Kansas Turnpike

A woman dies after a crash along the Kansas Turnpike.  It happened just south of the Mulvane exit late Sunday. A trooper tell us a 15-year-old was driving his mother's car on the way home to Texas when he somehow left the road, struck an abandoned vehicle, and spun out on the highway. A truck full of teenagers stopped to help...then a third vehicle struck the car in the road, hitting a woman and two teenagers. The 32-year-old woman was taken to a Wichita hospital, where she later died.

Emergency crews rush to the scene of a crash on the Kansas Turnpike Thursday evening. Butler County dispatchers say one person has critical injuries. The crash happened when a driver went the wrong way in the northbound lanes of the turnpike, just west of the 21st St. toll exit.

Drivers can once again fill up at the Towanda service station on the Kansas Turnpike.  Computers at the facility were upgraded overnight.  Turnpike officials say no gas was available for several hours during the upgrade.  The other service stations along the turnpike were not affected.

Three people are injured including one critically after an accident along the Kansas Turnpike. It happened just after 7:00 this evening along I35 near 103 street South. Crews had to block the southbound left in as they cleaned up the scene.

The Kansas Turnpike Authority had their hands full with a vehicle fire on a car transport semi this morning. A viewer sent us a photo from the incident near Emporia. Emergency crews were called to the fire at around 9:00 this morning.  The Kansas Turnpike Authority says five to eight cars on the trailer were burned. The good news is, no one was hurt and no other vechiles were involved. No word yet on what caused the fire.

A multiple vehicle crash on the Kansas Turnpike injures several people. The accident happened around 8:30 Friday night south of the Mulvane exit soutbound. Turnpike dispatch tells Eyewitness News that nine people were hurt, one critically. One lane southbound remains closed as of ten o'clock. The cause of the accident is still under investigation. There was another accident in the same area about an hour before.

Beginning July 1, traffic will speed up on some Kansas highways as the speed limit increases to 75 mph. The new maximum speed limit was passed by the Legislature this year. It allows for the higher speed limit on certain separated, controlled access highways with interchanges. A committee with the Kansas Department of Transportation selected highways which will receive the higher speed limit. The highways becoming 75mph are: • I-70 from the Colorado state line to just west of Topeka in Shawnee County.

More than three days after finding a cat on the Kansas Turnpike, a trooper is giving her a new home. Thursday, the turnpike posted this tweet.  "If you lost furniture on the turnpike a couple nights ago, let us know. P.S. we have your cat, too. " Lisa Callahan with the Turnpike Authority says Tuesday night some furniture fell out of the back of a truck.  A crate with a cat inside also fell out.  The cat is okay and doing well . Callahan says it happened at milepost 67, two miles past the Towanda service area.  She's not sure if it was northbound or southbound.  Since no one has come forward to claim the cat, a trooper with young children took her home.  Callahan says the trooper promised to take pictures with the cat.  They will post those to Twitter next week.

Authorities have identified the man killed in a semi rollover on the Kansas Turnpike Wednesday afternoon. 52-year-old Abdikarim Haile of St. Cloud, Minnesota rolled his semi while exiting the Turnpike onto Kellogg.  The semi spilled soy milk on the roadway, keeping cleanup crews busy for hours. No word on what caused the crash. Scene Video Fatal crash on KS Turnpike.

This afternoon, another round of strong or severe storms will be possible for the southeast corner of our state, especially along and east of the Kansas Turnpike. Isolated tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds and locally heavy rain will all be concerns.  Western Kansas should see plenty of sunshine and lower humidity to finish the work week. Our weekend looks mostly sunny and dry with afternoon highs in the 70s along with lower humidity. Higher humidity and chances for scattered storms will return late Monday and continue into the middle of next week.

Early morning thunderstorms raced off to the northeast leaving some small hail, gusty winds and locally heavy rain in their wake. Thursday afternoon, another round of severe storms will be possible for central and eastern Kansas. Once again large hail, high winds and isolated tornadoes will be possible.  Storms are still possible Friday however the threat for severe weather will be much lower and shifting to the Flint Hills and areas south and east of the Kansas Turnpike.

After our stormy weekend, temperatures will cool a bit, dropping into the upper-70s to around 80 Monday and there will be a threat for more severe storms over southeastern Kansas. Monday will bring a mix of clouds and sun along with lower humidity. It will be cooler too with afternoon highs in the upper-70s and lower- 80s. A few severe storms are expected southeast of the Kansas Turnpike late this afternoon. The weather will be quiet Tuesday with temperatures in the upper 70s under a partly cloudy sky. Another stormy stretch of weather could roll into our area late Thursday and bring on and off thunderstorms through part of the holiday weekend.

A large tornado caused major damage in Moore Oklahoma Monday afternoon.  The tornado stayed on the ground for 40 minutes causing damage to homes, businesses and schools. Storm Team 12 Storm Chaser Scott Roberts says he was about 500 yards from the south edge of the tornado when it moved through. He says Briarwood Elementary was about 90% destroyed.  He says there were 675 students in the school when the tornado hit. Roberts says the whole neighborhood near the school is a pile of rubble.  He says there are at least two homes with people trapped.  He compared the damage to the 1999 Haysville tornado.

Another day of severe weather for Kansas.  The area of most concern today-  south central and eastern Kansas.  An approaching cold front, combined with a dry line (lower humidity/dewpoint) will slowly move across the area during the afternoon.  These weather features combined with outflow boundaries (cooler, stable air-from morning storms) will be the focal point for severe thunderstorm development after 3 P.M.  The greatest potential for tornadoes will be along and east of I-135 and southward into northern Oklahoma.

An upper level disturbance over Missouri this morning remains nearly stationary sending clouds, a few sprinkles and showers into sections of eastern Kansas.  The clouds and sprinkles will be most likely east of the Kansas Turnpike throughout the day, however a few may spread westward through the afternoon.  Clouds diminish and sunshine will prevail across much of western Kansas.  The north winds will keep it cool with highs in the 50s and lower...

Scattered storms are expected southeast of the Kansas Turnpike through the evening, but only a few of them will have a chance of becoming severe. Most of the rain will exit Kansas early Monday morning as a front stalls over Oklahoma and Missouri. Temperatures Monday morning will start out in the 30s for central and western Kansas, with low to mid 40s in south central Kansas. The wind is expected to be light. A mix of sun and clouds should be expected Monday afternoon.

Two people are in critical condition after an accident on the Kansas Turnpike. Five others are in serious condition. It happened in the southbound lanes of I-35, just North of the Towanda service station. Two medical helipcoters were called to transport some of the injured. Eyewitness news has a crew headed to the scene. Look for updates online and on air.

An accident involving three motorcycles on the Kansas Turnpike has claimed the life of a man from Lawrence. Troopers were called to the scene just outside of Topeka at milepost 178 around 5:45 p.m. Saturday. Investigators said a 59-year-old man was riding his motorcycle, when he lost control and crashed. The second bike braked to avoid the accident and also crashed. A third motorcycle also went into the ditch while trying to avoid the scene. The man on the first bike died at the scene.