Continuing the weather-themed 365 project, where I take a weather-related photograph once a day, I present the first week of April.

April 1, 2010

It was a windy start to April. This photograph shows three different shots of the flag blowing in the breeze. Winds throughout the afternoon were from the south at 25 to 30 mph, gusting between 35 and 40 mph. The photograph above was taken on April 1, 2010 in Topeka, Kan.

April 2, 2010

A cold front raced through the area on the morning of April 2, 2010, with clouds quickly clearing out, leaving a beautiful afternoon. The morning was not so beautiful. Thunderstorms moved through the area bringing periods of heavy rain, gusty winds and small hail to a few counties. Douglas County had reports of quarter size hail. I was unable to snap a photograph as the storms rushed through; however, this photograph shows the rain pouring out of the rain gutter. It was taken in Topeka, Kan. after the downpour stopped, representing the stormy start to the day.

April 3, 2010

You can tell it is the beginning of spring. Some trees are still bare, but flowers are coming up. This photograph was taken on April 3, 2010 in Topeka, Kan.

April 4, 2010

With the exception of a few isolated storms to the east on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010 was a nice day to spend time outside with family or friends. If you look closely at the picture above, you can see a few bubbles floating towards the clouds.

April 5, 2010

April 5, 2010 is a great example of the “ever-changing” weather in Kansas. The morning started off with several severe thunderstorm warnings for storms mainly to the south and east of Topeka, Kan. By the afternoon, clouds cleared out, temperatures reached the upper 80s to the west and winds were pretty strong. By night, severe storms moved through Washington and Marshall counties, with the first tornado warning of the season and up to ping pong ball size hail confirmed.

The top picture was taken from the Scenic Overlook near Manhattan, Kan. It depicts the beautiful afternoon. If you look at the prairie grass, you can tell it is windy. The second picture is a close shot of the grass blowing in the wind. Even though it was windy, people were still out enjoying the afternoon. The picture below was taken in the downtown area of Manhattan, Kan.

April 6, 2010

It was a nice start to the morning on April 6, 2010, but by the afternoon, a batch of severe storms moved through areas to the south and east of Topeka, Kan. Storm reports came in ranging from 60 to 70 mph wind gusts to quarter size hail. The largest hail reported was the size of a golf ball. The picture above is a view of the first storm approaching Topeka, Kan.

April 7, 2010

After a few days with temperatures warming into the 80s, April 7, 2010 felt much cooler; highs did not make it out of the upper 50s. The picture above shows the beautiful view of the clouds during the morning in Topeka, Kan. Showers pushed across the area, with light rain in the morning for Concordia, moving into Topeka by the afternoon. The photograph below was taken in Topeka, Kan. just before the rain arrived.

Spotters reported pea-size hail in Topeka. These “showers” continued to intensify as they moved through Shawnee and Douglas counties, later going severe in Missouri. The rain was heavy at times as you can tell from the pictures below.

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