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81° | Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning, then showers and thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. Some thunderstorms may be severe in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 80s. South winds 10 to 20 mph. chance of precipitation 60 percent. |
Category: Local
Severe Storms Move Through Central Kansas
OTTAWA COUNTY —It took the severe weather season awhile to get started in Kansas this year, and it started with vengeance across central Kansas on Tuesday. There were several large tornadoes that touched down Tuesday.
The first was reported in Cloud County. Another tornado touched down in Ottawa County followed by another in Clay County. As of late Tuesday evening there were no reports of injuries but reports of property damage, power poles and power lines were down across some roads. Authorities will continue to assess damage on Wednesday.
The storms caused a semi to jackknife on I-70 in northwest Ellsworth blocked traffic for a time. When the severe storms moved through Barton County there was a report of hail the size of grapefruits. Heavy rain with estimates of 3-5 inches prompted flash flood warnings for Osborne and Mitchell Counties.
The National Weather Service expects another round of severe weather Wednesday across much of Kansas.
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Multiple tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for multiple Kansas Counties ranging from Lincoln and Ottawa to northwest and northeast Dickinson, Clay, Riley, Washington and Pottawatomie Counties. There were twp severe thunderstorm warnings reported for northwest Geary County when storms were located near or north of Wakefield in Clay County.
No major problems have been reported in Geary County, but a tornado watch was in effect from about 3 p.m. Tuesday until midnight.
Late Tuesday evenings strong storms swept through Clay County where law enforcement confirmed a tornado was located near Clay Center moving northeast at 30 mph. There was also confirmation by weather spotters of a tornado five miles southeast of Idana and another near Oak Hill.
Geary Community Healthcare Foundation Announces New Board of Directors
The Geary Community Healthcare Foundation has announced the election of two new members of the Board of Directors. They include Maria Ellis and Larry T. McGary, DDS.
Ellis graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Psychology and completed her Master’s degree at the University of Kansas. She is Clinical Supervisor at Pawnee Mental Health Services, where she has been employed for 19 years.
McGary is a local dentist. He is a Past Chairman of the Geary Community Healthcare Foundation, and a former President of the USD 475 Board of Education ( 1985-1995 ).
April 2018 Weather Summary
If you felt that April was cold, well, it was. Sort of. If you thought
that April was dry, it was, no question about it! For the sixth
consecutive month precipitation was well below normal. The current trend
is leading us into some record dry territory.
The average daily high during April was 61.8 degrees, 4.1 degrees below
normal. The average overnight low was 37.3, 4.9 degrees below normal. This
gave us a monthly mean temperature of 49.6, 4.5 degrees below normal.
April 2018 tied for the fifth coldest April on record with 1993. The
coldest April on record was 1983 with a monthly mean temperature of 45.9.
Had it not been for the nice warm up the final week of April it would have
likely been the second coldest April on record. The warmest April was 1955
with a monthly mean temperature of 63.2 degrees. Temperature records
abounded during April. The lows of 16 and 17 on the 6th and 7th set new
record lows for those dates. The old record for the 6th was 19 set in
1982. The old record low for the 7th was also 19 degrees set in 2009. The
all time coldest April temperature was 8 degrees set on April 4, 1975. The
low temperature of 70 on the 12th set a new record high low for that date.
The old record was 61 set in 1977. Likewise, the low of 68 on the 30th
broke the old record high low of 62 set in 2001. Finally, the high of 36
on the 15th broke the record low high temperature for that date. The old
record was 48 set in 1993.The highest temperature during August was 87 on
both the 12th and the 13th. The coldest temperature was the record setting
16 on the 6th.
While the cool weather was a concern for gardeners and farmers, the lack
of precipitation was an even bigger concern. Average rainfall for April is
2.95 inches. During April Milford Lake received 1.19 inches and Junction
City 1.20 inches. Year to date average rainfall is 7.06 inches. In 2018
year to date Junction City has received 2.91 inches and Milford Lake has
received 2.84 inches. The driest April on record was in 1989 when only
0.36 inches was recorded. The wettest April was in 1944 when 12.59 inches
deluged the area. The 2.84 inches of rain received since January 1st is
the lowest amount of any January through April time period since reliable
rainfall records have been kept in Junction City, 1931. In other words,
this has been the driest first four months of the year in 88 years. To
make it worse, if you look at total rainfall since September 1st of last
year, it has been the driest September to April precipitation totals in
the same time frame. The 8.16 inches received is roughly half of what we
should normally have. The previous driest September to April time frame
was September 1988 through April 1989. The wheat crop of 1989 was just
under 12 bushels per acre, about 1/4 of a normal wheat crop. On the bright
side, we did receive ½ inch of snow on April 15th almost getting us to our
long term average April snowfall total of 0.7 inches. With the end of the
snow season likely upon us we ended the year with only 8.2 inches of snow
or about 45% of normal.
