Early Tuesday morning, TV-13 meteorologist Doug Meyers mentioned heavy rainfall as his main concern with the risk of severe weather later in the day. So far, those concerns have been validated.
Heavy rain — 1.5 inches in 30 minutes, 1.6 inches total at the KVOE studios — soaked Emporia, causing localized street flooding across town:
*Mechanic Street underpass closed for about 60 minutes. It has since reopened.
*Prairie Street between 12th and 18th reported with at least a foot of water over the street
*Water over West Sixth west of Graphic Arts
*Water over 12th Avenue near Emporia Senior Center
Street flooding was also videotaped outside the Sweet Granada at the end of the heavy rain.
Rain totals have varied areawide.
*Emporia Municipal Airport: 1.82 inches
*Graphic Arts Road: 1.3 inches
*Reading: 0.75 inches
A tornado watch remains in effect until 9 pm for Coffey and Osage counties and until 10 pm for Chase and Greenwood counties. Isolated tornadoes, hail up to golf ball size and winds as high as 70 mph are possible. Heavy rainfall is also possible, with “excessive rain” possible for locations south and east of Emporia through the mid-evening hours. Additional showers and storms may move south across the area late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.
Stay with KVOE and KVOE.com for updates. Follow KVOE on Facebook@kvoenews or Twitter@kvoeam1400 for instant weather alerts if you have not already done so. If you have rain totals, call KVOE at 342-1400, email kvoe@kvoe.com or post to KVOE’s Facebook page.
