Smoke boundary over north Wichita. Smoke to the south (left); blue sky to the right (north) We've had milky skies over Wichita for much of the last 45 days due to the wildfires to our west. It is unusual that we have the boundary over the city. The 3pm satellite image shows the sharp boundary over the north part of our city (below).  H/T: Cat Taylor

There is a newer forecast higher up on the blog.  ----- Note: As of 5pm, the information below is still correct. ----- Charles Peek Unfortunately, Tropical Storm Sally is expected take a path on its way inland that will cause a dangerous storm surge. Sally, like Laura before it, may undergo rapid intensification before it comes ashore. There is also a serious flood risk inland. Path Forecast Please allow me to break down the graphic for you. Red = hurricane warning. Pink = hurricane watch. Yellow = tropical storm watch. Amber = area experiencing winds tropical storm force (40 - 74 mph). H = forecast strength is hurricane (sustained winds 75 mph or higher). S = tropical storm force winds are forecast (40 to 74 mph). Maximum sustained winds with the storm will most likely be in the 100 mph range. Storm Surge Please keep in mind that the storm surge forecast  does not  include waves or astronomical tides. The 7 - 11 foot surge forecast for so...

We talked about this last week . While a warmer climate may  be affecting California's fires, the bigger factor is the abandonment of modern forest management techniques. 

This is not a partisan comment: Joe Biden is seriously ill. He has no business running for president.  If you disagree, please see this exchange from yesterday involving a scripted  question and scripted answer (the "move that up" refers to the TeleAPrompter screen, allowing him to read his answer). From last week, also reading from a TeleAPrompter... For comparison, here is President Ronald Reagan's farewell address --  delivered after the strain of eight years in office.  Reagan was a few days short of his 78th birthday when he made these remarks. He was slightly older than Joe Biden is now. Judge for yourself but I am afraid Mr. Biden is going to literally drop dead on the campaign trail. Then, what? For the good of our nation, Mrs. Biden should step in and ask the Democrats to nominate someone else. Now.  Updated, Sept. 12: I don't know if this is a true or a planted hoax. The final comment, pertaining to Mrs. Biden, would explain a lot ....

1pm Update: The storm has organized into Tropical Storm Sally. Here we go again.  Here is a first estimate of where hurricane may occur in the northern Gulf region. The yellow is a tropical storm watch. There are no hurricane watches or warnings out as yet. 

This is an unusual radar image from Thursday evening that represents a map of the towns of south central Kansas. Each of the little blotches is a town. Here is a portion of the image along with the names of the towns. I've never seen this clear an image of towns before and I thought you would like to see it.

Today is the commemoration of one of the saddest days in American history. What makes this sad day especially poignant is the lost of so many innocent civilian lives. The weather in NYC the day before featured severe thunderstorms. A short film about the weather of September 10 captured the World Trade Center's final hours. Among the flights diverted to Wichita While we've written previously about September 11, we've never talked about what happened in Wichita and at our old airport that day. When the "all land immediately" order was dispatched to all planes in America's airspace, among the planes that landed here was an El Al flight full of Israeli citizens. They were terrified that Wichitans would somehow blame them for the attack and, at first, refused to get off the plane. A local rabbi was called to calm them and by the end of their visit they went line dancing.  The full story is here . H/T: Cat Taylor