textproduct: Wichita

KEY MESSAGES

- Much colder through Sunday before temperatures quickly moderate. - Above normal temperatures return for the upcoming week with the dry weather prevailing.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 126 PM CST Sat Dec 13 2025

Arctic air continues to settle southward over the area this afternoon as low level winds slowly back with time. The shallow nature of the cold air is creating some challenges in the short term forecast and it still looks like this cold air will be relatively short-lived beginning to mix out in western Kansas as we move through the day on Sunday. As drier air continues to advect over the area this evening and tonight, the probabilities for very light fzdz/flurries are expected to remain very low although a few flurries may linger into the late afternoon/early evening hours. Low clouds have been stubborn and will likely linger through the overnight hours and into the day on Saturday as high resolution model data continues to be much to aggressive mixing these clouds out over the past couple of days.

Temperatures were trended lower on Sunday to account for a slightly slower departure of the shallow arctic airmass, especially over southeast KS but confidence in how quickly this airmass mixes out remains fairly low. Some areas in eastern Kansas may struggle to climb into the mid 20s while those in central KS may approach freezing by late afternoon.

As arctic high pressure is displaced southeastward away from the area we expect temperatures to quickly moderate as we move into the day on Monday. Above average temperatures are likely through the middle of the week as the mid/upper ridge influences the weather over the Central Plains. A shortwave trough racing eastward across the Northern Rockies and Northern Plains will drive a cold front south over the area on Thursday but temperatures in the wake of the front are still expected to remain above average for late December. Dry weather conditions are expected to prevail through the upcoming week and into the upcoming weekend with highs in the 50s and 60s.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z MONDAY/

Issued at 621 PM CST Sat Dec 13 2025

As drier air advects in from the north-northeast, IFR and MVFR ceilings should gradually improve as the evening progresses across central and eastern Kansas, probably in the 02-04z timeframe. Otherwise, gusty northeast winds will gradually subside this evening as well, turning southerly on Sunday, gusty for RSL and GBD TAF sites.

ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.