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Good Morning Weather Team!!.   Great job last night!!   Can't tell if I have any damage yet as I am at work.   I can say that my digital rain gauge most likely is not where I placed it yesterday as it stopped reporting at .88.    I have an old fashion rain gauge in the front and it read 1.80 inches..

The tornado sirens went off last night around 9:05.   There was a reported sighting near the Belton Inn.   The Belton Inn is located just off 71 Highway at 155th Street.  It's near where Melissa works..   As we went to our safe place, we could hear the wind come up and after about five minutes, the storm settled down...

Got woken up this morning as round two came in, and haven't been back to sleep since.   Of course with Huskies taking over the bed because their scared doesn't always allow for sleep....

Again Gary and team, great job last night..

Bill and Meliisa Hale
Grandview

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Bill and Melissa,

Thanks.  Our weather team worked very hard and we are a bit wiped out.  I will put your rainfall total into the blog.

Gary

We were outside at my son's baseball game around 8:15 when everyone's cell phone started ringing and people were telling us to hurry and get home.  We were home for about 5 minutes before the heavy weather hit.  Overnight it knocked down our windmill that was staked in the ground and blew all of our heavy patio furniture off the deck.  While we were watching the cut-ins I went to flip to see wether a TV show was on or not and my 4 year old screamed to turn it back to Gary and Jeremy!  She already loves the weather and my 11 year old came home from school today to tell me that they have to write a paper for science class about weather and he picked the LRC!!!!  Pretty neat!

I fogot to add a HUGE thank you for all that you did to keep us calm and informed last night.  You guys were awesome like always and we appreciate all the hard work that you did!

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Thank you so much.  And, if your 11 year old has any questions just let us know.  Have a great weekend.

Gary

last nite was pretty crazy! Great job team.
the 2am wave was intense.

1.19 inches of rain in SE Lee's Summit.

Gary, Brett, Jeremy and Jeff,

Great job last night--loved the team work!  In Gardner, we had a number of storms blow through that dropped 2.75" of rain and assorted size hail--mainly pea-sized and a few marble-sized.  It was a fascinating evening although with the numerous warnings coming through at all hours of the night it certainly didn't equate to a good night's sleep.  We were fortunate to come through with no damage from the wind or hail and no loss of electricity.  I know others were not as fortunate so my thoughts and prayers go out to them.

On a side note...as I was coming into work this morning I couldn't help but notice how green everything is because of the rain--it truly is a thing of beauty.

we had 3/4 inch of rain & lots of wind damage.  We turned you on at 2 in the morning after all the lightening & we looked out to see our large tree almost bending double.  Glad you were on with excellent maps!

Thanks for being there in the middle of the night guys,

I wanted to report some damage in the Shoal Creek area between I-35, I-435, and 152 Hwy.  My 10 year old pear tree was uprooted and laying on it's side this morning.  I also found some shingles in my yard, not sure where they are from but they don't appear to be from my neighborhood.  Hope everybody is safe out there in the Northland, looks like a real mess on my way to work this morning.

-Chris  *** Chris, thanks for the report.  It is rewarding to know we did what we set out to do last night and that was to keep people safe from these storms.  Brett

Hey..N Grain Valley had 1.22inches Total, mostly from the 2am storms.

McLouth, KS 1.07" rain, peak wind gust 62mph.  Might have been higher but at that point my wind gauge bit the dust.  Numerous lightening strikes, downed power lines, tree's.  Minor damage to many structures in the rural area.  Partial to complete temporary power outages in Oskaloosa, Perry, Grantville.  Largest hail was pea to nickel size.

My neighborhood houses caused as a windbreak and our highest gust only got to 50mph. I plan to go drive around the city near my subdivision to see if it got worse in the open. We just missed the big hail at my house in OP. A friend of mine who lives just 3 miles south of me said they got a lot of golf ball sized hail, and I'm not sure I saw or heard any hail at my house. Ya, all of our chairs,firepit,and grill are blown into the lawn. One of our fence posts broke at the bottom, but not completely. We'll probably just stake it. I was watching our neighbor's big elm tree during the storm and was sure it was going to break, but it didn't.  **** Wow, what a storm and a great report.  Thanks, Brett

BTW-great job weather team. there's no way that you got more than 2-3 hours of sleep last night. My sympathies are out to you and all the others who are experiencing troubles, whether it be illness or storm damage.

GREAT job last night, Weather Team!!!  You all must be exhausted.  My kids were so comforted by your reports last night...thanks for the great coverage.  

My total from everything yesterday and last night is 1.9" at 151st and Pflumm.

At Vivion and Davidson in the Northland, had 0.91" of rain after 9:30 yesterday evening, giving a total for this event of 1.09".  Had no major damage around my house, thankfully, just some small branches off the trees.  It's too bad work interfered with me watching the development of these storms, it looked like it was an interesting setup when I left at 9:30.