At this point everyone is hoping for just a normal May. Daily average high
temperatures for May range from 72 on the 1st to 81 on the 31st. Average
overnight lows range from 48 on May Day to 58 at the end of the month. May
is normally one of our wettest months with 4.79 inches of rain being the
long term average. After six consecutive months with below normal
precipitation, it would be nice to just get close to normal precipitation
in May.
Chuck Otte
County Extension Agent, Ag & Natural Resources
Vanier family honored with Humanitarian Award
TOPEKA —At Monday’s Humanitarian of the Year ceremony, Governor Jeff Colyer honored the Vanier family for all they have done for Kansas State University and the Manhattan, Kansas and Salina, Kansascommunities.
This includes a $60 million gift, the largest private donation in K-State history. Their generous giving will benefit thousands of students for years to come.
The gift provided $40 million to benefit students, faculty, programs and facilities on both the Manhattan and Salina campuses, and $20 million for Phase III of the Bill Snyder Family Stadium master plan.
 
Dorothy Bramlage Public Library Community Conversation
There will be a community conversation on the library building project on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Montgomery Rehearsal Hall of the C. L. Hoover Opera House.
Library Director Susan Moyer said it is open to the public and will feature a series of short presentations on the status of the project, as well as roundtable discussions where participants can discuss issues such as what the library project means for the people of Junction City, what questions other community members might have about the project, and what actions those in attendance can take to help move it forward. Library officials are currently focusing on the possibility of building a new library at the same central Junction City site where the current facility is located.
Seating for the community conversation will be limited and made available on a first come first served basis. Information from the program will be posted to the library web site at some point afterward along with details about the project. If possible, speaking portions of the program will be recorded and also made available from the library site.
Department of Defense Names Next Commanding General of 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley
The Department of Defense has confirmed that the next Commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley will be Major General John S. Kolasheski.
Kolasheski is a former deputy commanding general for maneuver for the 1st Infantry Division, who departed Fort Riley for a post at Fort Bragg in 2016, where he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Army Forces Command.
A change of command ceremony for Kolasheski and Major General Joseph Martin at Fort Riley has not yet been scheduled.
Geary County Courthouse Stands Strong
The members of the Geary County Commission toured the Geary County Courthouse.
Commission Chairman Charles Stimatze said the building, which dates back to 1899, is in good shape. “Actually it’s in very good shape. There’s a few little things. Carpet, little bit of paint, normal wear and tear on an 1899 building that was remodeled in 1999.”
During the tour Commissioner Keith Ascher took photos from the courthouse attic and one from near ground level.
Tuesday Weather Forecast
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High
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79° | Breezy. Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning. Highs in the upper 70s. South winds 20 to 25 mph. |
Geary County Rural Firefighters Respond to Blaze Just Northwest of Junction City
Fifteen Geary County rural firefighters on five trucks responded to a grassy and wooded area just northwest of Junction City near the Bayer Construction asphalt plant on Monday afternoon.
According to Rural Fire Chief Garry Berges there were no injuries and the asphalt plant wasn’t damaged. Some grass in the area burned, and a separate out building and converted semi-trailer that was also being used as a building were consumed by the grass fire. The owner of those two facilities is unknown at this point.
There was a lot of smoke from the fire. “Those two buildings made a lot of the smoke that people were seeing. We did have some grass and trees, this area probably hadn’t been burned in probably many years, so that contributed it. Nice thing was we had a gravel road, the asphalt plant and then the ( Republican ) river which helped protect two sides of it. Again….no damage to the asphalt plant.
Berges confirmed the cause of the fire is undetermined at this point. “Assistant Fire Chief Curt Janke will be doing an investigation now that we got the fire out. We had a live power line that we had to render disabled by the electric company ( DS&O Electric ) before we could come in and do much.”