It was averaging about 95 F statewide, with some parts getting into the 100 F range. Its on the high end of the usual summer range, but it is "normal". What is not normal is that for the last several weeks it had been in the 80's, then we had a severe storm roll through a few days ago and it almost immediately jumped into the high 90's and 100's in the span of 48 hours or less. So not only would you have the stress of severe weather, you now have rapid heat rises.

And like I said, I dont imagine that ranchers had time to get barns ready, get shade out, get wells tapped, and the other usual things that happen in the leadup to high heat. Especially since this kind of heat usually doesnt hit until July or August.

Also, local news is showing that the 10,000+ number is an "extreme worst case" number, and the actual numbers that have been seen so far are closer to the 2,500-3,000 range. So there is some hyperbole present in the tweet.

EDIT: I did a little more looking. Almost all of the deaths were at feedlots around Dodge City and Garden City. So these are the cattle getting ready to go to the slaughter houses and are on their final week of getting as fattened up as possible. But there have been some feedlots down there that tend to overpack their lots to try and get as many heads of cattle as possible through all at once, and have been slapped by the Kansas Farm Bureau over it. So It absolutely wouldnt surprise me if these were all cattle that were packed in close and it just caused mass overheating not just from the heat, but the packed conditions.

It was averaging about 95 F statewide, with some parts getting into the 100 F range. Its on the high end of the usual summer range, but it is "normal". What is not normal is that for the last several weeks it had been in the 80's, then we had a severe storm roll through a few days ago and it almost immediately jumped into the high 90's and 100's in the span of 48 hours or less. So not only would you have the stress of severe weather, you now have rapid heat rises.

And like I said, I dont imagine that ranchers had time to get barns ready, get shade out, get wells tapped, and the other usual things that happen in the leadup to high heat. Especially since this kind of heat usually doesnt hit until July or August.

Also, local news is showing that the 10,000+ number is an "extreme worst case" number, and the actual numbers that have been seen so far are closer to the 2,500-3,000 range. So there is some hyperbole present in the tweet.

EDIT: I did a little more looking. Almost all of the deaths were at feedlots around Dodge City. So these are the cattle getting ready to go to the slaughter houses and are on their final week of getting as fattened up as possible. But there have been some feedlots down there that tend to overpack their lots to try and get as many heads of cattle as possible through all at once, and have been slapped by the Kansas Farm Bureau over it. So It absolutely wouldnt surprise me if these were all cattle that were packed in close and it just caused mass overheating not just from the heat, but the packed conditions.

It was averaging about 95 F statewide, with some parts getting into the 100 F range. Its on the high end of the usual summer range, but it is "normal". What is not normal is that for the last several weeks it had been in the 80's, then we had a severe storm roll through a few days ago and it almost immediately jumped into the high 90's and 100's in the span of 48 hours or less. So not only would you have the stress of severe weather, you now have rapid heat rises.

And like I said, I dont imagine that ranchers had time to get barns ready, get shade out, get wells tapped, and the other usual things that happen in the leadup to high heat. Especially since this kind of heat usually doesnt hit until July or August.

Also, local news is showing that the 10,000+ number is an "extreme worst case" number, and the actual numbers that have been seen so far are closer to the 2,500-3,000 range. So there is some hyperbole present in the tweet.