Rats! I miss one of what sounds like the best storms 'cause I'm in Minneapolis!!!

Speaking of which, my husband and I are driving back today... anything I should be aware of on the drive back to Overland Park? Any damage that may cause us to detour on any part of I-35?

Wow!!! I was awakened at like 1:50ish am and thought we were gonna blow away. Thank you for being on at that hour. We have a lot of damage. Some of our guttering is in pieces in our yard. We have a big wood privacy fence and a section is completely blown down, and a HUGE tree limb is down on our driveway. We are freaking lucky it didn't hit any of our cars. Our neighbors have some minor roof damage and limbs and power lines down. I just a took a walk and our damage is the worst at least on our block. Weird . . . Tell me about so called--gust-nados little mini tornadoes associated with a gust front or bow echo??? Does that exsist? Just wondering?

Amber from South Raytown

.83" in Shawnee for the two storms.  The first, around 7pm produced penny to nickel sized hail with strong gusty winds (i'm guessing 50+).  More strong winds around 1:45am but didn't hear any hail.  Surprisingly, I didn't see any damage in the neighborhood like trees being blown over, etc.

Great work last night -- all 4 of you!  Even better to watch in HD, was very impressed with sky tracker's HD camera, too!

Tim in Shawnee

I think Independence saw the tornado end of the bow echo like you depict in the graph above. From just east of 39th and Noland Rd, if you draw a line NE to the Arby's that was flattened it is almost a straight line where there is a lot of tree damage and the power was out. In fact I tried to get to 291 from Drum Farm on Lee's Summit Rd. and could make it thru Glenndale Gardens, There is a LOT of damage in that neighborhood.

I'll bet from north of 39th  running west to east from Noland rd. to the flattened Arby's is a pretty straight line.

Get the Helicopter to fly over that and  you will see what I am talking about.

By the way, I hate to be Cliche'  but it did sound like a freight train about 2:00am

Going out to see if any storm damage in Olathe

I know some others have mentioned this, but I wanted to as well.  Gary, my young daughter always gets nervous during the first set of storms of the season.  You're specific reassurances to kids last night meant a lot to her.  She was calmed, as it seems others were too.  Please continue to address children directly at times.  If you have ever doubted your influence as an on-air meteorologist, please let it be re-affirmed today.  Thank you again.  All the best.

Gary:

Good Morning to you sir!!

Man-what a line stroms late last night/early this morning-did not get a chance to get a rain total this morning but I'd guess close to 1/2 an inch. SW Lawrence missed the action in the evening all together but made up for it later in the night!! So many thoughts about this storm-Mother Nature-wow-no words!!!

Thoughts and prayers with everyone in the path of the bow echoe and the storms last evening. Take care and as everyone has said, thanks so much Gary, Brett, Jeremy and Jeff for keeping on top of this-the boys and I were watching you last night!!!! Awesome Job as always!!!!

Have a great day

Bill in Lawrence

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Bill,

Thanks for watching.  Of course we received a lot of criticism for cutting into programming last night, but when there is a tornado warning we will have to be on!  It was an amazing bow echo, and we had the most professional coverage on the air at 2 AM as it was blowing through.

Gary

Storm total of 1.79" at 151st and Mur-Len in Olathe

Wow those winds were something at 2am in OP at about 101st and Lamar.  My husband woke me up because of the awful roar those winds made. We decided to be safe and get the kids and take them to the basement. One of our dogs went with us, but the 10 year old one wanted to stay upstairs and look out the window!  I went up to get the old dog and noticed you guys on the air saying the winds were just about through the Kansas side, and sure enough the roar was gone. There was still quite a bit of thunder and lighting. My husband and son decided to stay in the basement and sleep (it was cooler down there) and my daughter and I went back up to bed (just not comfortable on the basement futon).  I have never heard winds like that, very scary sound.  

Weather Team,

Great job with the coverage last night. Coverage of a severe outbreak over a wide area in real time is fast and furious and the team kept up with fast-changing conditions admirably. I especially appreciated the views from the helicopter. In southern OP,  I observed a well-developed wall cloud with some rotation that passed directly overhead just before 8:00pm. There was no wind. The sky was brown and yellow until the wall could passed. This was followed by strong winds, heavy rain and small hail. There was no damage. The storm at 2:00am was a barage of strong winds, heavy rain and small hail. Again, there was no damage. We were fortunate.

Bob

Gary, Brett, Jeremy and Jeff,
Wonderful, wonderful storm coverage last night. I felt especiallly good when the winds woke me at 1:50AM and I turned on the TV to find "our boys" Brett and Jeremy on covering the storm. Hopefully, it will stay quiet for a couple of days so you can get a little caught up on sleep. Thanks for all you do to keep your viewers informed and safe. We had a total of 1.9 inches of rain from the two events at 158th and Lamar.
Barb

NW Lawrence received 0.52", all from the line of thunderstorms early in the morning.  Local weather station reported many confirmed reports of winds in excess of 80 mph.  Highest wind speed recorded at my house was 73 mph.  Power was out for about 1.5 hours.  Local weather reporters showed that line of thunderstorms were moving at 30 mph west of Lawrence and accelerated to over mph (bow echo) just before entering Lawrence.  Tornado warning issued for Lawrence at 1:13 AM but no confirmation from NWS; reports from untrained spotters.

