Severe storms possible in Kansas City; damaging winds, hail, tornado risk
Storms could turn severe late Thursday as a cold front sweeps through Kansas City, bringing a high risk of damaging winds. Large hail and a few tornadoes are also possible, the National Weather Service said.
Most of the day should be quiet and mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid-70s as the atmosphere ramps up ahead of late-day storms.
By late afternoon, thunderstorms are expected to fire along the approaching cold front. All hazards — damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes — will be possible initially, primarily across northwest Missouri into northeast Kansas, the weather service said.
“The main show looks to begin around 4 p.m., with convective (storm) initiation along the cold front across southeast Nebraska and to the south-southwest toward Salina,” Kansas, the weather service said.
After 5 p.m., the storms are expected to enter far northwest Missouri, and by about 7 p.m. they may merge into a well-developed squall line from northwest Missouri into eastern Kansas. At this point, the primary threats will shift to damaging winds and possible brief embedded tornadoes, according to the weather service.
Strong to severe storms are then expected to march eastward, likely moving through the Kansas City metro between 8 and 11 p.m. The greatest severe weather appears to be higher west of Interstate 35, though severe storms are still possible along and east of I-35 as the line moves through.
The storms are expected to continue sweeping eastward, weakening as they move across Missouri, the weather service said.
The Storm Prediction Center has placed Kansas City under a slight risk, Level 2 of 5, of severe weather. Meanwhile, areas to the west of the metro, including Wichita, Topeka, Manhattan and Emporia in Kansas, are at an enhanced risk, Level 3 of 5.
For the metro area, forecasters said the “reasonable” upper-end impacts include wind gusts mostly under 74 mph, hail as large as about 2 to 3.5 inches, and a tornado intensity up to around EF2, according to the weather service.
Locally moderate to heavy rain is possible, but the storms should move through quickly enough to limit the risk of flash flooding.
The cold front should pass through the Kansas City area by Friday morning, leaving the afternoon dry. High temperatures should be near 70 degrees, close to the normal high of about 68 for late April.
Mostly sunny skies and temperatures around 72 degrees are expected for Saturday. Showers and thunderstorms return in the evening, primarily for western parts of the region.
More severe weather is possible Sunday afternoon into Sunday night, and again Monday. Forecasters say confidence is lower in the exact timing, where storms will be strongest, and which hazards will be most likely.
Total rainfall accumulations from Thursday through Monday could approach 3 to 4 inches across the region, which could lead to some flooding concerns, the weather service said.
