Kansas City Area Hit by Severe Weather as Tornadoes, Flooding Threaten Region
Severe thunderstorms with 70 mph winds and quarter-size hail battered the Kansas City metro Friday evening as tornado watches and flood warnings covered multiple counties.
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI — Severe thunderstorms with 70 mph winds and quarter-size hail moved through the Kansas City metropolitan area Friday evening, leading to tornado watches and flood warnings across several counties in Missouri and Kansas.
The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 7:58 PM CDT Friday until 9:00 PM CDT, covering Jackson County in west central Missouri along with seven other counties. At 7:58 PM CDT, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 6 miles southwest of Lansing to near Tonganoxie to Lawrence, moving southeast at 70 mph.
“Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect considerable tree damage. Wind damage is also likely to mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings,” according to the National Weather Service warning.
Tornado Watch Covers Metro Area
A tornado watch remained in effect until 11:00 PM CDT Friday evening for 12 counties across Kansas and Missouri. The watch covered major metro cities including Kansas City, Overland Park, Olathe, Independence, and Lee’s Summit.
In Kansas, the tornado watch included Johnson, Miami, Atchison, Doniphan, Leavenworth, and Wyandotte counties. Missouri counties under the watch were Buchanan, Clinton, Cass, Clay, Jackson, and Platte.
Cities specifically mentioned in the tornado watch include Atchison, Belton, Cameron, Elwood, Excelsior Springs, Fort Leavenworth, Gladstone, Harrisonville, Highland, Independence, Kansas City, Kansas City Kansas, Kearney, Lansing, Lathrop, Leavenworth, Lenexa, Liberty, Louisburg, Olathe, Osawatomie, Overland Park, Paola, Parkville, Platte City, Plattsburg, Pleasant Hill, Raymore, Riverside, Shawnee, St. Joseph, St. Joseph Airport, Stanley, Troy, Wathena, Weatherby Lake, and Weston.
Flash Flood Threat Continues
A flood watch issued at 4:49 PM CDT Friday remained in effect through Saturday morning at 7:00 AM CDT. The watch covered portions of Kansas including Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, and Wyandotte counties, and Missouri areas including Bates, Cass, Clay, Henry, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis, and Platte counties.
“Thunderstorms will become widespread this afternoon and evening. Areas that receive multiple rounds of heavy rain may experience flooding,” the National Weather Service warned. Rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches were possible in localized areas by Friday night.
The weather service cautioned that excessive runoff could result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying areas, with particular concern for poor drainage and urban areas.
Missouri River Flooding Expected
Separate flood warnings were issued for multiple points along the Missouri River. At Boonville, minor flooding was forecast until late Wednesday night, with the river expected to rise above flood stage late Saturday evening to a crest of 22.6 feet Monday evening.
At Glasgow, the Missouri River was expected to rise above flood stage Sunday afternoon to a crest of 26.0 feet early Monday afternoon, affecting Howard, Chariton, and Saline counties until Wednesday evening. At the 27.0 foot level, many agricultural levees could be overtopped with widespread flooding of rural areas.
The Missouri River at Miami was forecast to rise above flood stage late Saturday morning to a crest of 19.0 feet Monday morning, impacting Carroll, Chariton, and Saline counties until late Tuesday night.
