Storms may arrive in Kansas City area Tuesday night, with heavy rain and flooding
Heavy rainfall could lead to localized flooding as severe storms may sweep through the Kansas City area Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Quarter-sized hail and strong, straight-line winds gusting up to 60 mph will be the primary threats from the possible storms. But because the storms could produce heavy rainfall in some areas, there’s also potential for flash flooding, the weather service said.
The storms are expected to blow into the Kansas City area around 8 or 9 p.m. and end after 3 and 4 a.m. Wednesday.
There is a chance for an isolated tornado or two in eastern Kansas and west-central and northwest Missouri. The areas at greater risk for tornadoes are northwest of the Kansas City metro in northern Kansas and southern Nebraska, according to the weather service.
One of KC’s wettest springs
The storms come as Kansas City is facing one of its wettest springs.
This March was the wettest one in at least 22 years with 5.14 inches of rain and snow, according to the weather service. This May ranked as the fourth wettest May out of the past 22 years with 8.46 inches of precipitation. May and June typically are Kansas City’s wettest months of the year.
This spring (March through May), 15.95 inches of precipitation fell, which was 4.22 inches above normal and coming in as the 13th wettest spring in Kansas City’s history, the weather service said on Twitter.
A recently released study of hourly rainfall totals found that heavy rains are becoming more common. The study analyzed 150 U.S. locations and found 90% of them were experiencing more average rainfall per hour than in 1970. Warmer air supercharges the atmosphere leading to heavier rainfall extremes.
In the Kansas City area, the change in hourly rainfall intensity was 18%, according to the study by Climate Central, an independent climate change research organization.
This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 7:29 AM.
