There was brief heavy rainfall, but there weren’t any severe weather reports after a slight risk evening Tuesday.
Storms began moving into the KVOE listening area after 8 pm, eventually causing severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of Coffey, Greenwood and Osage counties before leaving the area.
Instead of high wind, large hail or even tornadoes, the area got rain.
*KVOE studios: 1.25 inches
*Emporia Municipal Airport: 1.13 inches
*Coronado Avenue: 0.95 inches
*South and Sylvan: 1 inch
*1100 block Constitution: 0.90 inches
*10th and Weaver: 0.75 inches
*3 miles east of Emporia Municipal Airport: 0.95 inches
*3.5 miles west of Emporia Golf Course: 2 inches
*7 miles southwest of Emporia: 0.90 inches
*1 mile north of Allen: 0.20 inches
*Cottonwood Falls: 0.30 inches
*Eureka Milliken Airport: 0.78 inches
*11 miles south of Hartford: 1.10 inches
*Between Hartford and Olpe: 1 inch
*Kansas Highway 99 at Lyon-Greenwood county line: 1 inch
*Lamont: 0.80 inches
*Lebo Heidi Inn: 1.25 inches
*Neosho Rapids: 1.40 inches
*5 miles southwest of Olpe: 1.10 inches
Pea-sized hail was reported on El Charro Court, near Ninth and Burns and outside Timmerman Elementary.
National Weather Service meteorologist Brandon Drake says there was the potential for intense activity, but there were several large-scale factors that undercut that potential.
The National Weather Service says storm interactions, including a line merging with a larger cluster near Emporia shortly after 9 pm, made it tough for storms to develop powerful updrafts and, thus, generate any widespread severe weather. Weather Service meteorologist Brandon Drake says the area was in between two potent systems that generated more widespread severe weather, one near the Great Lakes and another in Oklahoma and Texas.
Rainfall was more widespread and heavy over parts of northern Coffey and southern Osage counties for several hours, leading to flood alerts that have since expired. Much of the US Highway 75 corridor in Osage County was also part of an extensive power outage, with Evergy reporting over 3,100 customers offline from Lyndon and Melvern northeast into central Kansas City. The outage was restored shortly before 6 am.
Showers and embedded storms will continue past sunrise before clearing out, and Wednesday’s high of 51 will be over 30 degrees cooler than Tuesday’s high of 83. Windy conditions will persist as gusts reach 35 mph at times. Thursday will have a high of 60 with more blustery conditions. Drake says wet ground conditions Wednesday and humidity levels above 30 percent Thursday should limit the fire danger, although Chase and Osage counties are in separate burn bans — Chase until at least Friday, Osage until further notice.
If you have storm reports, storm photos or rain totals, message the KVOE Bluestem Farm and Ranch Supply text line at 620-342-5863.
6 pm Tuesday – 1 am Wednesday: Lyon, most surrounding counties in tornado watch; Chase County remains in severe thunderstorm watch
All area counties are under either a tornado or severe thunderstorm watch Tuesday evening.
Lyon, Coffey, Greenwood and Osage counties are in a tornado watch until midnight. Besides tornadoes, hail slightly bigger than baseballs and 70 mph wind gusts are possible.
Chase County remains in a severe thunderstorm watch until 11 pm. Hail to the size of tennis balls, wind gusts to 80 mph and isolated tornadoes are possible.
All hazards are possible through the evening. As of 6 pm, storm development is expected by 8-9 pm.
5:30 pm Tuesday: Severe thunderstorm watch announced for Chase County; severe weather risk remains areawide
Part of the KVOE listening area is under a severe thunderstorm watch Tuesday evening.
The watch, issued shortly before 5:30 pm, affects Chase County and much of south-central Kansas until 11 pm. Hail to the size of tennis balls, wind gusts to 80 mph and isolated tornadoes are possible.
While Lyon and other nearby counties are not currently included, there is a risk of severe weather for the entire KVOE listening area and most of Kansas. All hazards are currently considered possible through late evening.
Stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for updates.
8 am Tuesday: Hail, wind most likely severe weather threats with slight risk areawide Tuesday evening; Chase and Osage counties in burn bans ahead of storms
Showers and thunderstorms appear likely across the KVOE listening area Tuesday night. Some could be strong to severe.
TV-13 meteorologist Doug Meyers says most of Kansas, including all area counties, is in a slight risk Tuesday evening.
The National Weather Service has targeted an area from Fort Scott to the east, Emporia to the north, Severy to the south and El Dorado to the west as the most likely area for storm development and heavy rainfall Tuesday evening.
The tornado risk is low, but the Storm Prediction Center’s Conditional Intensity Group scale indicates up to EF2 tornadoes are possible if anything spins up. Heavy rainfall is also possible along and southeast of Interstate 35.
The National Weather Service has targeted an area from Fort Scott to the east, Emporia to the north, Severy to the south and El Dorado to the west as the most likely area for storm development and heavy rainfall. TV-13 meteorologist Doug Meyers says early evening — by 8 pm — appears to be the best time for storm initiation and movement across the area.
Before the storms, warm and increasingly breezy conditions are ahead. With wind speeds as high as 30-35 mph through the afternoon, Chase and Osage counties are now in separate burn bans until further notice.
The rest of the week will be dry and occasionally breezy. High temperatures will go from the mid-80s Tuesday to the low 50s Wednesday, return to near 80 by Saturday and be in the mid-40s early next week.
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for updates and instant alerts on watches and/or warnings. Our coverage will be enhanced by the volunteer KVOE Storm Team spotter network offering on-site information across the listening area. If you have storm reports, storm photos or rain totals from any activity that develops Tuesday, message the KVOE Bluestem Farm and Ranch Supply text line at 620-342-5863.
Tuesday’s severe weather risk comes as the National Weather Service has started its spotter training sessions for area counties. Wednesday will have a session at the Swope Park Community Center in Cottonwood Falls beginning at 6:30 pm and an event at the New Strawn Community Center at 7 pm. Morris County’s session was held Monday. Lyon County’s session is March 26 at the Memorial Union Preston Family Room. The remaining area schedule:
*Greenwood County: March 16, 6:30 pm. Eureka High School auditorium
*Wabaunsee County: March 23, 7 pm. McFarland Senior Center
*Osage County: April 2, 7 pm. Lyndon Community Building