Excellent job forecasting the weather and covering the events as they unfolded last night!  Our TV's never left your station all evening.  

155TH AND OLD METCALF- 2.25 INCHES OF RAIN.  NO DAMAGE FROM WIND OR HAIL. I  THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR EXTENSIVE COVERAGE AND HELPING TO KEEP EVERYONE SAFE. IT'S NIGHTS LIKE LAST NIGHT THAT THOSE WEATHER RADIOS REALLY COME IN HANDY. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND, AS DID YOU ALL, THAT EVERYONE HAVE ONE. IT MAY WAKE YOU UP, BUT IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE.

Huh?

I went to bed around Midnight and slept like a baby all last night.  

Weather Team -

Just wanted to jump in and agree with an earlier post thanking Gary for his message to kids.  Mine are pre-teens and stay pretty calm but I can still tell that they get nervous in bad weather.  Last night in the basement in LS during the sirens, we watched Gary on TV explaining how narrow a tornado's path really would be, and how the sirens mean to take cover but not necessarily that a tornado will hit where you are (paraphrasing here).

They were really listening intently to you, Gary.  And while we have told them the same thing, it sure meant a lot more coming from the expert.

So a big THANK YOU from us, too!

So...was it a PDS (Panicked Dog Situation) at your house Gary?

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When I got home, Breezy and Stormy were quite frightened.  Stormy didn't eat all day yesterday.  But, she did eat this morning.

Gary

So anyway, how do you feel you performed-reported last night Team 41?

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I just watched 30 Rock and the Office, uh, I mean our weather coverage.  And, I am my biggest critic, but overall we really covered it well.  There are times when we concentrate on the city, when there are other thunderstorms out there, but we would go up and down the line.  The entire weather team worked well together, so I am confident we had the best coverage.  And, then especially at 2 AM we had the most professional look with our entire team still in place in our news department.  We had double boxes with ESP in one box and skyviews of the 80 mph winds in the other.  There are always ways to do this much better.  After 6 or 7 hours it can wear you down.

Gary

After 6 or 7 hours it can wear you down. . . .Gary
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I thought you guys did an excellent  job. I don't know how I slept through this stuff last night after midnight other then the intensity definitely wore me out from early in the evening.

First of all thank y'all for your excellent coverage of the weather, I would never watch any other station!

The wind woke me early this morning in So Olathe to find my husky laying at the bottom of the basement stairs (hiding from the storm) I have never heard the wind  roar so loudly, followed by the hail and rain as hard as I have ever seen.  I didn't turn on the tv, my husband was still asleep but I noticed the NWS dropped a tornado warning just as it passed us.

Indian creek runs right behind us and I can tell how high it was by the debris and the way the grass lays, so it was really high.  We have some minor branches in the yard, but I can hear chain saws in the neighborhood, so someone got something bigger.  Need to go outside and check the house throughly.

Hope everyone stayed safe and thanks again for the excellent coverage.

I have to give props to the NWS and KSHB for the unbelievable predictions concerning this system.  Both did an excellent job and gave incredible forwarning.

The birds seemed to be going crazier than usual this morning at daybreak.  It was like they were having their own little blog chatting about the weather.  "Did you hear THAT?"  "I was hanging on for dear life!" "Has anyone seen my nest?" "I was flying without flapping my wings!"

Great job covering last night"s weather.  I had .9 inch of rain this morning at 73rd and Kaw Drive in Kansas City, KS.  I guess I was lucky.  I slept through the second storm.

Gen

Good Morning Weather Team! I hope you got a tiny bit of sleep, or at least some very strong coffee. First, a HUGE thank you to all of you for your professionalism and on air demeanor during the storms last night. We live over by the Plaza, so our sirens don't go off much, and it was so comforting to my very scared 6 year old daughter to be able to see you so calm, and to hear you repeatedly saying that they would be fine in their safe place. Second, thanks to kristi-I think- or whoever it was who had recommendations for what to take with you to the basement yesterday. I run around my house barefooted, and it never occurred to me until the sirens went off last night, why taking your sneakers with you is a good idea! Third, as we lay in bed during the second round of storms squished in with kids and cats, I have never in my life heard a storm like that. I haven't lived here very many years, and the t-storms in Colorado are puny by comparison. There was a continuous roaring and nonstop lightening for probably 20-30 minutes, and I couldn't tell if I was hearing thunder, wind, both, or a tornado. I kept telling myself it wasn't the last because there were no sirens- but wow. We got off lucky here, no hail, no tree limbs, just rain. Judging by what's in my bird-bath, we probably got 3/4"-1 inch.  I have to say that the lively and informative discussion  over the last two days prior to the storms has been extremely educational. What was really fascinating was that when our sirens blew, and we went downstairs to turn on the TV and I saw that the storm was about 15 minutes away- I went back upstairs and stepped out on the porch for a second and the wind was blowing strongly at my back- going right to the storm! I guess that was the updraft/inflow? I did go back downstairs like you're supposed to though. Thanks again weatherteam. You guys are amazing. And thanks to the blog for the informative discussion- I continue to learn!
Jennifer

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Jennifer,

Thank you, and to everyone else commenting this morning.  We have another possible storm early next week. 

