Keep a watch out Tuesday: Fire, wind, hail all forecast for central, south central Kansas
Central and south central Kansas are in store for all types of weather Tuesday, including strong wind gusts, high fire danger and severe thunderstorms.
High fire danger conditions are expected from about 9 a.m. on Tuesday. Strong wind gusts could reach up to 45 mph, National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Martin said.
The highest fire danger area will be along I-70 and west of I-135. Affected counties include Russell, Saline, Reno, Kingman and Harper. The western part of Sedgwick County also could be affected, Martin said.
Strong winds are highly likely in the Wichita metro area with speeds in the 40-45 mph range.
The high fire danger is expected to taper off around 9 p.m. before the start of storms that could bring quarter-sized hail and continued stronger wind gusts, Martin said.
Possible severe thunderstorms are forecast to hit between Salina and Wichita and east of that area with elevated wind gusts around 60 mph, Martin said.
The National Weather Service in Wichita is still mapping out the timing, but Martin said storms are expected to start at around 9 p.m. on Tuesday and taper off Wednesday morning.
Martin says Wichita sits on the dry line that stretches across Wichita, Oklahoma City and Dallas that typically sees this weather around this time of the year.
“We have put this in a 50/50 kind of window as far as probability because the Wichita metro is right on that line for both fire and severe weather,” Martin said.
This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 2:22 PM.