An extreme weather event brought record-breaking rainfall, golf ball-size hail and a tornado touchdown to Platte County, Thursday May 26.
The weather turned quickly from sunshine to violent storms around 3 p.m. with tornado sirens going off in many areas at about 3:30. The strong cell kept Platte City under tornado warning until 4:30.
The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touchdown near Weatherby Lake at around 4:18 p.m., tweeting out, “Tornado was confirmed north of Weatherby Lake near Barry Road in Platte County. Take cover now if in this area!” Other tornadic activity was reported in Platte County including a wall cloud emergency personnel sighted near Park Hill South High School in Riverside, Mo.
There were no reports of injuries or any serious damage.
TIM DAMGAR/Contributed photo
This photo taken Thursday, May 26 in a residential area near Zona Rosa in Kansas City, Mo. shows storm clouds gathering in west central Platte County. A strong cell produced heavy rain, hail and a brief tornado touchdown in nearby Weatherby Lake, Mo.
But the severe weather prompted KCI Airport and Worlds of Fun to evacuate guests to a safer area. Travelers at KCI were escorted into garage tunnels, until they were given the “all clear” shortly after.
Although there were no reported injuries, the evacuations led to flight delays from the airport.
Current weather patterns also have the Kansas City, Mo. area on track to break the annual precipitation record. With 3.97 inches of rainfall in the KCI area, reported by Weather Underground, Platte County set another precipitation record for the year. Rainfall in Platte County is nearly 2 inches higher than this time in 1961, the year of record rainfall.
The rain took a toll on multiple areas across the county with severe flooding at an apartment complex in Ferrelview, Mo., east of KCI. The damage prompted a response from the Missouri Red Cross and forced an emergency village board of trustees meeting to assess the damage.
Flooding also closed County Route B near the Little Platte River and County Route E near the Platte River. Rain continued to fall for much of Thursday night elevating flash flood concerns and raising the levels of area rivers.
At Highway 92, rainfall caused the Platte River to rise into the moderate flood stage zone, cresting at 26.5 feet Saturday evening, according to data from the National Weather Service. The river has since dropped to normal flood stage range and is predicted to continue falling.
Reports from multiple media sources show golf-ball-sized hail falling in Parkville, Mo. Platte City did not receive any reports of hail, and local authorities suggest that the storm’s impact could have been worse.
“Platte City was extremely lucky during this storm,” said Platte City city administrator DJ Gehrt said. “It’s not great for the family with a flooded basement, but as a city, there was no serious damage.”
KCP&L reported more than 10,000 homes were affected by power outages by 9 p.m. in Clay, Jackson, Johnson, Platte and Wyandotte counties.