Afternoon

A cold front moving through the state will trigger showers and storms this afternoon.  Some severe weather is possible for locations along and southeast of the Kansas Turnpike.  Large hail and damaging wind gusts will be the primary threat.  This cold front be the key for two weather related features: 1) it will mark the leading edge of cooler "more spring-like" temperatures and 2) it will signal, decreasing chances of severe weather as winds shift from the southeast to the north during the afternoon.

A dry line will move into central Kansas this afternoon, sparking thunderstorm developing. Severe thunderstorms are expected, with the threat of large hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes too. The severe weather threat should push eastward into Missouri by midnight. Gutsy southerly winds over 40 mph are likely and a wind advisory remains in effect for parts of the west. Saturday looks dry but Sunday parts of our state could see widely scattered showers or storms.

A Nebraska man dies after a collision with a semi Monday afternoon in Jewell County. The Kansas Highway Patrol reports that the crash happened around 3:00 p.m. on K-14 about five miles north of U.S. 36. Investigators say 37-year-old Michael Fritz of Ruskin, NE, was driving south on K-14 when he collided with an on-coming semi. Fritz was taken to a Jewell County Hospital where he died. The driver of the semi was not hurt.

Tornado sirens will sound Tuesday but severe weather isn't expected. The sirens will go off because the National Weather Service will conduct its annual tornado drill. The drill will begin at 1:30 Tuesday afternoon. The goal is for you to create severe weather plans, so you'll know what to do in a real severe weather situation. Outdoor warnings are just one of the many communications to alert Kansans to severe weather. You're encouraged to have a severe weather radio and also to tune into television and radio stations for up to the minute weather reports.

More than 6,000 customers were without power in south Wichita Saturday afternoon. Westar Energy says the power went out around 1:35pm. Substation crews have found the cause of the problem and have restored the power to the 6000 customers. The problem occurred at one of the substations in the area.

An area of light snow and flurries moved through southeastern Kansas early Tuesday leaving behind an inch of snow around Howard, half an inch at Arkansas City and a tenth of an inch around Wichita, Emporia and Augusta. Despite sunny skies Tuesday afternoon Kansas will remain in the grip of a frigid Canadian air mass with cold afternoon highs ranging from the lower-20s to around 30 degrees. Northerly winds will stay less than 15 mph for most of our area. Wednesday will not be as cold with temperatures climbing back into the mid-30 to near 40 under a sunny sky with a light southwest breeze.

Under sunny to mostly sunny skies, afternoon highs will rebound into the mid and upper-50s for central Kansas and climb into the low 60s out west.  It will be a bit breezy at times in southwest Kansas this afternoon too. Look for another chilly night Thursday but a warming trend will begin Friday when milder temperatures gradually work their way back into our area and this weekend afternoon highs will climb back into the lower 70s....

Look for skies to turn sunny but it will remain cool this afternoon highs near 60 degrees with gusty north to northwest winds. Wednesday will be another cool day with sunshine and highs in the mid to upper 50s. Frost is likely Wednesday night over the entire state as our winds die down and the skies remain clear. Tender plants should be covered up or moved indoors to protect them from the colder, overnight and early morning temperatures. Milder temperatures should return to Kansas by this weekend as afternoon highs climb back into the 70s. __________________ Wichita Area Forecast: ** Freeze Watch early Thursday morning ** This afternoon:   Becoming sunny; windy and cool too.  Wind: NW 20-30; gusty.