Gary

I have a question about the 1:47 AM radar image at the top of the blog.  In between the "K" in Kansas City and the "L" in Leavenworth (maybe around Basehor?) in the red area (thus west of the gust front), it appears the rain is wrapping around a circulation (and eddy).  It also seems this would have later tracked over Gladstone.

Even though we would expect a tornado to develop in front of the bow, could this be a tornado that developed behind the bow?  

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That little edy that you picked out could easily be a small tornado.  There were features in the bow echo, just like that one, as it moved through the metro area.

Gary

I'm going to make a sleeping area in the basement. And when we deal with this stuff again sleep down there from now on.

well what a night. I live on 155th and Madison which is about 4 miles down from the Belton Inn. At that time all I saw was lighting and some heavy rain at times. 2am we got hit pretty hard because our house is on the corner of two streets. the wind sounded nuts and my trees were flying all over the place. when the heavy heavy rain finally stopped everything seemed to be okay. No sign of any damage. Not sure what size hail we got so wondering if I should call insurance to check my roof or leave it be.

wow, what a crazy night! you know, it reminded me of a tropical storm when the bow echo was coming through...a strong tropical storm.  not quite hurricane strength as the winds werent sustained above 74mph of course, but it appears as though there were some gusts that approached hurricane strength.  its amazing the power that a strong windstorm/tropical cyclone can give off.  i bet we could have powered the whole great plains area with the energy produced last night.

i couldnt tell you what my highest wind gust was, because my windvane blew down before the peak even came close....the last reading i got was 29.8mph haha...i estimate that the winds were blowing at a peak last night of about 65-69mph here at the fort.  by far the windiest it has been since i have lived here.  also, my digital rain gauge blew over during the peak, but i had 1.14" before it blew over.

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Thanks PVT Murphy,

Another threat arrives early next week.

Gary

Good morning - yes, talk about a wild night!  When the line came through here in Gardner around 1:25 AM, you could tell it was going to be pretty serious.  I turned on Action Weather News, of course, to watch your amazing tracking of the bow echo.

Also, passing along rain guage total of 2.25" from my spot in Gardner...slightly lower than the fellow Gardner total already report.   I have to admit I was impressed with this amount.  I watched the weather report this morning and figured we would be close to the 1.72" Olathe total, so to hit above the 2" mark was amazing.

Keep up the great work guys!
Terry

PingBack from http://interesting3.freehostia.com/?p=22939

Okay  how bout wishing some, sunny, fair, pretty, and nice weather our way now.

Rather then praying for and demanding tornadoes and chaos.

See you later.

:-)

Well, that was by far a crazy night. My poor 3 year old didn't understand why I made her get out of bed last night, twice when the sirens went off. She thought she was in trouble for something. After the second siren I let her lay on the couch awhile until I felt okay letting her go back in her room. We made our own safe spot in our small hallway between our bedrooms nad bathroom, since everything is on the outside walls except for that small area. So we came up with our own spot since we had no other options. My husband was with friends bowling and they didn't have any idea what was going on until we called them, then I guess the bowling ally turned off the music and finally started letting people know what was happening around here.
The storm that hit around 2am woke me up. The winds gusts actually made me a little nervous, it was crazy. I'm not a fan of lightening and it was flashing like crazy too. I'm glad it's over for now. I only get nervous when my husband isn't home, when he's here I love all of the stuff that goes on and get so into it. But it's over for now and I'm glad. I think I'll be better prepared now next time too.
Thanks to the weather team last night for all the hard work you guys did. I know watching helps me get through these storms since I know what's going on. And I also love that you always tell the kids what to do Gary. I just think it help a lot of kids home alone and don't have a clue and giving that little bit of assurance has to help them I'm sure. Great job keeping us all safe and in the loop.
Krista in Blue Springs

I was in N. Overland Park and was startled awake by the wind, dog, and the light show.  I seriously heard the faint sounds that sounded like the proverbial train..(whoosh, whoosh) at a very steady pace.  We turned on 41 immediately and stayed away from the windows.   Thanks for all you do.  Lots of leaves scattered about, but our area was not as hard hit as our neighbors to the north.

