Heavy rain, storms possible this week as hotter, muggier air builds in KC
Hotter, stickier weather is building in the Kansas City area, and slow-moving storms with possible heavy downpours are expected later this week, according to the National Weather Service.
Wednesday looks like a typical summer day in the metro, with sunny skies pushing highs to around 91 degrees, a bit above the mid-July normal of 88.
A weather shift begins on Wednesday, as humidity starts creeping back in, especially south of Kansas City, after a stretch of clearer, calmer weather.
“Some of our southern counties will see this boost in humidity with dew points hovering near 70 through the afternoon, leading to heat indices rising into the upper 90s,” the weather service said. “While storm activity should stay to our south, we will see increasing cloud cover, especially over these southern counties, through the afternoon and evening as well.”
Forecasters said a plume of moisture will lift north Thursday, bringing higher dew points into more of the area and setting up the next chance for storms.
Temperatures should be around 90 degrees, and the afternoon heat could trigger scattered showers and thunderstorms. Rain chances are 40% to 60% south of U.S. 36 highway, forecasters said.
The storms are expected to be slow-moving, with a risk of locally heavy rainfall and a few strong wind gusts when storms collapse, according to the weather service. Localized flash flooding will also be possible. Storms should fade after sunset.
By Friday, stronger winds a few thousand feet up are expected to pull in more Gulf moisture, making it feel muggier heading into the weekend, the weather service said.
Temperatures will be in the low 90s Friday, the mid-90s this weekend and the upper 90s on Monday. Heat index values will be in the upper 90s to low 100s this weekend and peaking around 105 degrees on Monday.
There is also a small chance of overnight storms starting Friday night into the weekend.
On Tuesday, temperatures are expected to cool to more typical late-July levels with comfortable humidity, the weather service said.
