Thunderstorms, possibly severe weather, headed Kansas City’s way; hard freeze likely
Sunshine and warm temperatures will return to the Kansas City area Wednesday, but more thunderstorms and possibly severe weather will bring more rain to the metro, according to FOX4 meteorologist Karli Ritter.
“Later on today we are going to see a return of 60s in our forecast,” said Ritter, who provides weather updates to The Star. “We are also going to have sunshine returning later today after a soggy start this morning.”
Rain showers, however, will move back into the Kansas City area overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning and become widespread during the morning’s rush hour.
“Showers and thunderstorms will become numerous during the morning but then move out in the afternoon,” Ritter said. “However, we’re going to have to watch for potential redevelopment as we see around 6 o’clock tomorrow night, especially along and north of Interstate 70, for some strong and maybe even some severe storms in northern Missouri.”
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The Star produced this weather update in partnership with the local FOX4 television station. The station’s meteorologists create forecast videos multiple times a day for the newspaper to include in its weather reports.
The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill said no severe weather is expected with the first round of storms on Wednesday.
However, severe weather is possible Thursday, with strong winds and small hail possible Thursday morning. Isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening could produce large hail, damaging winds and a brief tornado in northwest Missouri, the weather service said.
The greatest chance for severe weather is north of Kansas City.
Between 1 and 2 inches of moderate to heavy rain is expected from the storms. Some areas could see higher amounts. The rain could lead to localized flash flooding and minor river flooding, the weather service said.
A hard freeze is expected Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning, with lows falling into the 20s and 30s.
“Winter is not quite over just yet . . . ,” the weather service said on Twitter. “So, you may want to hold off on those outdoor plant plans for at least another week.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 7:24 AM.
