Weather Averages and Extremes in Kansas for the First half of 2022

By Matthew Sittel and Christopher “Chip” Redmond

In this article we take a look back at the temperature and precipitations averages and extremes across Kansas for the first six months of 2022. We evaluated both temperature and precipitation and how they compared to normal at 20 selected Mesonet locations around Kansas. This site selection should allow our in-state readers to find data for a site close to them. References to normal in these tables are based on 1991-2020 averages at each location.

Temperature summary

When evaluating temperatures compared to normal for the first half of 2022, there’s a mixed bag of results (Table 1). A majority of Kansas stations (70%) are running below normal for the year to date. The year-to-date anomalies are generally less than 1 degree, so most of these sites have had near normal temperatures. But, as is the case every year, there are extremes of hot and cold. A period of hot weather in mid-June brought triple-digit highs to most locations, and the hottest readings of 2022 reflect that. Only Hiawatha had its highest temperature reading in May; every other location’s high occurred in June. This isn’t unexpected though, as meteorological summer should be the hottest time of the year. The first week of January featured below zero temperatures for most locations, but Topeka and Pittsburg’s coldest readings of the year occurred in late February.
 

Table 1. Temperature statistics for Kansas from January through June 2022 (average, departure, and extremes). Blue-shaded cells indicate below average; red-shaded cells indicate above average.

Another way to view departures is by month. This helps break down trends in temperatures thus far in 2022 (Table 2). The first quarter of 2022 resulted in below normal temperatures for all three months at all but three locations. Of those three months, February had the largest negative anomalies, as all sites were below normal for the month. There was a noticeable change in the second quarter, as there are mostly positive anomalies. June’s hot spell resulted in the largest positive anomalies of the year at just over half the sites. Interestingly, all six months at Hiawatha and Tribune have been below normal, where both Chanute and Emporia have had above normal temperatures every month except February.
 

Table 2. Average temperature departures (°F)  from normal by month in 2022. Blue-shaded cells indicate below average; red-shaded cells indicate above average.

Precipitation summary

Early 2022 rainfall trends focused on negative precipitation anomalies for almost two-thirds of the state. Most noteworthy is the lack of precipitation in the west (Table 3). Garden City has received only 1.60” of precipitation for the year-to-date, just 18% of normal. Dodge City, Liberal, and Tribune are all at or below 50% of normal. There are some lucky locations that have positive precipitation anomalies; Wichita is 5.59” above normal for the year, thanks to nearly 13” of rain in May. May and June were the wettest months at all stations, which is normal for most locations in Kansas.
 

Table 3. Observed and normal precipitation in Kansas for January - June 2022. Green-shaded cells indicate above-normal/greater than 100%. Yellow-shaded cells indicate below-normal/less than 100%)

A closer look at the percentage of normal precipitation by month better illustrates how drought conditions have worsened across the western half of Kansas, with consecutive months of below normal precipitation. Ashland, Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend and Liberal have not had a month with above-normal precipitation this year. The highest percent of normal in Garden City this year is only 29%, which explains why they are nearly 7.5” below normal for the year. February and April were below normal at all 20 stations. Beneficial rainfall fell in eastern Kansas in May, with 13 of the 20 sites reporting above-normal precipitation, but the western locations missed out on the best moisture. Only three stations had above normal rainfall in June. Keep in mind that precipitation percentages below 100 indicate greater rainfall deficits in the later months when more precipitation is typically observed.

Table 4. Percent of normal precipitation by month for January-June 2022. Green-shaded cells indicate over 100%.