Freak temperature hike hits Wichita

Freak temperature hike hits Wichita

WICHITA, Kan.

An unusual weather pattern caused temperatures in Wichita, Kan. to soar nearly 20 degrees in 20 minutes even though the sun had long gone down.

National Weather Service meteorologist Stephanie Dunten says the heat burst hiked temperatures from 85 to 102 degrees in 20 minutes, beginning at 12:22 a.m. Thursday.

She says a pocket of air in the upper atmosphere collapsed, and when it hit the ground it sent winds of more than 50 mph through parts of the city.

The Wichita Eagle says that during a heat burst, rain falling from higher elevations cools air beneath it as it evaporates. The cooler air then descends quickly to the surface. As it falls, it is compressed and warms dramatically.

Fire threat wanes; residents return

SPRINGERVILLE, Ariz.

Firefighters on Sunday expressed the first real sense of hope that they were making progress in their battle against a huge eastern Arizona wildfire burning since May, and officials began allowing roughly 7,000 residents to return home to two towns threatened for days by the blaze.

To guard against flare-ups, fire crews remained in Springerville and the nearby town of Eagar, the two communities where evacuation orders were lifted over the weekend. But the blaze was “no longer a threat to the citizens” returning home, said Apache County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Webb Hogle, although authorities still cautioned the elderly and those with health problems or very young children to stay away because of lingering smoke.

First photos of Giffords released

HOUSTON

Two portraits of a smiling Rep. Gabrielle Giffords gave the nation its closest look yet at the congresswoman’s remarkable recovery less than six months after she was shot in the head at point-blank range outside a supermarket.

The pictures posted Sunday on Facebook were the first clear photos of the Arizona congresswoman who rose to national prominence after a gunman opened fire on her in January as she met with constituents in Tucson. Six people were killed and 13 others wounded.

Somalis, others hail mastermind’s death

MOGADISHU, Somalia

The killing of an al-Qaida mastermind who planned the devastating bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa drew praise on Sunday from Kenyans and Somalis, while Somalia’s president showed documents linking the dead man to militants who are trying to topple his nation’s fragile, U.N.-backed government. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed eluded capture for 13 years and topped the FBI’s most wanted list for planning the Aug. 7, 1998, U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. His death, reported Saturday by Somali officials, was the third major blow to al-Qaida in six weeks. The worldwide terror group was headed by Osama bin Laden until his death last month.

Associated Press