Four eastern Kansas counties under flash flood warning as rain approaches Kansas City
A number of eastern Kansas counties are under flash flood warnings as Thursday’s storm system makes its way toward Kansas City.
Douglas, Jefferson, Osage and Shawnee counties in Kansas are under a flash flood warning until 4:30 p.m., according to FOX4, which provides weather updates to The Star. Jackson and Ottawa counties are under flash flood watches until 1 a.m. Friday.
The Kansas City metro area remains under a hazerdous weather outlook, according to the National Weather Service, and the Missouri River at Napoleon in Jackson County is under a flood warning.
In Kansas, the cities of Paola, Osawatomie and Louisburg are under flood warnings until 7 p.m. Thursday, according to the weather service.
Expect another 24 hours of rain, FOX4 meteorologist Garry Frank. said mid-day Thursday of a weather system expected to linger into Friday.
“Especially late in the day Thursday into early Friday, that’s when I see some additional one to two inch rainfall totals, especially in some of these heavier cells to the south,” said Frank.
“But it’s not out of the question that we’re going to see half an inch to upwards of three or four inches in some cases,” he continued. “That’s where the flash flooding concerns lie.”
Following a previous round of storms Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service reported 4.5 inches of rain fell between 7 and 10:30 p.m. Wednesday in Pleasant Hill.
As of about 6:30 a.m. Thursday, Kansas City recorded 9.51 inches of rain this month, making it the 10th wettest July in history, according to the weather service. The current record was set in 1992 with 15.47 inches.
The weekend will likely be much drier and cooler following the bout of rain in Kansas City, with highs in the low 80s.
“This is normally the hottest time of the year, average high is 89,” Frank said. “We’re nowhere near that the next few days as it finally dries out into next week.”
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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.
