textproduct: Wichita

KEY MESSAGES

- Increasing temps expected for today into Wednesday with another shot of colder air moving-in Thursday and remaining through at least Saturday.

- Some small snow chances will arrive Thursday night into Friday, but confidence is high that we are not looking at a significant event.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 308 AM CST Tue Jan 27 2026

Water vapor imagery currently shows a weak southern stream impulse tracking over Baja and approaching the Desert Southwest with a much more robust upper low tracking across the Great Lakes region. At the surface, high pressure extends across the TX Gulf Coast with a cold front stretching from eastern IA into central Nebraska.

For today through Wed, northwest flow aloft will remain in place with a series of upper impulses tracking from Ontario through the Great Lakes region. Temps will start to moderate some through Wed, but widespread snow cover will keep the warming in check with high confidence that afternoon highs will remain below normal. Models are starting to hint at some fog potential Wed morning across south central KS into the Flint Hill. At this time the better chances look to be south, so will leave out for now but would not be surprised if some is added with later forecasts. There is good model agreement in a weak fast moving piece of energy tracking out of the Great Basin, across the Central Rockies and across KS by Thu morning. However, this feature is not expected to generate any precip across the forecast area.

One of the changes from yesterday's forecast is that it now looks like colder air will arrive on Thursday, which is faster than what it looked like yesterday. As the cold front pushes southeast, some light snow will be possible from Nebraska into northern KS along the low level baroclinic zone and also in an area there a few upper perturbations will slide through in the northwest flow. Central and western KS will have the best chance to see some light snow Thu night into Fri but this is not looking like a significant event. The bigger story will be another Arctic airmass to spill south across the region for Thu through Sat. At this time, it looks like the Fri night into Sat time frame will be the coldest, with wind chills Sat morning in the 10 to 15 below zero range with low temps below zero for most of the area. We will start to see temps moderate for Sun as the surface high shifts southeast.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 521 AM CST Tue Jan 27 2026

Only aviation concern will be fog potential over south central KS late tonight.

Clear skies are currently in place area wide this morning. We will see an increase in high clouds today as a weak upper wave approaches from the southwest. Clear skies, light winds and snow on the ground, may result in some fog, mainly across south central KS early Wed morning. However, at this time confidence is too low to insert into TAFs but maybe added with later forecasts. KICT and possibly KCNU would be the sites most likely to see some fog.

ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.