Rains soak northeast Kansas

By JENNIFER KNOPP

The Capital-Journal

Tuesday morning's weather almost stole the thunder from Fourth of July festivities in Shawnee County.

A little more than an inch of rain fell in the area during the middle of the night and into the morning hours of the holiday.

Bill Barlow, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office at Philip Billard Municipal Airport, said most of the heavy rain hit counties north of Topeka, near the Kansas and Nebraska border.

The town of Brennan, in Marshall County, received four inches of rain.

Barlow said despite the heavy rains there was no damage.

He said this time of year is prime for rain because the atmosphere is holding a lot of moisture.

Also, storms move more slowly in the summer than they do during the spring, so one area may get more rain than another.

But Tuesday may have brought the last rain for about a week in Shawnee County. Barlow predicted a five-day dry spell following Independence Day.

"I think most of the fireworks shows will go off without any problems," he said.

He said that it rains on the Fourth of July about 50 percent of the time, and typically, the weather starts drying out after the holiday.

The rain also affected fireworks vendors who were selling their wares under outdoor tents.

Billy Simar, youth pastor at the First Assembly of God Church on Auburn Road, sells fireworks every year and said he protected his fireworks with a plastic covering.

Simar said he has covered his fireworks every night this week because he said the whole week has been damp.

He said a little rain wouldn't damage fireworks, but if they became soaked, they would be ineffective.

Copyright 2000
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.