November was drier-than-normal across most of Kansas, providing a welcome relief to the very wet conditions in October. State-wide average precipitation was 1.26 inches, 89 percent of normal. The Southwest Division was the driest with an average of 0.35 inches. That is a deficit of 0.31 inches, or 53 percent of normal. The North Central Division was the wettest with an average of 1.99 inches, or 180 percent of normal. There were 8 new daily record rainfall totals, none of which set new records for any day in November. The highest 24-hour rainfall total for a National Weather Service (NWS) Cooperative station was 2.00 inches at Leavenworth 3SW, Leavenworth County, on November 26. The greatest 24-hour rainfall total for a Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network station was 1.28 inches at Courtland 0.1 SSE, Republic County, on the 27th. The greatest monthly precipitation totals for November: 4.23 inches at Leavenworth 3SW, Leavenworth County (NWS) and 2.05 inches at Erie, Neosho County (CoCoRaHS). Not all precipitation was in the form of rainfall. A total of 240 stations reported snowfall in November, with monthly totals ranging from trace amounts in southern Kansas to 17.3 inches at the CoCoRaHS station of Morrowville 4.8 SSW, Washington County.
Despite some warm periods, November temperatures were cooler-than-normal. State-wide average temperature for the month was 37.5 degrees F, which is 5.0 degrees cooler-than-normal. In fact, all divisions were cooler-than-normal. The Northeast Division had the largest departure, with an average of 35.1 degrees F, or 7.1 degrees cooler-than-normal. The West Central Division came closest to normal with an average of 37.6 degrees F or 2.7 degrees cooler-than-normal. The variability showed in the range of temperatures. The warmest maximum temperature was 82 degrees F at Yates Center, Woodson County, on the 13th. The coldest minimum temperature at a NWS station was 1 degree F, recorded at Greensburg, Kiowa County, also on the 13th. There were no record daily high maximum temperatures for November, and 90 record daily low maximum temperatures. On the minimum temperature side, there was one record high minimum compared to 59 record low minimums.
Severe storm reports were limited to extreme southeastern Kansas in November. There was one hail report and six reports of wind damage. Severe winter weather was the main feature, with blizzard-conditions across most of the central and northern areas of the state on November 25-26. Sadly, there was one fatality when a stranded motorist attempted to walk to safety and died from exposure.
Despite the lower-than-normal precipitation, cooler-than-normal temperatures resulted in little change to the drought conditions. The area of Kansas that was drought free moved to 93 percent at the end of November. Moderate drought and abnormally dry conditions linger in the eastern parts of the state.
The December outlook has increased chances for above-normal precipitation across most of the state. However, given the low normal precipitation at this time of the year, continued improvement is likely to be slow. The temperature outlook is for warmer-than-normal temperatures across all but the western edges of Kansas.
Mary Knapp, Assistant Climatologist and Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu