The snowfall wasn’t much, but Wichita still set a weather record on Monday

Sure, it was only a meager amount in Wichita, but the 0.4 inches of snow that fell Monday was still enough to set a 135-year record for Nov. 14 snowfall.

The snow, which quickly melted Tuesday, beat the 0.3 inches record set on Nov. 14, 1929, according to the National Weather Service in Wichita. Records in Wichita date back to 1888. The official records are based on measurements and temperatures taken at the Wichita Eisenhower National Airport.

The highest daily records of November snowfall in Wichita is 7.5 inches on Nov. 5, 1951, and 8.7 inches on Nov. 9, 1888.

The Wichita office also reported a Nov. 15 record low temperature in Russell. The low was 9 degrees taken Tuesday morning, surpassing the 10 degrees set in 1955. Records in Russell date back to 1949.

The NWS Wichita office covers south-central, southeast and central Kansas. The highest snowfall in its area was 3 inches, which fell on Monday and overnight in Gorham, which is in Russell County.

“We are starting to get into winter,” NWS Wichita meteorologist Eric Metzger said, “usually we don’t get this cold this early, usually you have to wait to December.”

It’s unlikely the area will see another record this week — the best chance is on Friday — but it is going to be cold this week.

“There’s no way around that,” he said.

Wichita, are you ready for the snow and cold?

The coldest days in the Wichita area are going to be on Thursday and Friday, where lows can be in the teens. In south-central Kansas, Friday morning lows are predicted to be 9-17 degrees.

Lows for south-central Kansas that morning are forecast to be 5-6 degrees, he said. The record for Wichita is 5 degrees in 2014.

It’s also possible the area will see some snow flurries on Thursday and Friday as a colder system moves in, he said, but the snow is not expected to accumulate.

The predictive weather models vary widely as the prediction date gets further out. More normal temperatures for this time of year, which is in the mid-50s, could come Monday or Tuesday or maybe even later into next week.

“We may not see normal temperatures until closer to Thanksgiving,” he said, “it just depends on what happens.”