Tornadoes, hail and severe thunderstorms may cause damage Saturday evening in KC area

Forecasters are warning of severe storms Saturday evening in the Kansas City area.

Large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes are possible in an area that includes parts of western Missouri and eastern Kansas, including Jackson County, Clinton and Sedalia.

The worst of the storms are predicted to hit between 8 and 11 p.m.

Winds may top 60 mph, and tornadoes may be difficult to detect by radar because they will be “embedded into the line of storms,” according to the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill.

“(We’ll) likely have a shorter lead time on warnings than usual so people need to be able to react quickly,” the Weather Service stated in a release.

“These storms have the potential to intensify rapidly with all modes of severe weather possible, including tornadoes,” wrote Jimmy Barham with the Weather Service. “The tornado threat looks to be mainly the first few hours of the event in the 7–9 p.m. time frame, with damaging winds during and after that time frame expected.”

Strong thunderstorms were rolling through areas north of the Missouri River early Saturday afternoon, but they are expected to dissipate before the next, stronger round of storms Saturday evening.

The National Weather Service urged residents of the region to have a shelter plan in place.

This story was originally published October 14, 2017 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Tornadoes, hail and severe thunderstorms may cause damage Saturday evening in KC area."