Watch for hail tonight, Wichita: Forecasters predict a range of sizes, probabilities
The threat of severe weather continues to loom over parts of Kansas including Wichita on Tuesday.
Wichita is forecast to see quarter-sized hail and 60 mph wind gusts later Tuesday night, meteorologist James Cuellar said.
An early wave of forecast storms could bring the threat of tennis ball-sized hail and 70 mph winds in parts of central and southeast Kansas, Cuellar says, but there’s only a 15-20 percent chance those storms will materialize between 5 and 8 p.m.
“We have decreasing confidence in our forecast area that we’re going to see a storm develop, but if a storm does go, it’ll quickly become severe,” Cuellar says.
A second wave is predicted to move in around 9 p.m. in the same areas. This wave carries a 50% chance of moving through Wichita and bringing heavy rain, quarter-sized hail and 60 mph wind gusts, Cuellar said.
That second wave is expected to die down after midnight in Wichita, Cuellar added.
Fire danger continues with reports of wildfires igniting across Kansas. One fire was reported around 12:07 p.m. in northwest El Dorado. A Butler County dispatch supervisor said it erupted north and east of Oil Hill Road and Northwest 10th. It has since been contained; no injuries or damage to buildings was reported, the supervisor said.
The National Weather Service says the fire danger warning will remain until 9 p.m. Tuesday, impact the area west of I-135 with wind gusts blowing up to 60 mph.