How hot has it been in Kansas this summer?

Share Tweet Email

July is typically the hottest month in Kansas, and this year has been no exception. Statewide, the average temperature (degrees F) for July 2022 was 80.8°, or 2.0° above normal. This July ranks as the 29th warmest on record, dating back to 1895. June 2022 was above normal as well, ranking as 34th warmest.

Many locations in Kansas have dealt with bouts of extreme heat this summer, often as long stretches of high temperatures lasting for weeks. The COOP observer in Ashland (Clark County) has reported 30 days of highs at or above 100° (we will term this “100° days” in this report, with references to other thresholds similarly phrased) this year as of July 31. The Kansas Mesonet site at Meade recorded 30 consecutive 90° days, from June 30 to July 29. Have there been more hot days than normal this year in Kansas?  Let’s take a closer look.

Summer temperatures at 40 locations in Kansas

The data in this report are based on the period 1991-2020. For each of 40 locations across the state, the total number of days with high temperatures at or exceeding four different temperature thresholds (90°, 95°, 100° and 105°) during this 30-year period was determined, then averaged to obtain annual counts (Table 1). Next to the averages are this year’s counts through July 31 for the same four thresholds.

As of July 31, none of the 40 locations have exceeded their average annual number of 90° days, but Chanute has tied their average with 49. At first glance, this might suggest that the heat this year hasn’t been all that unusual. However, at the higher temperature thresholds, evidence that 2022 has been unusually hot becomes clearer. Fourteen of the 40 stations have already exceeded their average number of 95° days. Over 70% of the stations (29 of 40) are above their annual average number of 100° days, and just over half (23 of 40) are above their annual average of 105° days. The only part of Kansas where none of the average counts have been exceeded is in the northeast. For places where the hottest temperature threshold counts are already above annual averages, another month or more of hot days will push those counts even higher. Most locations in Kansas typically see at least half of their daily highs in August reach at least 90° (Table 2). There is a better than even chance of above-normal temperatures in August according to the Climate Prediction Center (Figure 1), so we will certainly add to this year’s totals in the next few weeks before cooler temperatures prevail. Additionally, locations with below-normal counts still have plenty of time to catch up.


Figure 1. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center temperature outlook for August 2022.

 

Record-breaking heat?

Some superlative statistics of note: Healy’s 17 days at or above 105° so far in 2022 already ranks as their 5th highest count on record, dating back to 1901. The most 105° days on record there in a calendar year is 26 days during the Dust Bowl era, in 1934. Dodge City’s 105° days count of 7 is tied for 5th all time, dating back to 1943. Dodge City’s top two years for 105° days, 2011 (26) and 1980 (20), are unlikely to be matched, but a top 5 ranking is still noteworthy, especially when the only years ahead of 2022’s counts are legendary in Kansas climate history for excessive heat. Only time will tell if 2022 ends up ranking as high as those infamous years, but we’re well on our way to such heights for many locations if the August outlook verifies.
 

Table 1. Average number of days per year with high temperatures exceeding various temperature thresholds. BOLD numbers inside red-shaded cells indicate 2022 counts at or above than their corresponding 30-year averages, while blue-shaded cells are below the 30-year averages.

 

30-Year Average

(1991-2020)

2022 Year-to-Date

(through July 31)

Northwest

Town

County

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

Atwood

Rawlins

62

35

14

2.4

46

37

24

8

Colby

Thomas

58

29

9

0.9

44

30

18

5

Goodland

Sherman

52

25

6

0.6

40

30

14

2

Hill City

Graham

69

41

17

4.4

47

35

22

8

North Central

Town

County

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

Clay Center

Clay

56

26

8

1.4

33

20

4

0

Concordia

Cloud

50

23

7

1.2

37

21

10

2

Minneapolis

Ottawa

69

37

14

4.5

46

25

11

2

Smith Center

Smith

61

32

12

2.7

40

20

14

4

Washington

Washington

55

25

7

0.7

29

9

1

0

Northeast

Town

County

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

Holton

Jackson

38

13

4

0.4

28

9

1

0

Horton

Brown

43

15

4

0.3

27

8

0

0

Manhattan

Riley

59

28

10

2.1

31

13

3

0

Marysville

Marshall

45

18

5

0.5

27

6

0

0

Wamego

Pottawatomie

49

19

6

1.0

31

11

1

0

West Central

Town

County

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

Healy

Lane

71

40

15

2.8

57

40

28

17

Oakley

Logan

60

33

11

1.3

41

30

21

6

Tribune

Greeley

65

37

12

1.6

40

30

12

1

WaKeeney

Trego

66

37

14

2.7

42

27

18

7

Hays

Ellis

66

36

15

4.1

46

27

17

8

Central

Town

County

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

Lincoln

Lincoln

69

38

17

5.2

41

23

19

1

McPherson

McPherson

64

31

11

2.3

44

32

13

1

Russell

Russell

64

34

13

3.0

46

26

14

4

Salina

Saline

69

38

16

4.4

44

28

11

3

East Central

Town

County

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

Emporia

Lyon

44

17

5

0.8

41

19

5

0

Garnett

Anderson

46

17

4

0.5

35

16

0

0

Lawrence

Douglas

43

16

5

0.3

39

20

5

0

Topeka

Shawnee

50

20

6

1.0

42

20

7

0

Southwest

Town

County

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

Ashland

Clark

84

52

23

5.8

61

44

30

13

Dodge City

Ford

71

38

14

2.5

58

41

24

7

Garden City

Finney

68

35

11

1.3

51

37

18

5

Liberal

Seward

80

47

16

1.9

59

45

24

9

Syracuse

Hamilton

75

42

14

2.0

60

40

22

8

South Central

Town

County

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

Anthony

Harper

70

36

14

2.4

50

36

15

3

Hutchinson

Reno

63

31

11

2.5

56

37

17

3

Pratt

Pratt

65

34

13

2.7

51

33

14

3

Wichita

Sedgwick

65

32

12

2.8

48

28

14

2

Southeast

Town

County

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

≥ 90°

≥ 95°

≥ 100°

≥ 105°

Chanute

Neosho

49

20

5

0.8

49

30

13

3

Coffeyville

Montgomery

63

28

10

2.3

47

32

18

4

Pittsburg

Crawford

55

21

5

0.6

38

25

9

1

Winfield

Cowley

65

30

12

2.7

50

29

16

4


Table 2. Average number of days with highs greater than or equal to 90°F during the first 7 months of the year (based on 1991-2020 data), the actual counts for the first 7 months of 2022, and the average number of 90° days in the month of August for the same 30-year period.

Region

Town

Jan.-Jul.
Average

2022 YTD

August Average

Northwest

Goodland

31

40

14

North Central

Concordia

30

37

13

Northeast

Manhattan

34

31

16

West Central

Oakley

34

41

15

Central

Salina

41

44

18

East Central

Topeka

29

42

15

Southwest

Dodge City

41

58

19

South Central

Wichita

38

48

18

Southeast

Chanute

27

49

17

 

Stay tuned!

Watch for a future report with final counts for 2022 in the fall. In the meantime, the Kansas Mesonet is a great resource for tracking the heat of summer at over 75 locations across the state. Visit us on the web at http://mesonet.k-state.edu.

 

Matthew Sittel, Assistant State Climatologist
msittel@ksu.edu

Christopher “Chip” Redmond, Kansas Mesonet Manager
christopherredmond@k-state.edu


Tags:  weather Climate high temperatures hot weather