Severe thunderstorms are expected across the central Plains region beginning mid-afternoon Friday. Damaging winds and large hail are the primary threats, the FOX Forecast Center said.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The threat of severe weather returns to the central Plains on Friday as a warm and unstable airmass sets the stage to fuel supercell thunderstorms.
A weather disturbance will push out of Colorado and into the High Plains early Friday afternoon, where it will find ample moisture and wind shear to create intense thunderstorms.
The initial threat will present a risk of tornadoes, damaging wind and large hail along northern and central Nebraska. As the storms progress into Friday evening, they’re expected to transform into a fast-moving line of severe thunderstorms that will likely produce wind gusts of 75 mph or more.
“As the storms track into eastern (Nebraska/Kansas) and western (Iowa/Missouri) during the evening, model guidance suggests the potential for rather widespread damaging winds and hail,” NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center wrote Friday morning.
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The SPC has since upgraded much of that region to a Level 2 or 3 out of 5 risk for severe weather Friday, including the Kansas City and Omaha, Nebraska areas.
For Kansas City and Omaha, it will be those damaging wind gusts at or more than 75 mph that are the primary threat, along with large hail.
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Storms will gradually weaken overnight as the line moves into southeastern Kansas and southern Missouri.
Heavy rains prompt flash flooding concerns
In addition to the severe weather, the storms will bring heavy rain across parts of the Central Plains.
The area near where Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas meet could see 3 inches of rain as the storms blow through Friday, with isolated areas of up to 5 inches of rain.
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NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has given the region a Level 2 out of 4 risk for flash flooding.