221 FXUS63 KICT 140137 AFDICTArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wichita KS 837 PM CDT Mon Oct 13 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Scattered showers will continue into tonight; additional showers possible across central KS Tuesday
- Dry and mild conditions for midweek
- Rain chances return for late week into the weekend
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.UPDATE... Issued at 827 PM CDT Mon Oct 13 2025
Went ahead and updated to insert fog for western portions of the forecast area.
Current thinking is that the best chance for fog will be for areas generally west of I-135 where cooler temps are helping low levels saturate quicker. Already seeing KGBD and KPTT go down to 3sm with KHUT likely the next site to go down. Not out of the question that a dense fog advisory could eventually be needed.
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.DISCUSSION... Issued at 237 PM CDT Mon Oct 13 2025
As of 2 PM Monday afternoon, broad southwest midlevel flow remains across the central Plains with deep troughing across the western CONUS and ridging within the MS valley. The strong front that progressed through central KS has stalled from northern OK through east central KS. A notable temperature gradient is evident across the state with 50s across central KS to 70s across southeast KS. Modest midlevel WAA continues to produce widely scattered showers across central, south-central and southeast KS. The axis of WAA will gradually shift north through the overnight hours with rain chances diminishing from south to north. The most notable change with this forecast package is the introduction of rain chances across central KS Tuesday as a subtle midlevel shortwave trough moves from the southern high Plains into west-central KS. The associated cloud debris will keep temperatures much cooler with highs expected to top out in the 60s across central KS. Mostly sunny skies across southeast KS will allow temperatures to return into the 80s Tuesday afternoon.
Transitioning beyond Tuesday, midlevel heights will amplify and retrograde across the lower Plains. This will push rain chances north and west of the area for Wednesday and Thursday. An intense midlevel shortwave trough will eject into the northern Rockies/Plains late Thursday into Thursday night. This will shunt a surface trough axis towards central KS by Friday morning. While the best shower/storm chances will generally remain north of the forecast area and closer to the main shortwave trough axis, a few showers/storms are possible late Thursday through the weekend. Mid/long range guidance (EC/GFS) remain aligned with another potent shortwave trough emerging from the southern Rockies early next week. This system may have sufficient instability/shear for a strong/severe storm potential.
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.AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 622 PM CDT Mon Oct 13 2025
Main aviation concerns will be lowering ceilings along with rain chances.
Stationary front currently extends from near KCNU to just south of KICT and should remain in this same general location through much of the night. MVFR cigs have recently developed for areas along and west of I-135 and am currently expecting IFR cigs to develop in the next few hours for locations west of I-135, affecting mostly KGBD-KHUT-KRSL. Front will start to lift north around sunrise and will allow low cigs to also lift north. So by around 12z, VFR cigs should be moving into KICT. Low clouds are expected to stick around the longest across central KS(KRSL- KGBD) and will not clear until early Tue afternoon.
Scattered showers will persist early this evening across mainly central and southeast KS but will not have much of an impact on visibilities. Still not looking for any thunder with this activity.
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.ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None.
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UPDATE...RBL DISCUSSION...BRF AVIATION...RBL
NWS ICT Office Area Forecast Discussion