
Osborne |
107.5 |
Jul. 13, 2013 |
Outside of the Mesonet, there were additional superlatives recorded. The hottest temperature in the state on the 19th was just a few miles from Ashland Bottoms: 115°F at the Manhattan Airport. This is the hottest on record at that site, dating back to their start of records in 1960. In addition, this was the highest temperature in all of the lower 48 states on August 19! The Salina Airport tied its all-time high on the 19th with a high of 113°. Records at that location date back to 1949. Co-operative observers setting their all-time record high on the 19th include Milford Lake (Geary County; 112°, records began in 1965) and Melvern Lake (Osage County; 112°, 1973). Ties of the all-time high were notched at Tuttle Creek Lake (Riley County; 111°, 1959) and Pomona Lake (Osage County; 112°, 1963).
Could there be more records set in this heat wave? Stay tuned for a full recap next week!
Matthew C. Sittel, Assistant State Climatologist
msittel@ksu.edu