Hail and downed power lines reported in Wichita area; more severe weather coming
The Wichita area saw downed power lines, hail and just over an inch of rain Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Wichita.
A calm settled over the area in the afternoon but that is not expected to last. Hail and heavy rainfall are possible Friday night, the Wichita office reported.
Weather reports between 6 and 7 a.m. Friday included a 63 mph wind gust north of Goddard, penny-sized hail 2 miles southeast of downtown Wichita and high winds snapping power lines east of Cheney Reservoir.
There were also reports of quarter-size hail near Haysville around 10:39 a.m. Around that time, Beth Bowdoin tweeted a photo showing dime-sized hail in Derby.
Just over an inch of rain was reported at the Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower Airport on Friday morning, with 0.39 inches falling between 10:53 and 11:53 a.m. The rain mostly stopped in the afternoon, but it’s not expected to stay away.
“Periods of heavy rainfall is possible tonight” along with pea to nickel-size hail, the NWS office said.
Jesse Lundquist, a NWS meteorologist in Goodland, said parts of western Kansas near the Colorado state line could see small amounts of snow overnight Friday and again overnight Saturday.
The Wichita area is also predicted to see rain and thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday.
“A few strong to marginally severe storms will be possible on Saturday with southern Kansas having the higher chances,” the office says. “Widespread rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches is expected for this weekend ...The rain could be heavy at times, especially during the night time hours on Saturday.”
The storm system, which is moving east, should be moving out of Kansas on Monday, Lunquist said.
But the Wichita area could see another storm system move in from Wednesday night to Thursday morning.
“Colder air could change the precipitation over to a rain snow mix,” the office reported.
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 3:22 PM.