NWS Wichita issues flood watch as storms may bring golf ball-sized hail and a tornado
The National Weather Service office in Wichita has issued a flash flood watch for much of its service area as more rain is expected to cap off a week of storms.
The flash flood watch for parts of south-central and southeast Kansas starts Thursday evening and runs through Saturday evening.
“Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms will bring the potential for heavy rainfall through Saturday,” weather service meteorologists wrote in the advisory. “Repeated rounds of heavy rain may promote flooding or flash flooding, especially in low-lying areas. Urban flooding will also be possible.”
The watch includes Allen, Butler, Chautauqua, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Sedgwick, Sumner, Wilson and Woodson counties.
The NWS hazardous weather outlook issued Thursday morning predicts a stormy night across the region, including the potential for heavy rain to cause localized flooding on creeks and rivers.
“Strong and severe storms will develop this afternoon impacting locations along and east of the Kansas Turnpike,” weather service officials wrote. “The strongest storms will be capable of producing golf ball sized hail, damaging winds of 60 mph, and a brief tornado. Thunderstorms are expected to expand in coverage this evening and overnight impacting much of south central and southeast Kansas.
“The threat for strong to severe storms will remain in the forecast for Friday and Saturday. With multiple rounds of thunderstorms expected, the risk of flooding could linger into the weekend.”
There could be a widespread 2-3 inches of rain over that time with isolated heavier rainfall, the weather service said in a tweet. The Neosho River has the greatest potential for flooding.
In Wichita, the NWS forecast calls for a 90% chance of showers and thunderstorms overnight, mainly after 1 a.m. Friday. There is a 70% chance for rain during the day Friday, a 70% chance overnight into Saturday, a 60% chance during the day Saturday and a 20% chance for overnight into Sunday.
The forecast comes as several areas of Kansas have been drenched over the past several days. Some locations have received more than 5 inches of rain over the past week, NWS Wichita said on Twitter. The town of Latham in Butler County had 3.2 inches of rain just on Wednesday. In Wichita, a 91-year-old rain record was broken on Monday with 1.73 inches of rainfall, along with a cold temperature record.
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 2:53 PM.