839 FXUS63 KDDC 141028 CCA AFDDDCArea Forecast Discussion...CORRECTED National Weather Service Dodge City KS 528 AM CDT Sun Sep 14 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Isolated to widely scattered strong to severe thunderstorms possible this afternoon east of Highway 83. Strong gusty winds and large hail will be the main hazards. North of K-96 an isolated tornado can not be completely ruled out.
- The next chance of showers and thunderstorms is expected with the next cold front Tuesday night through Wednesday.
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.DISCUSSION... Issued at 255 AM CDT Sun Sep 14 2025
Convection that occurred earlier this morning in southwest Kansas was associated to a surface boundary and large scale ascent ahead of a northeast moving upper level trough. High PWAT values (+1.3inch) and 850-700mb moisture transport were also observed across southwest Kansas, ahead of the approaching upper level trough.
Short term models earlier today are in good agreement with moving the scattered overnight convection east of highway 283 by 7 AM this morning. This area of scattered thunderstorms is then anticipated to briefly increase in coverage and persist through the early at least noon near and east of Highway 183 given the increased mid level moisture, improved moisture transport between 850 and 700 millibars, and better mid level lapse rates due to cooling temperatures aloft. The primary risk this morning from these storms will be locally heavy rainfall due to high precipitable water values.
By early this afternoon, the chance for severe weather will start to increase across southwest Kansas as a cold front moves across western Kansas and a cold upper level trough lifts northeast across the West Central High Plains. The combination of afternoon sunshine and cooling temperatures aloft will lead to improved lapse rates between 700 and 500 millibars, potentially higher than current models suggest. Given this instability in the middle atmosphere and low level forcing near the cold front, there is a 20-40% chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Some of these could be strong or severe, based on forecasted 0-6km shear values of 30 knots or higher and mid level instability. The main hazards appear to be wind gusts of 60 mph and hail 1 inch or larger, especially north of a line from Dighton to Larned.
For locations north of K-96...In addition to the large hail and strong winds an isolated tornado cannot be completely ruled out by late day given the forecast location of some cold 500mb temperatures and the forecast location of the cold front. Confidence in tornado potential is low early this morning. However it is also surprising this morning that models do not show stronger surface cyclogenesis in southwest Nebraska/Northwest Kansas given the cold 500mb trough placement this afternoon. If stronger cyclogenesis does occur across northwest Kansas/southwest Nebraska, our surface boundary will oriented be more northwest to southeast across northern Kansas late in the day (north of K96). This would favor more backed winds just ahead of the cold front which will improve the low level shear. Given this combined with an -12 to -14C 500mb trough, temperatures climbing into the low to mid 80s (which will improve 0-3km CAPEs) and location of surface boundaries raises the concern for isolated tornadoes.
The storms storms developing late today will move south and east of the area by midnight as the upper trough shifts into the Northern Plains and the cold front exits southwest Kansas, leading to a brief break in wet weather on Monday. By mid week, the upper level trough crossing the Northern Plains earlier in the week will be replaced by another western United States upper storm system as it moves from the Pacific Northwest towards the Central and Northern Plains. This will bring an increasing chance for thunderstorms back to southwest Kansas towards the middle of the upcoming work week, along with our next cold front. Following this mid week cold frontal passage, a period of cooler, more seasonal temperatures is expected.
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.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/... Issued at 507 AM CDT Sun Sep 14 2025
Models remain similar to previous runs with the isolated to widely scattered convection occurring at 09Z increasing in coverage after 12z today as they move east of highway 283. General consensus from the models is that the better chances for thunderstorms early today will be in the Dodge City area over the next hour or two. In Hays the chance for thunderstorms appears to linger through at least 16Z, then tapering off. As the storms end...skies will clear from west to east based on the latest guidance and BUFR soundings, as gusty south southwest winds increase to around 15 knots. Another round of thunderstorms will be possible across portions of southwest Kansas after 21Z today. Hays (30%) has the better chance for late day storms, followed by Dodge City (
NWS DDC Office Area Forecast Discussion