Tornado watch issued in KC area, parts of MO, KS. ‘Strong tornadoes,’ hail likely, NWS says
A tornado watch has been issued in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area and other parts of Missouri and Kansas.
The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, said the watch is in effect now until 11 p.m. Wednesday. It includes Cass, Bates, Henry, Johnson and Lafayette counties in Missouri within the Kansas City area as well as counties in central and southwestern Missouri and southeastern Kansas.
“Several strong tornadoes,” hail “up to apple size” and scattered gusts of up to 70 mph are likely during these storms Wednesday, the National Weather Service warned in a tweet.
“This is a particularly dangerous situation,” the weather service said.
At the same time, some of these areas are placed under a flash flood watch as storms are expected to bring heavy rainfall.
According to the weather service, the flash flood watch is in effect 7 p.m. Wednesday until 10 a.m. Thursday in Cass, Johnson, Cooper and Howard counties in Missouri and Miami County in Kansas.
The weather service said rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour “may quickly result in flash flooding due to already saturated soils.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2019 at 4:15 PM.
