Heavy rainfall causes flooding in west, south Wichita (+videos)

Heavy rainfall in the Wichita area on Tuesday afternoon snarled traffic during the evening commute, flooding streets across west and south Wichita and closing intersections.

At the National Weather Service site near Wichita Eisenhower National Airport, meteorologists had officially recorded only 0.71 inches of rain as of 6:30 p.m.

Across town, however, rainfall was locally heavy. Some locations, such as near I-235 and Meridian in south Wichita, reported 2.48 inches in a three-hour time frame Tuesday afternoon, according to an online city rainfall map.

The area around Maple and Tyler received 3.23 inches, according to the map.

More heavy rain is possible in the Wichita area early Wednesday, forecasters say.

A Sedgwick County emergency dispatcher said he estimated there were 15 to 20 calls about vehicles stalled in high water, mainly in west and south Wichita.

Four accidents were reported along West Kellogg when “it started raining really good,” but the dispatcher said those were not necessarily weather-related.

Various stretches of streets were closed around town Tuesday evening, including:

▪ Maple from West Street to I-235

▪ Pawnee and Meridian

▪ West Street from 13th to Kellogg

▪ Bleckley from Douglas to Kellogg

▪ Harry from McLean to Seneca

As of 8 p.m., all were navigable, except for the Harry Street expanse, which was still blocked off.

The heavy storms triggered a flash-flood warning from the National Weather Service for Sedgwick County for several hours Tuesday afternoon and evening.

Earlier in the day, heavy overnight rain triggered flooding in Harper County and led to the rescue of a teenager from a flooded car in Butler County, authorities said.

More than 5 inches of rain fell in Harper early Tuesday as a strong thunderstorm formed southwest of Wichita and stalled.

“It just kind of quit moving and camped out over there through the early morning hours,” National Weather Service meteorologist Mick McGuire said.

A trained storm spotter in Harper reported 5.6 inches of rain, according to the weather service. An automated rain gauge reported 3.89 inches a mile north of Rose Hill, and a teenager had to be rescued from his car northeast of Rose Hill on Tuesday morning when he tried to drive through water over a low-water bridge and became stranded.

The car filled with water, and “he crawled up on the rear end” until a water rescue team was able to get to him before 9 a.m., Butler County Emergency Management director Jim Schmidt said.

More than 4 inches of rain was reported near Attica in Harper County, with Anthony reporting 3.5 inches and Belvidere in neighboring Kiowa County reporting more than 3 inches.

This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Heavy rainfall causes flooding in west, south Wichita (+videos)."