WICHITA – A cool front will bring a bit of fall to the Wichita metropolitan area today, forecasters say.
Highs will peak in the low 80s, about 10 degrees cooler than the average high for mid-August. Cloudy skies in the morning will gradually clear as the day progresses.
Temperatures will remain mild through the weekend, with sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s.
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for portions of extreme southern Kansas and much of northern Oklahoma until 11 p.m. today.
The Kansas counties included in the watch are Barber, Chautauqua, Commerce, Cowley, Harper and Sumner.
A tornado has touched down near downtown Minneapolis, authorities say. Damage has been reported, including the destruction of a 90-year-old church’s steeple.
No injuries have been reported. Here’s a photo of the tornado near I-35, as posted on Twitpic.
More photos of damage in Minneapolis are being posted as the afternoon unfolds.
Forecasters say strong thunderstorms are possible in much of the eastern half of Kansas tonight, including the Wichita metropolitan area.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., has placed all of Iowa, much of Oklahoma and Missouri, the eastern half of Kansas and portions of more than a half-dozen other states under a slight risk for severe weather today.
Heavy downpours and dime-sized hail have already been reported with a line of storms from Mount Hope to Potwin this afternoon.
Damaging downburst winds of as much as 65 miles an hour, and hail the size of golf balls are possible through early evening in central and southcentral Kansas – and mainly east of the Kansas Turnpike after dark.
Residents are urged to monitor conditions and take appropriate safety precautions.
WICHITA – After heavy downpours overnight, Wichita’s still not done with rain just yet.
Forecasters say scattered showers are possible in the area this morning and again tonight, forecasters say. Some of the storms tonight could be strong, bringing heavy rain, damaging winds and hail the size of golf balls.
The area most likely to endure these strong storms should be southeast of a line from Marion to Hutchinson, the National Weather Service reports.
Highs should be in the upper 80s today, forecasters say, with south-southwest winds in the teens and gusting to nearly 30 miles an hour. Skies will be cloudy early, then gradually clear through the afternoon until the storm threat arrives tonight.
The cold front that brings the thunderstorms tonight will drop temperatures to autumn-like levels, with highs the rest of the week in the 80s.
Monday’s thunderstorms provided a fresh reminder of lightning’s danger, as three people were injured by bolts striking nearby: a mother and son in Hutchinson, and a 15-year-old boy in the 1200 block of South Paige in Wichita.
The two victims in Hutchinson declined transport to the hospital, while the boy in Wichita was taken to Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus for treatment. He has since been released.
Police said the boy ran into his apartment and told his mother he couldn’t feel his legs. He had been playing outside at about 8:45 p.m. when a bolt struck nearby and the current passed through the pavement and into his legs.
I wasn’t surprised to learn of the lightning strikes. I went out to dinner, then to a friend’s house for a while Monday night. I watched the storms intensify on the drive from the restaurant to the house not far from KAKE. In just a few minutes lightning went from an occasional flicker to powerful cloud-to-ground bolts. I jogged from the street to the door, and then back out to the car when it was time to leave a little more than an hour later.
I told a friend on my cell phone that I almost didn’t need my headlights on for the drive home because the lightning was so steady and so bright. A woman was strolling casually across my complex’s parking lot when I pulled in at about 8:45 p.m., and I resisted the temptation to roll down my window and tell her to take shelter before lightning hit her.
That was right about the time the lightning struck the parking lot near Harry and Rock Road, injuring the 15-year-old boy. Andrew Sayler, a friend of mine who lives in far east Wichita, sent me several lightning photos he shot from his house last night. They’re pretty compelling.
Monday’s victims are lucky: they survived to talk about their experiences. So far this year, 27 people around the U.S. and Puerto Rico have been killed by lightning – including one in Kansas.
Forecasters confess to me they’re frustrated that people don’t seem to take lightning seriously. Perhaps it’s because they think they can’t possibly be hit by a lightning bolt. But a lightning expert told me and other journalists at the National Press Foundation’s “Understanding Violent Weather” conference in Norman, Okla., that the average person stands a far better chance of being hit by lightning than ever winning a lottery.
Perhaps the most compelling argument for taking lightning more seriously comes from Dick Elder, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service’s Wichita office. He said the odds quoted about lightning strikes are misleading because they factor in clear, sunny days – not just stormy ones. When there’s a thunderstorm rolling through the area, he said, our chances of being hit by a bolt are far better than people realize.
Just ask the mother and son in Hutchinson – or the teenage boy who was playing in the parking lot Monday night.
WICHITA – Sporadic bouts of heavy rain are in the forecast for the Wichita metropolitan area today.
Meteorologists say clusters of showers and thunderstorms should move through the region this morning and early afternoon – and then again late tonight. The strongest storms may have small hail and winds of up to 50 miles an hour.
A flood watch is in effect in the area through Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
Highs may only reach the upper 70s in Wichita, with winds shifting from calm to gusting out of the east at more than 20 miles an hour.
More rain is likely Wednesday, with highs in the 80s.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for 17 counties in southern Kansas, including the Wichita metropolitan area.
The watch lasts through Tuesday afternoon. Scattered thunderstorms are expected to continue overnight in the warned area, with rain falling on already saturated ground.
The counties included in the watch are Reno, Harvey, Butler, Greenwood, Woodson, Allen, Kingman, Sedgwick, Harper, Sumner, Cowley, Elk, Wilson, Neosho, Chautauqua, Montgomery and Labette.
Cities in the watch area are Wichita, Hutchinson, Newton, El Dorado, Augusta, Andover, Kingman, Sedan, Yates Center, Anthony, Harper, Wellington, Winfield, Arkansas City, Chanute, Coffeyville, Independence and Parsons.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for Sumner and Cowley counties until 6:45 p.m. today.
Radar indicated thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall were striking the warned area, with rainfall rates of more than an inch an hour indicated with the stronger storms.
With the ground already saturated in many areas, flooding is likely in the warned areas.
The National Weather Service in Wichita has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Cowley County and portions of Sumner, Elk and Chautauqua counties until 10:30 a.m.
Severe thunderstorms capable of producing heavy rains and damaging winds of up to 60 miles an hour were located along a line extending from 7 miles northeast of Cambridge to 8 miles southeast of South Haven. The storms are moving southeast at 30 miles an hour.
Among the towns and cities affected by the warning are Arkansas City, Winfield, South Haven, Cedar Vale, Dexter and Sedan.