Storms late Tuesday could bring 40-60 mph winds to Wichita area, NWS forecast says

Residents in the Wichita area could be in for some severe weather Tuesday night, including storms with accompanying winds of 40-60 mph.

On Monday, the National Weather Service tweeted that central Kansas and parts of south-central Kansas along and west of I-135 should prepare for storms with potentially damaging wind speeds.

“The main concern will be damaging winds, though we can’t rule out hail and a tornado. There could also [be] heavy rain that could lead to flooding in urban areas,” NWS tweeted.

Chris Jakub, a meteorologist with NWS, said Monday afternoon that he doesn’t anticipate extensive damage across the state.

“We’re not expecting a big widespread of really strong damaging winds,” Jakub said. “There are just going to be some pockets in there where you can get some stronger winds.”

He said the powerful upper-level storm system over California on Monday afternoon would move across the Rocky Mountains overnight and likely reach the Wichita area at around 9 or 10 p.m. Tuesday.

“We’re expecting storms to develop in western Kansas later tomorrow afternoon,” Jakub said. “That should quickly form a line of storms that should move into central and south-central Kansas some time after dark tomorrow.”

Jakub said he expects Wichita will receive roughly half an inch of rain in the overnight storms.

NWS also projects a 50% chance of thunderstorms during the day Wednesday and a 20% chance overnight.

This story was originally published October 25, 2021 at 4:55 PM.