Large hail in central Kansas forecast as weather breaks two more NWS Wichita records

Two more Wichita weather records have been broken as the forecast calls for more rain and large hail across the region.

The National Weather Service office in Wichita predicts rain and hail across its service area Tuesday night and Wednesday. More rounds of severe weather across central Kansas are possible through Saturday, though weather service meteorologists said in a tweet that detailed forecasts are difficult to determine at this time.

“The recent cool weather doesn’t get rid of the severe threat, but it makes it more challenging to determine the severity and location, so please stay tuned for daily updates,” NWS Wichita said in a tweet.

In a hazardous weather outlook issued Tuesday afternoon, the weather service provided more information on the predictions for the region.

“Strong to marginally severe storms will be possible late tonight,” forecasters wrote. “The strongest storms will be capable of producing up to quarter size hail and locally heavy rainfall.”

The predicted size of the largest hail stones is smaller than previously forecast. The weather service had predicted up to half-dollar-sized hail in a Tuesday morning forecast.

“A few strong or severe storms with large hail may linger through the morning hours on Wednesday, mainly across portions of south central and southeast Kansas,” forecasters wrote. “Another round of strong to severe storms could affect the area primarily Wednesday night. The strongest storms will be capable of producing ping pong ball sized hail and damaging winds to around 60 mph.

“The threat for severe storms will remain in the forecast for Thursday through Saturday. With multiple rounds of thunderstorms expected, the risk of flooding could increase later in the week.”

The stormy start to the week has broken three NWS weather records in Wichita.

If Tuesday’s high temperature holds through the evening, it will be a new record. The 50 degrees recorded at Eisenhower National Airport in west Wichita breaks the old record for coldest daily high for May 12, which was 53 degrees set in 1966.

The same daily record was broken in Wichita on Monday with a high of 50 degrees, lower than the previous record for May 11 of 53 degrees set in 1948. The normal high temperature for this time of year is 75 degrees.

Monday’s rainfall also broke a 91-year-old record for most precipitation on May 11. The 1.73 inches recorded at the airport broke the previous record of 1.41 inches set in 1929.

Monday’s stormy weather puts the year-to-date rainfall past last year’s numbers. There have been 12.19 inches of rain in Wichita so far in 2020, nearly 3.5 inches above normal. There had been 11.37 inches of rain recorded at this time in 2019. Heavy rainfall last spring led to widespread flooding.

More rain is expected this week with a chance for precipitation every day through Sunday in the Wichita weather forecast.

This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 6:13 PM.