….but there was never a tornado warning for Sedgwick County.
The sirens went off at about 5 p.m. for several seconds and then again briefly a minute or two later.
Sedgwick County emergency management officials said on their emergency information Web page that the sirens went off in error.
I’m not sure how many people may have heard the sirens and been frightened, so I wanted to post something on my blog about it.
The Wichita branch of the National Weather Service has issued a fresh short-term forecast that reports the severe weather threat is growing in southern Kansas as the afternoon progresses.
One meteorologist at the office told me to keep an eye on the area between Augusta and Winfield. The tornado threat appears highest sough of U.S. 400 between Winfield and Parsons, but strong storms are also possible in Sumner and Sedgwick counties.
Hail as large as golf balls and wind gusts of 60 miles an hour are possible with the thunderstorms.
Stay tuned.
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch until 9 p.m. for 14 counties in southeast Kansas, including portions of the Wichita metropolitan area.
Wichita and Sedgwick County are not included in the watch, but Butler and Cowley counties are. Other counties in the watch are Allen, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Crawford, Elk, Greenwood, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson and Woodson.
The Storm Prediction Center warns that conditions are ripening for storms to form along the Kansas/Oklahoma border and move northeast into the region covered by the tornado watch.
“Significant” tornadoes are also possible in portions of Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas, the SPC warns.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman has issued a moderate risk for severe weather – including tornadoes – for portions of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas today.
A swath of southeast Kansas stretching from Wellington to the Missouri state line and extending as far north as Parsons is included in the moderate threat. Wichita and the southeast quarter of Kansas are included in a slight risk.
“We’re setting up where we could have one or two big tornadoes,” said Leon Wasinger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wichita. “The potential’s there…the biggest threat’s going to be Independence, Coffeyville, Parsons.”
The National Weather Service plans to hold a conference call early this afternoon with emergency management directors in southeast Kansas to warn them of the impending threat, he said.
Wichita can expect showers and thunderstorms, but Wasinger urged residents to stay tuned to forecasts and conditions.
“Anything Wichita east, really,” could be facing severe weather this afternoon and evening.
I’ve been hearing a lot of grumbling lately about how winter just doesn’t want to seem to let go this year.
But the average final freeze of the season in Wichita doesn’t arrive until April 9 – today – and freezing temperatures have been reported here as late as May 13.
Folks in the area just got spoiled by those warm days in March, which triggered a hearty case of spring fever.
Showers are already popping east of Wichita this morning, and rain is expected in the metropolitan area later today, forecasters say.
Skies will be cloudy all day, with showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. The storms are not expected to be severe around Wichita.
Winds will be breezy, gusting to about 30 miles an hour. The rain could continue into Friday morning before skies clear. Highs on Friday will peak in the mid-50s, but more rain is expected on Easter Sunday.