Kansas City faces threat of hail, flooding and tornadoes during Saturday storms
After overnight rain, areas of the Kansas City metro remain under a flood watch before chances of severe storms arrive.
Northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas is under an enhanced risk for severe weather Saturday, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center shows. Enhanced risk is a level 3 out of 5 on the scale for predicting storms.
Threats from Saturday’s storms could include golf ball sized hail, damaging winds and potential for tornados to develop, the weather service said.
Weather models predict a supercell storm to arrive in northwest Missouri between 4-6 p.m. Saturday. Meteorologists’ confidence in storms is high, but the exact timing of the storms was still uncertain.
By the later evening, storms are tracking to head southeast across the region and arrive in Kansas City. Excessive rainfall from the storms could lead to dangerous flash flooding, according to the weather service.
“Greater confidence exists in a line of thunderstorms progressing southeastward by the early evening, with damaging wind being the primary threat, but also including the threat of large hail and embedded tornadoes,” the weather service said on social media.
Flash flooding risk
The weather service is monitoring a flash flooding risk through Sunday morning as the region stays soggy. Overnight rainfall coupled with the arrival of storms Saturday means the region could see a washout.
Some areas along and south of Interstate 70 could see 2-3 inches of rain by Saturday night. Already wet soils increase the chance of flooding, meteorologists said.
The high temperature Saturday is forecast in the mid-80s, then temperatures drop into the low 70s Sunday.
Kansas City will see a two-day stretch Sunday and Monday when temperatures will feel more like fall than summer.
Sunday will be a cloudy day, but rain is not in the forecast. Chances of rain will return in the middle of next week, when temperatures are expected to climb back up into the mid-80s.
