Updated: Tornado watch issued for Wichita, surrounding counties. When and where
Parts of Kansas, including Wichita and surrounding cities, are now under a tornado watch until 9 p.m. as severe weather moves into the area this afternoon.
National Weather Service forecaster Vanessa Pearce told The Eagle the Wichita area will likely move out of that watch earlier while eastern Kansas will likely stay under a watch later depending on how storms develop.
The tornado watch covers 17 counties: Butler, Chase, Cowley, Harper, Harvey, Marion, Sedgwick and Sumner in central Kansas and Allen, Chautauqua, Elk, Greenwood, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson and Woodson in southeast Kansas.
The National Weather Service is forecasting possible 2-inch hail, 60 to 70 mph wind gusts, rainfall and possible tornadoes for the area. Hail is already falling in some areas of Wichita.
“You can’t rule out that there wouldn’t be a tornado,” Pearce said.
Southern Sedgwick County and northern Sumner County are under a severe thunderstorm watch until 4 p.m. Some Butler County cities also are included in the watch. The storm, moving northeast from Conway Springs, carries ping pong ball size hail and 60 mph wind gusts.
Cities that could be affected include south, central, east and northeast Wichita, Derby, Andover, Haysville, Wellington, Bel Aire, Mulvane, Rose Hill, Clearwater, Belle Plaine, Conway Springs, Eastborough, Argonia, Viola, Eisenhower National Airport and McConnell Air Force Base.
Severe weather is expected in Kansas up until midnight, while the Wichita area is expected to see it between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., Pearce told The Eagle in the morning.
Most of southeast Kansas and the Flint Hills are expected to be affected. The threat of storms in southeast Kansas will leave around 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The storm is expected to move into the area with a cold front, the National Weather Service said in an X post, with the timing of the cold front affecting when storms develop in southeast Kansas.
Friday’s high in Wichita is 82 while the low is expected to dip down to 40 degrees. Saturday will see a high of 62.
Friday’s storm could also see some locally heavy rainfall, NWS said, but just how much is hard to predict.
“It’s just a matter of where things develop and how much they do. Precipitation forecasts can be pretty tough to really pinpoint how much an area is going to get,” Pearce said. “I would say that the better chances for kind of more meaningful precipitation are going to be across east Kansas.
“It’s just dependent on where the storms initially fire.”
It’s important to have a plan ahead of severe storm, Pearce said. Everyone should know where to shelter if a tornado warning arrives, and have a plan if they are not home when they do. People should also have multiple ways to receive weather warnings.
Chances of thunderstorms return Wednesday, the NWS forecast shows.
This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 11:03 AM.
