Tornadoes, smoke, & rain chances

courtesy KSHB -Kansas City

Welcome to Thursday and I know many of you are excited for the holiday weekend. Last night was definitely a little on the stormy side for some in the plains. We watched a couple of tornadoes touchdown in the KC area with some minor damage reported. The picture posted here is a screen grab courtesy of KSHB where their chopper captured some power flashes from a brief tornado that touched down near Lees Summit. July isn't one of the bigger tornado months around this area, but they still happen even though the main severe weather area shifts farther north.

Storms that fired up in south central Kansas moved down into northern Oklahoma, but because the clouds grow 50-60,000 feet into the air, they can be seen from many miles away. Patti Norman sent this picture from Lyons, which would be just over 100 miles from where the storms were when the picture was taken.

Earlier this week on the evening newscast, we were showcasing the smoke that was coming down from Canada from hundreds of wildfires that have been burning for awhile. The smoke was getting high enough to get caught in the jet stream winds, which then carried it southeast through the Dakotas, Iowa, and Missouri. If you noticed the white color in the sky or saw some red color around the moon, most likely it was influenced by the smoke. When it gets high enough into the air to get caught in the jet stream, it's not much of a concern to our breathing down here on the ground.

Heading toward the holiday weekend, we are expecting some showers and storms. The chances for today and tomorrow are going to be very hit and miss. Most areas will probably get missed. We are watching Saturday night and again Sunday night for some storms that may roll out of Nebraska and clip parts of central and eastern Kansas during the weekend. Chances for rain look MUCH better early next week with a front that will be crossing Kansas. Details to come.