Damaging storms march through western and central Kansas

Western and central Kansas was hit hard Tuesday night as tornadoes, hail and heavy rain swept through the area.

Much of the damage came early in the evening when the Dodge City area reported two tornadoes on the ground. U.S. 50 was temporarily closed between Dodge City and Cimarron because of scattered debris from buildings. The Ford County communications office was swamped with phone calls, said J.D. Gilbert, interim county administrator and public information officer.

“We had mainly damages to agricultural, residential and a county landfill building,” Gilbert said. “There were two confirmed injuries.”

By 9 p.m., the storms had moved closer to Kingman, Pratt and Stafford counties.

Weather forecasters in the Wichita metro area were reporting the storms were still active. The Wichita area remains under a tornado watch until 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Golf ball-size hail was reported in Kingman County, and winds up to 50 mph were reported at Great Bend and Russell.

“We are still under risk,” said Kevin Damofal, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

At 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Reno County until 10 p.m. Half-dollar-size hail and 60 mph winds were possible.

The forecast Wednesday calls for a brief drying-out period until storms are expected to return on Thursday and Friday, with temperatures climbing into the high 80s and low 90s.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Damaging storms march through western and central Kansas."