Good morning great weather team:  Yes, you all did a fabulous job yesterday evening.  I live in western Shawnee (on the west side of K7) and about 6:30 p.m. I was looking out the window on the west side and noticed some clouds hanging pretty low. I told my husband about it. He looked and didn't say much.  Just a few minutes later, Brett Anthony was in Skytracker showing that particular storm over in the Bonner Springs/Edwardsville area where it was trying to form into a tornado.  I must say that Skytracker in HD was just great.  Now, the question I have is about the early morning storm:  I don't understand how we didn't get any damage (I'm not complaining, just wondering) since we were located right at the point of that bow echo.  From your post this morning and the diagram, it looks like damage is usually north of the point of the echo.  Is that correct?  Is seems like there would be more wind located at a point.  
Claudia in western Shawnee

Great job last night keeping everyone informed! Keep up the great work!
lyn in OP

MrSteve...don't feel bad about sleeping through it.  I would have slept through it if my weather radio hadn't gone off.  Actually it went off twice...once for a tornado watch and then again for the thunderstorm warning.  I would have slept through the thunderstorm warning one if my husband hadn't nudged me to "go turn that darn thing off!"  LOL!  Hubby took the dog out and the last thing I remember hearing was him telling me that it was getting really ugly outside and that our power had gone out.  The next thing I know...it's 7am.  LOL!  I hope that I wouldn't just go back to bed for a tornado warning!

I began to think that we would dodge the bullet last night. Storm cells were moving all around us during the first batch. We had nothing but a little stiff wind. I guess I went to bed too early to catch the action. Got up this morning to find 1.32 in the rain gauge....Glad  I got the rest of the garden planted yesterday....

DREXEL   1.32

Gary and Team,

Kansas City's Weather Leader!

This says it all!

You guys were awesome last night and thank you!

323rd and hwy 7  between Garden City and Creighton     1.50"  storm total  as of 9:00AM

Good Morning from the Northland. For quite sometime I was blogging via my blackberry last night - see the prior blog, because thats all the communication I had available. Here is an update from my area of 435 Hwy and 96th street - quarter mile North of Shoal Creek Golf Course, just west of Liberty. It was a very scary night and the damage in my neighborhood is quite extensive. We are still without power here. Benson Place subdivision - especially the town homes have been hit hard. Nearly every fence in the townhomes area is destroyed, some siding has been ripped off homes, construction toilets have been tossed over and patio furniture scattered. Loss on my property was limited to one small tree uprooted. Debris is scattered everywhere. The farm on the south side of 96th street suffered major damage, the barn on that property was moved off its foundation and has thus partially collapsed. Last night's events clearly demonstrated that my emergency plan needs some tweaks and will accomplish those today. The fear factor was major last night. We were awoken by the sound of a transformer being struck by lighting and the house alarm system alerting me to the power loss. The bang was like a bomb went off. It was 3 minutes past 2AM. The storm (later as I looked at the radar echo - we saw the bow) powered over us so fast. At the height of the storm, winds were blowing so hard I felt the house shake. Experienced the classic "freight train" sound of the wind, you could almost hear it coming as the winds steadily increased. Once we heard that sound, we were sure, we had a tornado on our hands. As we gathered our pets and headed to the basement, I looked outside momentarily in awe as flashes of lighting illuminated the rain, but the color of the rain was unlike anything I've ever seen before. An erie - deep aquamarine, greenish blue tint, everything appeared as if it was underwater as the lighting flashed incessantly. We headed for the basement to listen to the radio for storm updates and damage reports but were unable to hear anything over the static and interference from power lines arching and the storm itself. We learned a lot last night.

I am not sure what the criteria is for siren activation, but I sure wish they had been activated last night. We never heard any warnings other than severe t-storm. Glad its over.

Action Weather Team...I know you will hear this all day...but THANKS for the awesome coverage all night.  This was a 'first' for my East Coast family.  We were pretty scared through it all but you kept us informed and you all did a remarkable job.  We watched all the coverage during the early evening storms and the 1-2 a.m. coverage.  God bless you all and poor Brett...he was on at 2 a.m. with Jeremy after all his Storm Tracking last night and then on the air this morning.  Get some sleep!  

One more thing to add...sun is starting to shine here in NW Olathe...

Your coverage last night was excellent!!!  I completely agree with previous posts about you addressing kids and trying to help us parents keep them calm.  This is the first storm ever where my girls (ages 8 & 10) listened intently and didn't get worked up.  Before the storms hit Excelsior Springs, they were even outside with us watching the clouds in the distance and listening to the thunder...I was amazed at how well they did!  When the strong storms came in the middle of the night, my 8-year old woke up and asked me to "see if Gary's on the t.v."!  I was very impressed with your HD graphics!  I hope you can get some rest today!  Thanks again!
Sara

Awesome reporting and coverage - THANK YOU!

