Severe Weather Pushing Into the Metro

One particularly nasty SEVERE THUNDERSTORM is affecting northern parts of the metro, with a SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING in effect for NORTHERN
JOHNSON COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS...AND WYANDOTTE...LEAVENWORTH
AND ATCHISON COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST KANSAS...AND SOUTHERN BUCHANAN
COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MISSOURI...AND PLATTE...WESTERN CLAY AND WEST
CENTRAL JACKSON COUNTIES IN WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI UNTIL 745 PM CDT... (via the NWS warning text)

Destructive winds close to 80MPH and hail up to the size of golf balls has been reported, with unconfirmed reports of funnels and tornadoes. On Doppler radar, this supercell is amazing to watch, with strong rotation near the surface. This strong rotation can mean two things- that the reports of funnels/tornadoes are true, or that local areas of even stronger winds are occurring in 'downbursts'-where a massive amount of air is forced towards the ground at once, which can be just as or even more damaging as a tornado. Because of this, people in the affected areas should take their tornado precautions to protect themselves from destructive winds and very large hail. The largest hail is likely occurring in Atchison county where a portion of the cell has broken off.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH remains in effect for the entire region, and more severe thunderstorms are developing to the north and west of this main cell. Any that bear specific watching will be mentioned on here as the night progresses.

Severe Weather Outbreak Today

The image above depicts a MODERATE RISK area outlined in yellow issued by the Storm Prediction Center that indicates a significant risk of a SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK affecting the Kansas City area this afternoon and evening. The moderate risk was issued primarily because of the likelihood of supercell thunderstorms developing ahead of an advancing cold front that could produce VERY LARGE HAIL, sometimes in excess of the size of golf balls. Along with large hail, and once the storms form quasi-linear segments later this evening, a damaging wind threat will also become more prominent. A lesser, yet still apparent, threat is that of tornadoes, which are likely to be present in isolated amounts, especially during a brief period in time right after the thunderstorms form and move through a line from Emporia-Kansas City-Kirksville. Once more information is available, I'll update the blog as this has become a nowcasting situation. Stay tuned to local media outlets and NOAA weather radio for updates on today's weather event.