textproduct: Wichita

KEY MESSAGES

- Periodic storm chances are possible from late tonight through Sunday morning with potential for severe storms late Saturday afternoon into Saturday night.

- Warmer temperatures will continue into early next week with heat indices around 100 especially on Sunday and Monday.

- Additional storm chances are possible late Monday night through Thursday.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 302 PM CDT Fri Sep 11 2026

An upper shortwave trough is moving into the Lower Mississippi Valley with upper troughing over southern Canada into the Northern Plains. Zonal flow aloft continues over much of the western CONUS. At the surface, a low is over South Dakota with a cold front extending into Wyoming. In our area, breezy southerly winds continue with highs in the 80s to low 90s. As we move into tonight, the cold front will push south into Nebraska likely initiating storms in southern Nebraska. Its possible for this activity to drift south into Kansas early Saturday morning. Deterministic models continue to be consistent with this solution compared to short-term guidance with some CAMs showing showers across portions of our area. Severe weather is unlikely with this activity and confidence remains low on storm chances overnight into Saturday morning.

For Saturday, recent guidance has trended south with the frontal boundary, likely stalling out along Highway 50. High temperatures are once again forecast for the upper 80s to the lower 90s. By late afternoon, diurnal heating will lead to plenty of instability (greater than 2500 J/kg) developing along and south of the boundary, making another chance for storms possible late Saturday afternoon into Saturday night. Severe storms are likely with this activity with the main hazards being large hail and damaging winds. Steep mid- level lapse rates combined with 40 kts of effective shear will be sufficient for producing up to half dollar size hail. Damaging wind gusts are also possible given steep low-level lapse rates with DCAPE values over 1300 J/kg. Given cloud bases will be pretty elevated combined with weak low-level shear, the threat for tornadoes will stay extremely low. Storm chances may linger into Saturday night and early Sunday morning as the nocturnal LLJ ramps up. Storm chances will decrease after Sunday morning as low to mid-level WAA decreases across the area. Mostly dry conditions are forecast for Sunday afternoon through Sunday night. Lee surface troughing will increase resulting in breezy southerly winds across the area. High temperatures will be in 90s with the warmest readings expected in south-central KS. Heat indices will be around 100 Sunday afternoon into the evening.

For Monday and beyond, an upper trough over the northwestern US will propagate northeast towards the Northern Plains by Monday afternoon. As this trough continues to slide across the Northern Plains, it will push a cold front south into Nebraska by Monday afternoon. Lee troughing will remain in place across Kansas with breezy southerly winds anticipated. Another hot day is in store for Monday as highs once again rise into the upper 90s. This cold front will continue to push south, likely allowing showers and storms to develop along it, increasing chances for Monday night into Tuesday. By late Tuesday afternoon, the front will likely make it to central Kansas. This will result in highs ranging from the 70s in far northern Kansas to the 90s in far southern Kansas. Following this front, highs are forecast to return to the 80s and low 90s for Wednesday and Thursday. Periodic rain chances are possible for beyond Tuesday as guidance suggests additional shortwaves to slide across the region. Stay tuned!

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 1225 PM CDT Fri Sep 11 2026

Main aviation concern will be shower/storm chances.

Clear skies are expected through the remainder of the day with southeast winds gusting to 20-25 mph for areas along and especially west of I-135. Storms will develop along a cold front over Nebraska late this afternoon or early evening and try and track southeast overnight. Current thinking is that if this activity makes it into our forecast area, it will be in decaying mode, with just some showers expected. So for now will just run with VCSH at a few sites late tonight. Storms will be possible on Saturday, but current thinking is that they will not develop until well after 18z.

ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.