Thunderstorms, heavy rains sweep through Kansas City area; afternoon likely drier
Thunderstorms swept through the Kansas City area early Monday, bringing lightning, heavy rains, strong winds and hail to the metro, according to FOX4 meteorologist Karli Ritter.
“Later on today we are going to settle into a drier forecast after a stormy start this morning,” said Ritter, who provides weather updates to The Star.
Rain chases are expected to decrease after the lunch hour as storms move through the area, Ritter said.
“The morning could be pretty bumpy for several spots, including here in the metro,” Ritter said.
The National Weather Service in Kansas City said on Twitter that winds reached 45 mph at Johnson County Executive Airport in Olathe, 56 mph at the Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City and 61 mph at Kansas City International Airport as storms rolled through the metro.
The storms also dumped heavy rains and hail across the areas.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued shortly after 9 a.m. for parts of Miami and Linnn counties in Kansas and parts of Cass, Henry and Bates counties in Missouri.
A line of severe thunderstorms were moving southeast with 60 mph winds and were expected to impact cities in the area including Harrisonville, Paola, Osawatomie, Butler, Adrian, Garden City and Pleasanton.
As of 9:45 a.m., Evergy reported that 4,600 customers in Johnson County and 3,539 in Jackson County were without power.
The metro area should begin to dry out in the afternoon, with afternoon highs bouncing back up to 80 degrees, Ritter said.
“Tomorrow morning, we will wake up to more rain and more thunderstorms on radar that will leave us with a drier afternoon forecast,” Ritter said.
“The next couple of days with extra rain and extra clouds in the region, we’re going to be hovering the upper 70s to near 80 before we start to bounce back up a little bit later in the week.”
Drier conditions are expected later in the week.
BEHIND THE STORY
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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.
This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 9:25 AM.
