Strong winds, large hail and tornadoes possible in the Kansas City area

It’s shaping up to be a stormy day in Kansas City as a line of damaging storms are expected to sweep through the area Thursday evening.

These storms have the potential of producing strong winds, damaging hail and even a few tornadoes.

The key is how quickly morning and early afternoon storms clear the area. If clouds linger for much of the day, then the storms won’t be quite as strong, lessening the threat of tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill, Mo.

Several showers and thunderstorms were moving through the area Thursday morning. They are likely to continue into the early afternoon. Some of the storms are producing locally heavy rainfall, especially to the south and southeast of Kansas City, according to the National Weather Service.

A line of strong to severe thunderstorms is expected to develop across central and eastern Kansas in the afternoon. These storms are expected to track eastward into western Missouri in the evening and then reach central Missouri around midnight, according to the weather service.

The line of storms could include supercells and bow echoes that are capable of producing large hail, strong winds up to 70 mph and a few tornadoes. The area with the highest tornado risk is west and north of the Kansas City area and includes Des Moines, Topeka, St. Joseph and Manhattan, Kan., according to the National Weather Service.

The line of storms are expected to move into that area, which also includes Maryville, Atchison and Leavenworth, between 4 and 9 p.m.

A few tornadoes are possible, especially if the sun is out for much of the day.

For the Kansas City area, expect a solid line of severe storms to move into the area between 7 p.m. and midnight.

The main threat from these storms is damaging winds up to 65 mph. Some large hail and an isolated tornado will be possible. There’s a threat of possible flash flooding.

The storms are expected to weaken as they move into Clinton, Sedalia, Boonville and Moberly late Thursday and early Friday. The storms, however, will have the potential to produce locally heavy rainfall and a few gusts up to 55 mph.

The remainder of the week is expected to be much quieter. Highs will be in the 60s Friday and Saturday, then gradually warm back up into the middle 70s by early next week. Another front will drop into the area Tuesday night, but precipitation chances with that storm appear low, according to the National Weather Service.

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 7:37 AM with the headline "Strong winds, large hail and tornadoes possible in the Kansas City area."