A soggy start to Kansas City's week as rain will stick around awhile
Thunderstorms swept into the Kansas City area Monday morning bringing lightning, thunder and small-sized hail to parts of the metro in time for the morning commute.
The rain started falling in the Kansas City area before sunrise Monday. The heaviest rainfall is expected between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. Some areas, primarily south of Interstate 70 and U.S. 63, could see hail up to an inch in diameter.
Pea- and quarter-sized hail was being reported west of Louisburg and Paola.
The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill, Mo., issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Miami and Cass counties Monday morning as those hail-producing storms moved across the southern part of the metro area.
The off-and-on rain showers are expected to continue through Tuesday, with the majority of the rain falling on Monday. The Kansas City area will likely see up to an inch of total rainfall through Tuesday.
The storms are expected to taper off late Monday, but widespread rain will stick around, exiting the area metro area from northwest to southeast throughout the day Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Heavier rains are expected to fall farther south across the Interstate 44 corridor, where up to 4 inches of rain is expected. Some areas could see higher rainfall totals.
The rain totals may lead to some isolated flooding, especially south of I-70.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for northern Cass County and southeastern Jackson County after radar and rain gauges indicated that heavy rain was falling across the area. Some rain gauges in the Pleasant Hill area had seen between 3 and 4 inches of rain in the last two areas.
Some of the areas experiencing the flash flooding included Lee's Summit, Belton, Raymore, Harrisonville, Pleasant Hill, Peculiar and Lake Winnebago.
Robert A. Cronkleton: 816-234-4261, @cronkb
This story was originally published March 26, 2018 at 7:32 AM with the headline "A soggy start to Kansas City's week as rain will stick around awhile."