Wichita got more rain on Tuesday than it had for past 2 months. But was that enough?
West Wichita saw more rainfall Tuesday night than in the past 70 days combined.
But it wasn’t a record. It’s more an indicator that Sedgwick County has been in what the National Weather Service calls an exceptional drought.
Wichita received 0.90 inches of rain in the span of an hour from 10:20 to 11:20 p.m. Tuesday at Eisenhower National Airport, compared with the previous 70-day combined total of 0.74 inches, National Weather Service in Wichita meteorologist Vanessa Pearce said.
The historical record for Tuesday was back in 2006, when Wichita received 1.96 inches of rainfall, Pearce said.
Interesting climate tidbit: Late Tuesday evening Wichita received more rain in around an hour( 0.90") than it had received the previous 70 days combined (0.74")! #kswx
— NWS Wichita (@NWSWichita) May 10, 2023
The Jabara Airport in east Wichita recorded 0.56 inches Tuesday.
Some areas in the county had higher amounts than Wichita from 7 a.m. Tuesday to 7 a.m. Wednesday. Around 1.53 inches of rainfall were recorded near Andale, and the highest amount in Sedgwick County was in Mulvane, with a total of 3.50 inches, Pearce said.
Here is a look at the rainfall totals across the state from 7AM Tuesday through 7AM Wednesday. Thanks to our cooperative observers, @ksmesonet, our @CoCoRaHS observers and you for the rainfall reports! #kswx pic.twitter.com/kIk90MKqd9
— NWS Wichita (@NWSWichita) May 10, 2023
The months of April through June see the most rainfall all year, though numbers for this year do not reflect that.
On average for this time of year, Wichita will have seen 8.82 inches of rainfall. So far only 4.71 inches have been recorded, meteorologist Eric Metzger said.
“It’s been about three years since we’ve seen any significant rain,” Metzger said. “I’d compare this to the dust bowls that happened in Kansas decades earlier.”
Metzger added that the rainfall from Tuesday helped, but it is not enough.
“When it’s been dry for so long, any amount of rain will seep right into the soil underground and not have a chance to be runaway rain.”