Severe weather risk grows for Kansas City. Large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes possible
Editor’s note: For the latest forecast information on the severe weather threat in Kansas City on Wednesday, see “Tornadoes, damaging winds threaten Kansas City as severe storms likely sweep across area.”
The threat of dangerous weather this week has grown, prompting the National Weather Service to place Kansas City under a greater risk of strong to severe thunderstorms on Wednesday.
The weather service’s Storm Prediction Center has placed northwestern Missouri, eastern Kansas, and northeastern Oklahoma in an area of enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms on Wednesday, the third highest threat of severe weather on a scale of one to five.
Kansas City, Overland Park, Kansas City, Kansas, Olathe and Topeka are among the larger cities in the area at an enhanced risk of severe weather. The threats from the storms include large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes — some of which may be strong, the Storm Prediction Center said on X, formerly Twitter.
The Storm Prediction Center’s tornado outlook includes Kansas City, Topeka and eastern Kansas in a highlighted area where there’s a 10% probability of a tornado occurring within 25 miles of any given point in that area.
Topeka, Manhattan, Emporia, Junction City and El Dorado in Kansas are all in an area that could see stronger tornadoes.
Timing of the storms
The storms are expected to develop mid-to-late Wednesday morning in eastern Nebraska, northwestern Kansas and western Iowa. The Storm Prediction Center said they are expected to expand to the northeast into the upper Mississippi Valley and south across eastern Kansas in the afternoon.
The severe weather is expected to move into the Kansas City area late afternoon and evening.
The National Weather Service in Kansas City included a chart on the potential timing of the storms in a message on X. The storms are expected to push through the Kansas City area between 6 and 11 p.m.
This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 3:26 PM.
