On Wednesday night severe storms pass across the Kansas City region.
As a strong thunderstorm moved across northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri, baseball-sized hail pelted the Kansas City metro area Wednesday night.
A tornado watch was in place until one in the morning, and the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning that ended at nine p.m. on Wednesday.
Thunderstorms, torrential downpours, and wind gusts are predicted to plague the state’s weather. This watch covers several counties, including Atchison, Coffey, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Jackson, and Wyandotte.
The majority of the Kansas City metro area was under a severe thunderstorm warning until 9:30 p.m. due to devastating storms that delivered marble to half-dollar-sized hail in some areas and 60 mph winds.
Roof, siding, window, and car damage is to be expected. The National Weather Service has also issued a tornado watch for the Kansas City area on Wednesday night.
Videos of the hailstorm were posted on X, the former Twitter platform. According to the NWS, the hailstorm once produced hail up to 3.5 inches in diameter. In one video posted by KMBC from a resident of Kansas City, Kansas, big balls of ice blanketed the ground of the cameraman’s front lawn as lightning flashed in the backdrop.
A photo of meteorologist Lindsey Anderson of Kansas City, Missouri, holding a handful of hail was shared by KSHB with X. The NWS predicted hail damage to vehicles during the storm, as well as wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
Some locals reportedly recorded footage of a tornado that made landfall on Wednesday night just east of Alta Vista, Kansas. At 8:51 p.m. EST, storm chaser Ben Williams tweeted a video of a massive funnel forming near Council Grove, about 15 miles south of Alta Vista and southwest of Kansas City.
Assessing damage and analysing radar returns will be the responsibility of the NWS office covering the Kansas City metro area in order to ascertain the intensity of the event that occurred outside of Alta Vista.
The FOX Forecast Centre stated that because of the cell’s organization and significant shear returns, meteorologists may infer that the twister was at least an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. An EF-3 tornado’s winds range from 136 mph to 165 mph and can cause serious damage.
A tornado is classified as an EF-4 or EF-5 if its wind speed exceeds 165 mph. In other counties, hail was the main issue, with over 100 reports from many states. During the peak of the activity, meteorologists advised residents in the Kansas City area to seek cover and avoid windows.
A severe weather threat expands Thursday:
Because of Thursday’s shift in focus from the areas where storms affected communities on Wednesday to the south and east, the possibility of severe weather remains.
From southern Iowa and northern Missouri into central Illinois is the first, and farther south from eastern Oklahoma and East Texas into Louisiana and
“We have a level 3 out of 5,” Merwin explained. “The fact that the Storm Prediction Center has triggered this for Thursday ahead of time says something.”
The greatest threat of severe weather is expected on Thursday from southeastern Oklahoma into western Arkansas.
It will be put up pretty similarly to Wednesday’s. Conditions near the surface low-pressure system and the warm front will likely produce an arc of supercells throughout northern Missouri, Illinois, and southeastern Iowa.
Living in the warm air south of the front, you may experience tornadoes, powerful wind gusts, and hail up to two inches in size during storms. However, any storm that moves north of the front will likely produce hail.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, storms to the south should develop early in the afternoon and move ahead of a dryline across northeastern Texas and Oklahoma.
On Thursday, the storm system will continue to move east, however, when it passes across central Missouri and northeastern Texas, there should be less chance of hail. Strong to severe thunderstorms are still possible from East Texas into the Southeast on Friday as the central front moves southward and catches up.
A succession of wet days is expected over the weekend for areas without further rain. Jackson, Mississippi, is currently having its fourth-wettest start to the year and is once again in the target zone for heavy rain.
A look at the rain forecast in the South starting Thursday through Saturday.
Heavy rain over several days may cause a swath of three or more inches to fall across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and possibly even more.
