...Summary...
The year of 2006 started very warm and dry; and was a harbinger of
things to come for the remainder of the year. The combined months of January
and February ended up being the 2nd warmest first 2 months of the year, only
exceeded in 1931. These 2 months also turned out to be the 11th driest start
to the beginning of the year.
Severe weather season started early for the Kansas City area in 2006,
with the
first significant severe weather outbreak occurring on March 12th. While
most of
the tornado activity remained east of the Kansas City metropolitan area, a
brief
early morning touchdown near Sibley did damage some trees and power lines.
Throughout the metro area, large hail and high winds were the major
concerns,
and when all was said and done on that day, damage in the Kansas City metro
was estimated to exceed $6.5 million. Click
here to
revisit the March 12th outbreak.
Additional severe thunderstorms occurred on both March 30th and April
15th. Both
these severe weather events were quite minor compared to the March 12th
event.
During the March 30th event, the Kansas City metro area saw thunderstorm
wind
gusts in excess of 50 mph, while on April 15th, a couple brief, weak
tornadoes
touched down in Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties, with hail up to 2 inches
on the Missouri side of the border.
The main story during the late spring months was the general lack of
thunderstorm
activity. What is normally the most active part of severe weather season was
uncommonly quiet. With the lack of thunderstorm activity, rainfall during
the combined
months of May and June ended up being the 2nd driest such period on record;
with
the only drier year being 1911. This would set the stage for extreme drought
conditions
that would plague the region through the summer months.
While the majority of the summer was extremely dry and very warm, there
were a couple
heavy rain events. The first such event was very localized on July 11th over
the southwest
part of the metro centered in Olathe. Between 2 and 5 inches of rain feel in
just a few hours
causing localized flash flooding and the closure of several roads in the
area. A review of the
July 11th deluge can be seen
here. A much more widespread heavy rain event occurred at
the end of August between the 25th and 27th. During this 3 day event,
upwards of 7.5 inches
of rain fell. Because of the very dry conditions that preceded this event,
flooding was
surprisingly limited. To review a list of rainfall totals from this event,
click
here.
Quiet weather dominated the area through the autumn months. By the end of
November,
however, a major winter storm affected the metro area. Freezing rain and
sleet began
to fall on the afternoon of the 29th. This was just the warm up for the
bigger event the
next day. Heavy snow began across the south part of the metro on the
afternoon of
the 30th, and continued into the overnight hours. The amazing part of this
storm was the
gradient of snow across the metro, with only a dusting on the north side of
town near
the airport and upwards of 10 inches of snow across the far southern parts
of the metro.
A review of the ice and snow across the area can be found
here.
The year ended relatively dry and extremely warm with a string of 22 days
above average,
and was somewhat of a microcosm of the weather of the past 12 months. As we
head into
the new year, it looks as if the dry and warm conditions will continue.
Extended range
forecasts from the
Climate
Prediction Center indicate that this warm trend will continue
into the spring months.
For the climate summary information details from 2006 for Kansas City, Missouri, click here.