LJWorld.com weblogs Lawrence Weather Watch

Dry weather sets up for the Midwest ... for now

Posted by Matt Elwell
May 18, 2009 at 5:12 p.m.

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The storms that created raging flood waters along the streets in Lawrence dropped 2.34 inches of total rain at the airport with several reports of more than 3 inches of rain around the River City.

Now we are going to deal with a bit of a dry spell.

In the weather world we always talk about high and low pressure systems. Here's how it works: Low pressure brings a counter-clockwise circulation that brings an upward motion in the atmosphere. That upward motion in the atmosphere causes clouds to form and, of course, brings rain. High pressure is the opposite. High pressure has a clockwise circulation and a sinking motion in the atmosphere. That sinking motion suppresses clouds and typically means dry weather.

That is exactly what we are dealing with for the bulk of this week. A strong high pressure system has staked out its claim on the Midwest. This will do a couple of things; keep us dry, and bring us a strong south wind, ultimately bringing humidity back to eastern Kansas.

If your plans for Memorial Day weekend include plenty of hours outdoors, you might consider bringing your umbrella. At least a portion of the weekend will bring the possibility of rain and possibly thunderstorms starting on Friday. Our rain chances on Friday are still spotty, but it does look like the tail of the weekend could include thunderstorms.

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