My sister lives in an apartment complex just a couple streets south of that Arby's in Independence. Thankfully, it seems nothing got damaged where she's at; she's got a 3-month old baby girl, so we were really worried when we turned on the news and saw that Arby's gone.

Strangely enough, the Taco Bell on the other side of that Hitch Center next to Arby's is already boarded up on the drive-thru side from the LAST storm; from the looks of it, it had gotten hit by lightning.

At my house, up near 23rd and Noland, there's pretty much zero damage. The last few blossoms on our magnolia tree are even still hanging on.

I'm just like MrSteve--I slept through the whole 2-3am stuff. I went to bed at midnight, too, and actually got a sound 8 hours of sleep. I still can't believe it!

Joy

I don't think the weather team knows just how much they really hit it on the head with the kids last night and how much the kids really listen to them.  I was so impressed with my Jacob (8 year old) with the first tornado warning.  The kids headed to the basement while I grabbed a few things and when I got down there, Jacob had Gary on the TV and was "shoosh"ing me when I tried to say something.  I also heard a lot of "but Gary said..." when I would tell them something about the storm.  They were even talking about it all this morning on the way to school.  You are all so awesome!!!

Excellent work last night Gary, Jeremy, Brett, and Sky Tracker pilots.  I will say that having Sky Tracker in the air near those storms providing amazing HD video is simply incredible.  Would it be possible to get a live feed from Sky Tracker on Action Weather Plus during those storms?

One other thing, which may not be technically feasible, is if Sky Tracker and the live reporters on the ground could have GPS integrated into your weather maps so people know exactly where they're at.

Anyway, keep up the great work weather team!

I've decided that for everyone who didn't sleep through everything going on last night, we all deserve to take nice long naps today, and recoop after staying awake. This is my gift to everyone. hehe

BoseStateFootballFan,

Good to hear you and your family are o.k.  I know what you mean by that "sound" prior to the storm hitting.  I heard it too and I won't forget it...

Good luck today in your neighborhood...

Great job team.  Well deserved kudos.

Oh forgot to mention, I'm starting to see a break in these clouds this morning. Looks like I see some blue sky trying to get through here as well. **** Drier air is wrapping in to the system.  Brett

It's very strange, but I live at 114th and Pflumm in Lenexa/Olathe and there is not a single leaf out of place here.  Even my plastic pots (empty) that I left out on the driveway didn't budge....amazing.  I was up watching the huge bow echo at 1:45, wondering why it sounded just like a regular spring thunderstorm.  I'm baffled!!, and counting my blessings, I guess.

One more thing, Gary, I too thank you for addressing the kids.  I have seen no other met. who does this so specifically and with such true concern.  It is very telling of the quality you bring to this station, and is very noticed.  I know I've mentioned this before, but one of my kids was one of your "weather kids" several years ago---(sure you don't remember, but my husband was the guy who accidently mispronounced another station's meterologist's name in kind of a humorous way.....was very funny) anyway, it was very obvious then, that you are fabulous w/ the kids, and they love you!!  Kathleen

Just returned from a tour of the area, the destruction in the subdivision to the North of Benson Place is terrible.  The home on 109th and Marsh is totalled. This had to be a tornado.   ***** We'll see what the weather service says.  Brett

What a night. I wish everyone the best in their cleanup efforts and getting power restored to where there are outages.

I had 1.2" of rain at 80th and Grant in Overland Park.

1.65" of Rain by Olathe North HS. That's total for now! Most likely the Final Total. Went outside,drove around no damage in my part of Olathe.

OK
Now here comes some criticism.  Since a lot of the summer storms come from the west or southwest, it amazes me that the station does not recognize that fact earlier in the broadcasts. I actually had the weather radio give me a T storm warning for the Ottawa area early in the evening, and it expired, but there was nothing on 41. I understand once it gets to KC that you cover it a lot, since that is where most of the people live, but I think it would be nice to see the storms coming.  Also, Gary, I know you complain about not having much time on the weather segment to get in all you need to.  At the 6:00 pm weather segment last night, how much time was wasted on pointless conversation with Russ Ptacek on the phone, endlessly telling us where he was on the highway past Lawrence, etc., etc., when he was PAST the storms.  Obviously, this time could have been used much better actually showing us some radar or something, rather than listening to him talk about seeing clouds, or actually seeing sunshine west of Lawrence.  Once the storms are past KC, how long do we need to see them?  I may be wrong, but I don't know if the people up by the Iowa border are watching 41 weather.  Just my point of view, and wishing for better coverage south of KC.

BoiseStateFootballFan said: This had to be a tornado.

