More than half inch of rain recorded Friday; Lawrence still more than 3 inches behind for year

A cold front passed through northeast Kansas on Friday evening, dropping more than a half inch of rain on Lawrence and leaving cooler temperatures in its wake.

Shawn Byrne, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Topeka, said Lawrence received 0.58 inches of rain from the storm. That brought the city’s total for 2016 to 22.54 inches, which is 3.44 inches below normal.

The storm brought high winds, with one gust at Lawrence Municipal Airport measured in the “severe” range of 68 mph, Byrne said.

Sgt. Tory Squire, of the Lawrence Police Department, said the department received no reports of storm damage, and he didn’t witness any during any early-morning patrol of city streets.

Saturday’s high temperature is expected to be 77 degrees, well below the 89 degrees normal for this time of year, Byrne said. It will start warming up on Monday with daytime highs predicted to be in the mid to upper 80s through Thursday, he said.

There will be a 40 percent chance of rain Tuesday, which will increase to 60 percent Tuesday night through Wednesday, Byrne said.