2001 INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI (MCI)

The National Weather Service Office at Kansas City is very near the geographical center of the United States. The surrounding terrain is gently rolling. It has a modified continental climate. There are no natural topographic obstructions to prevent the free sweep of air from all directions. The influx of moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, or dry air from the semi–arid regions of the southwest, determine whether wet or dry conditions will prevail. There is often conflict between the warm moist gulf air and the cold polar continental air from the north in this area.

Early spring brings a period of frequent and rapid fluctuations in weather, with the fluctuations generally less frequent as spring progresses. The summer season is characterized by warm days and mild nights, with moderate humidities. July is the warmest month. The fall season is normally mild and usually includes a period near the middle of the season characterized by mild, sunny days, and cool nights. Winters are not severely cold. January is the coldest month. Falls of snow to a depth of 10 inches or more are comparatively rare. The distribution of measurable snow normally extends from November to April.

Nearly 60 percent of the annual precipitation occurs during the six months from April through September. More than 75 percent of the annual moisture normally falls during the growing season. The frequency and distribution of precipitation over a normal day is also important. The maximum frequency of precipitation, from April through October, occurs during the six hours following midnight and the minimum frequency occurs during the six hours following noon.

NORMALS, MEANS, AND EXTREMES

KANSAS CITY, MO (MCI)

LATITUDE:    LONGITUDE:    ELEVATION (FT):    TIME ZONE:    WBAN: 03947

39 17′ 57″ N  94 43′ 04″ W  GRND: 1005  BARO: 1008  CENTRAL (UTC + 6)

REFERENCE NOTES:

PAGE 1:

THE TEMPERATURE GRAPH SHOWS NORMAL MAXIMUM AND NORMAL MINIMUM DAILY TEMPERATURES (SOLID CURVES) AND THE ACTUAL DAILY HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES (VERTICAL BARS).

PAGE 2 AND 3:

H/C INDICATES HEATING AND COOLING DEGREE DAYS.

RH INDICATES RELATIVE HUMIDITY

W/O INDICATES WEATHER AND OBSTRUCTIONS

S INDICATES SUNSHINE.

PR INDICATES PRESSURE.

CLOUDINESS ON PAGE 3 IS THE SUM OF THE CEILOMETER AND SATELLITE DATA NOT TO EXCEED EIGHT EIGHTHS (OKTAS).

GENERAL:

T INDICATES TRACE PRECIPITATION, AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN ZERO BUT LESS THAN THE LOWEST REPORTABLE VALUE.

+ INDICATES THE VALUE ALSO OCCURS ON EARLIER DATES.

BLANK ENTRIES DENOTE MISSING OR UNREPORTED DATA.

NORMALS ARE 30–YEAR AVERAGES (1961–1990).

ASOS INDICATES AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEM.

PM INDICATES THE LAST DAY OF THE PREVIOUS MONTH.

POR (PERIOD OF RECORD) BEGINS WITH THE JANUARY DATA MONTH AND IS THE NUMBER OF YEARS USED TO COMPUTE THE MEAN. INDIVIDUAL MONTHS WITHIN THE POR MAY BE MISSING.

WHEN THE POR FOR A NORMAL IS LESS THAN 30 YEARS, THE NORMAL IS PROVISIONAL AND IS BASED ON THE NUMBER OF YEARS INDICATED.

0.* OR * INDICATES THE VALUE OR MEAN–DAYS–WITH IS BETWEEN 0.00 AND 0.05.

CLOUDINESS FOR ASOS STATIONS DIFFERS FROM THE NON–ASOS OBSERVATION TAKEN BY A HUMAN OBSERVER. ASOS STATION CLOUDINESS IS BASED ON TIME–AVERAGED CEILOMETER DATA FOR CLOUDS AT OR BELOW 12,000 FEET AND ON SATELLITE DATA FOR CLOUDS ABOVE 12,000 FEET.

THE NUMBER OF DAYS WITH CLEAR, PARTLY CLOUDY, AND CLOUDY CONDITIONS FOR ASOS STATIONS IS THE SUM OF THE CEILOMETER AND SATELLITE DATA FOR THE SUNRISE TO SUNSET PERIOD.

GENERAL CONTINUED:

CLEAR INDICATES 0–2 OKTAS, PARTLY CLOUDY INDICATES 3–6 OKTAS, AND CLOUDY INDICATES 7 OR 8 OKTAS. WHEN AT LEAST ONE OF THE ELEMENTS (CEILOMETER OR SATELLITE) IS MISSING, THE DAILY CLOUDINESS IS NOT COMPUTED.

WIND DIRECTION IS RECORDED IN TENS OF DEGREES (2 DIGITS) CLOCKWISE FROM TRUE NORTH. "00" INDICATES CALM. "36" INDICATES TRUE NORTH.

RESULTANT WIND IS THE VECTOR AVERAGE OF THE SPEED AND DIRECTION.

AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IS THE SUM OF THE MEAN DAILY MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURE DIVIDED BY 2.

SNOWFALL DATA COMPRISE ALL FORMS OF FROZEN PRECIPITATION, INCLUDING HAIL.

A HEATING (COOLING) DEGREE DAY IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE AND 65 F.

DRY BULB IS THE TEMPERATURE OF THE AMBIENT AIR.

DEW POINT IS THE TEMPERATURE TO WHICH THE AIR MUST BE COOLED TO ACHIEVE 100 PERCENT RELATIVE HUMIDITY.

WET BULB IS THE TEMPERATURE THE AIR WOULD HAVE IF THE MOISTURE CONTENT WAS INCREASED TO 100 PERCENT RELATIVE HUMIDITY.

ON JULY 1, 1996, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BEGAN USING THE "METAR" OBSERVATION CODE THAT WAS ALREADY EMPLOYED BY MOST OTHER NATIONS OF THE WORLD. THE MOST NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE IN THIS ANNUAL PUBLICATION WILL BE THE CHANGE IN UNITS FROM TENTHS TO EIGHTS (OKTAS) FOR REPORTING THE AMOUNT OF SKY COVER.