******************
I've been looking at various pictures coming in and have to say some of these structures would have to be very poorly constructed to the point of negligence to blow practically completely apart in an 80 MPH wind storm.  ***** The NWS is doing a damage assesment survey and will have more later today.  Brett

At or around 159th and Mahaffie in Olathe there are several downed (medium sized) trees, lots of branches, and a LARGE chunk of roof completed peeled back like a banana in the industrial park!  Very localized damage, but somewhat intense I guess!  Crazy night!   **** Mitch, thanks for the update.  It was indeed crazy, don't need too many like that.  Brett

What's a RIJ in the Squall line pic?  *** Andrew, R-I-J stands for Rear Inflow Jet.  Strong Jet Stream Winds accelerating and pushing the thunderstorm outward in a bow-shape.  Brett

KC needs to review its Emergency Warning system. What we have in place now is not dependable and does not provide efficient and reliable warning to its citizens.

Gary and Taem good job. My weather radio scared the heck out of me around 1:20 am. I got up and put the kids (6,8,10) in my bed fearing a window would bust out. Anyways Im guessing around 60mph plus but no damage at 152 and Amity. Thanks for keeping us advised.  MT

Odd. Hard to believe a newly constructed home like this would practically crumble from a 80mph straight line wind.

http://tinyurl.com/4nz9bf

Great job from all of you last nite!!!!  Do you know when er will be played or who I can ask?  My part in Lee's summit ended up with 1.28in.  Thanks for all of your info. last nite as I watched you all till 3:45 and was on the blog till then.  As I said last nite, thank god for this blog!!!!!  Kristy

What a night-Thank you!

JP

I was woken up at 1:30 a.m. when the front of that bow echo moved into Raytown.  I got up to check the desktop radar and was relieved no tornado warnings.  When I went back to bed and the squall line was moving off to the east and I heard the weirdest sound I've ever heard from a storm.  It was like the sound  you make if you had a good size piece of sheet tin and was shaking it... whhoooppp, whhoooppp, whooopp. Got up this morning and my neighbors massive, double trunked, 50 foot tall maple was down blocking the street and in my front yard. (Got pics but don't know how to upload them here) Their neighbor, on the south, neighbors, on the south's, tree had broke off and crunched the cab of his brand new Dodge Ram 1/2.  The window on the south side of my garage was missing the entire storm window.  It was ripped off the blown over the fence into my back yard. Down on the corner the guy's jeep was crunched by a big branch. Downed tree's all over north center Raytown and the grand finale was in the parking lot of the Wal Mart, Hyvee on Blue Ridge.  The trailer of a tractor-trailer had been blown over and a shopping cart was pancaked under it. :)

WEATHER TEAM-  Also wanted to compliment you on how you specifically addressed the kids.  It most definately calmed their nerves.  Much more so than me telling them it would be okay, seeing as how you are the professionals!  That was so very impressive to me and my husband.  I have always been fascinated with the weather and I don't think I have ever seen someone take the time to speak straight to the kids.  Awesome.  Just one more reason why you all are THE BEST!!!! How lucky are we!

.55 inches of rain in my gauge here in west central Lawrence (9th and Kasold area). Lots of wind with the bow echo last night, extensive lightning, some tree damage in the neighbor's yard, fences blown down on Sixth Street. Overall I'd say KC got it much worse than Lawrence did.

You guys did a great job on the air last night. Ignore the nay-sayers.

Gary, Jeremy, Brett, and Jeff,
Thank you for the wonderful job you did last night.  I can't thank you enough!  From 10 PM on, I had KSHB on.  I was at my computer in the basement as I listened.  I was a bit nervous when that line of storms approached KC.  I have been in storms where there has been straight line damage.  We have no damage and not much out of place here.  I am thinking and praying about the people who do have damage.

Kristi

Out taking pictures in the area right now, running my laptop from auto power and using wireless aircard for internet connection. Will share pics once I find a way to do so. Massive trees down along 96th & Reinking. Heading east on 109th now, massive destruction.

Ottawa,

Consider the KSHB coverage area and the risk more centric to the population center of its coverage.  Ottawa is on the edge of coverage at best for the Kansas City stations and are not officially shown in the Kansas City DMA per Arbitron...

http://www.arbitron.com/downloads/Arb_US_Metro_Map_04.pdf

It was really an awesome experience driving home yesterday. I got off work at 7 PM - the same time that the storm in Johnson / Wyandotte had the nice wall cloud. Managed to have an approach from Lee's Summit and heading northwest along 350 highway, and a clear view of the wall cloud and the complete updraft structure of the storm as it was near the kansas speedway thanks to the hilly terrain. While I wouldn't normally recommend it, I had a close eye on radar on my cell phone (when at stoplights of course), and managed to time things just right so I was at the tip of the storm to the east and/or north of the hail core (if it existed at all).

Driving through that cell was simply awesome. From the south near Lees Summit having the Mamatus clouds and full view of the updraft / base / wall cloud (and one meager attempt at a funnel cloud that didn't make it much past the wall cloud base)... to driving into the heavy rain from the HP supercell - to the point where the rain shaft at ground level almost looked like clouds because it was so intense - then as I was getting closer to home on 152 highway, seeing the sunshine peek through right behind the storm that was impacting Plattsburg... and even with the sun out it was still pouring.

