High wind, heat burst, and more to come

Storms near Hiawatha last night with tornado warnings

Damage at my mom and dad's house last night from wind

Last night was very active across the central Plains, especially in Nebraska where there were several reports of very large hail (baseball and larger) and wind gusts over 70 mph. Those storms finally rolled into northeast Kansas after 11 p.m. last night with a tornado warning near Hiawatha. I don't think anything ever touched down, but the radar signature was nothing short of impressive. Damage assessment teams will be out in Nebraska today where there were some tornadoes yesterday evening.

Dying storms from southwest Kansas last night produced high winds in central Kansas and even a heat burst in Salina. My mom sent me pictures of some trees they lost in the yard because of 60+ mph winds that rolled through around 11:30. Look at the graph of Salina's temperature from the overnight hours. The temperature jumped to 95 because of the heat burst. When storms collapse and the air dries out quickly, it compresses and warms rapidly, resulting in some amazing jumps in temperature. Sometimes, you'll see the temperature go over 100 degrees in the middle of the night. Amazing!

More storms are coming this way for the rest of the week. Get ready. Severe storms are possible with hail and wind being the main threat. Tornado threat will be low (thank goodness), but sometimes these overnight storms producing high wind can do damage comparable to a weak tornado. So don't be surprised if you get an early wakeup call the next few nights.

3 p.m. Wed. 

3 a.m. Thurs

Another round of rain expected Thursday night.

Here's what I'm thinking and you can click on the Future Track graphics to make them larger too.

Tonight: Storms develop after dark (around 10 p.m.) in western Kansas and move to the east overnight. Some could be severe. Storms will be into central Kansas shortly after midnight and into Wichita closer to 3 or 4 a.m., maybe later if they fire up later. 

Thursday: Morning showers and storms likely in central and south central Kansas, then those will push to the southeast and the afternoon may dry out for most of the state.

Thursday night: Storm redevelop in western Kansas, and the best chance may setup over southwest and south central Kansas. Once again, a few could be severe.

Friday-Friday night: Although some early morning storms may be around Friday, the best chance for widespread (basically stretching from one side of the state to the next) will come Friday night. Heavy rainfall will likely accompany this activity. And some of the rain should be around for the start of the day Saturday.

It's exciting to see things greening up again, but we have to hope that some of this heavy rain gets areas in western Kansas (and especially around Hays where they have been missed) Will update you through the rest of the week. Thanks for stopping by.