When we left Hays, Kansas, just before dawn this morning, it was already 75 degrees F, down from 99 degrees F the afternoon before. Fortunately, as we traveled east, cloud cover persisted and the temperature remained stable.
Even better, by the time we reached Junction City, rain began to fall, persisting throughout our journey across the Flint Hills. Holding the temperature in the low 70s F, the rain was also psychologically beneficial after almost a month of intense sunshine and dry heat along the Front Range.
Beyond Topeka, however, the sun returned and the temperature gradually climbed into the upper 80s by the time we reached Columbia, augmented by Midwestern humidity as we entered a southerly flow from the Gulf of Mexico. The moist air will feel good for a few days before I begin to miss the semiarid climate of Colorado.
