The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch until 2 a.m. Tuesday for 25 counties in south-central and southeast Kansas, including the Wichita metropolitan area.
Counties included in the watch are Allen, Barton, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Cowley, Crawford, Elk, Greenwood, Harper, Harvey, Kingman, Labette, Marion, McPherson, Montgomery, Sedgwick, Sumner, Wilson and Woodson.
The National Weather Service in Dodge City reported that – as of about 7:20 p.m. – they had received no reports of tornado damage from any of the several warned storms thus far tonight.
The National Weather Service has three different active tornado warnings for portions of western and central Kansas.
A possible tornado was reported 10 miles southeast of Sitka and moving toward Protection and Coldwater. Another storm with strong rotation was located near Bellefont and headed toward Offerle. The storm was moving almost due east along U.S. 50, which could take it through Kinsley and perhaps clip St. John.
A third tornado warning is in effect for Kiowa County, with very strong rotation heading right for Greensburg.
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for 19 counties in western and central Kansas until 2 a.m. Tuesday.
The watch area stretches from about Ness City to Great Bend to Medicine Lodge. Counties included in the watch are Barber, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Finney, Ford, Gray, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kiowa, Lane, Meade, Ness, Pawnee, Pratt, Rush, Scott and Seward.
A tornado warning has been issued for northern Ford and southwestern Hodgeman counties, though no tornadoes have been confirmed as of 6 p.m.
The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch until Tuesday morning for eight counties along the Oklahoma border, including Sumner and Cowley.
More than six inches of rain has fallen in far southern and southeast Kansas over the past two nights, the agency reports, and with more rain in the forecast flooding is a concern.
Other counties in the watch include Elk, Wilson, Neosho, Chautauqua, Montgomery and Labette.
A stormy Monday is possible in the Wichita metropolitan area, forecasters say.
The strongest storms are expected to threaten central Kansas, with winds topping 60 miles an hour and hail as large as golf balls. Highs today should reach the upper 70s, with east-northeast winds in the teens.
Storms could linger into the overnight hours, forecasters say, with lows dipping to the mid-50s and winds shifting to the southeast and gusting to more than 20 miles an hour.
Tuesday and Wednesday should offer respite from the rain in the Wichita area, with mostly sunny skies and highs in the low 80s.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for 51 counties in central and eastern Kansas until 9 p.m.
The watch area includes the cities of Wichita, Salina, Topeka and McPherson. As the dry line continues to move east, however, expect counties to be trimmed from the watch area.
Wichita already appears to have escaped severe weather from this storm system.
Here’s a map produced by the National Weather Service depicting today’s storm threat.
Wichita residents should pay close attention to weather conditions this afternoon, forecasters say.
Isolated thunderstorms with small hail are possible this morning, but the severe weather threat for Wichita will be highest between noon and 4 p.m. Storms could bring baseball-sized hail and even a few tornadoes to south-central Kansas.
“You just need to watch” the weather this afternoon, said Jerilyn Billings, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wichita.
The atmospheric set-up doesn’t resemble April 14, when a widespread outbreak brought dozens of tornadoes to Kansas – including one that hit Oaklawn and southeast Wichita – but Billings said strong storms are still possible.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., has posted a moderate threat for severe weather in eastern Kansas today. Wichita is on the southwest edge of the moderate zone.
The SPC warns that tornadoes – possibly strong ones – could well develop from discrete thunderstorms that develop along the dry line pushing west across Kansas.
Billings said the dry line is showing signs of moving more slowly than forecasters had initially anticipated. That will bring the likelihood of severe weather closer to Wichita because it could be in or near the metro area when storms begin to fire.
Friday might be frightful for portions of southern and southeastern Kansas as strong storms are possible in the region.
Some could be packing hail the size of tennis balls and baseballs, the National Weather Service warns, and tornadoes are possible as well. The area most under threat for these storms will be along and east of I-135 – with the chances for severe weather greater east of Wichita.
The atmospheric set-up isn’t anything like it was on April 14, meteorologist Kevin Darmofal said, so residents should not fear a widespread outbreak.
Highs today are expected to reach the upper 70s in Wichita, with south-southeast winds in the teens and gusting to nearly 30 miles an hour.
Storms that threaten the Wichita area are most likely early in the afternoon to early evening, Darmofal said. Skies should begin to clear overnight, when lows slide to the low 50s.
Saturday should be mostly sunny, with highs of about 70. Then rain chances return Saturday night and persist for the next several days, forecasters say.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.