Just awesome - not to mention the winds last night :-O

I forgot......  We had .85 of an inch with the storms overnight.  That brings the storm total here to 1.85 inches.

Kristi

Ummmm, what does it say about me if I slept through the entire 2AM storm....any chance I could get one of you guys to give me a call if it's going to hit the south end of the metro?
Rob

f00dl3 said: 10:38 AM

Well unlike the movie Twisters don't pick out and deliberately chase down after the heroines and hero's or others but you still need to be careful driving through these things awesome or not.

Gary,

At 0125 last night, the apex of the bow echo crossed my acreage 2 miles south of Reno. I’ve been through three hurricanes in the Southeast US and a typhoon on Guam. I’ve had several close encounters with tornados over the years and even a few microburst’s. In my years flying for the Army, I’ve encounter turbulence so severe the seats broke away from the floor of the aircraft – but I’ve never seen wind like last night. I called NBC action news and reported gusts of at least 100mph at 0130.  I’m going to install a first rate weather station so I don’t have to guess next time. The walls were “flexing” in my home when I herded the family into the basement. We’re missing some shingles, my bee hives were all toppled (and quite upset this morning) my son’s 14’ trampoline flew over the length of my house (90’) and landed 20’ up in a tree 200 yards away. Several trees were pushed over. We ended up with .87” of rain, with dime to quarter-sized hail. I consider myself lucky to still have a house

-----------------

We think that  close to 100 mph winds had to have happened in a few spots. Thanks for the report last night, and hopefully we don't have another storm like this.

Gary

Kristy, you should be able to watch ER online

I wasn't chasing it dileberately - it was right in my path on my way home from work. It was either wait it out, or drive through it. I made the decision based on the fact it was weakening and the fact I had a clear view of the wall cloud which was not showing any signs of real organization... that I was able to pass the storm safely.

Mr Steve-
My Midland storm radio worked perfectly well last night.  When the warning went out for Clay County prior to the bow echo, I had more than ample notice.  I have been so frustrated with the news reports today with people who are upset for not hearing the sirens.  We have heard it over and over again from Gary, Jeremy, Brett, and all the other meteorologists in the city, storm sirens are for outdoor warning not indoor!  This is why home storm radios are made.  The NWS, television stations, and local police and fire can only do so much.  We have to take care of ourselves or only look in the mirror to point blame.  Hopefully every Midland radio will be sold out at Price Chopper, Hy-Vee and Radio Shack after this episode.

You guys did a fantastic job last night.  It seemed like the other stations were saying this was not going to be a big deal yesterday, watching you and the NWS forecasts we decided to spend the night at the in-laws since we don't have a basement.  Glad we did!  Two little tornado touchdowns here in Belton.  No damage but still a scary night.  Again..great job to Gary and Jeremy and the team.  

------------

Thanks, I know we had worked hard at preparing you for this event.   The one part of this storm we were confident in was the 2 AM blast of thunderstorms.  We had accurately pinpointed that coming through a day in advance.  We are glad that you are safe, and that you were prepared.

Gary

Great Job!!!! Thank You!!!!

f00dl3 said:
I wasn't chasing it dileberately - it was right in my path on my way home from work.

**************************
Kind of helpless feeling isn't it? I remember being out west of KC once on a job assignment and being being caught up under some nasty looking clouds with very slow but obvious rotations beginning to occur all over the place.

Oh boy, this doesn't look good was my first thought.

My rain gauge somehow didn't blow away, so I should have an accurate read for the Leavenworth, KS area.


At my house near 4th & Limit streets in Leavenworth, we received 2.0 inches of rain! I knew it had rained pretty hard, but not THAT much! Definitely a thorough soaking all over.


Ryan in LeaVenworth

LibertyJeff said @ 10:56 AM

Your right. I'm still considering bolting a bed to the floor in the basement for nights like last night though.

It's where your going to be anyway if your in the path of something. May as well get some rest instead of staying up all night a nervous wreck.

Just wanted to say "GREAT WORK & THANK YOU" again to you and the weather team. I think one of the most important things you did for us last night was the way you and the team remained so calm and you specificly talked to the kids watching. Reassuring them to stay calm and you gave very simple directions on how to be safe. Talking directly to them. With parents working all different times the kids are sometimes home alone and when the weather is bad they need that calm voice and simple direction.-- Thank you
WeatherWatcher

I am sooo glad that some of us helped convince Chieffan07 to seek refuge last night.  I hope he is safe.  Does anyone know if there was damage in the Liberty area?

I watched the top of the news a few minutes ago.  I am shocked at the most severe damage.  I will be anxious to hear what the NWS determines.

Kristi

I don't care what those people say who complain about breaking into regualr programming with severe weather coverage - we have 2 families who are thrilled that you do it!  Please keep it up and help to keep us safer than we would be without it!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the entire weather team!

Even though we knew this was coming yesterday, thanks to the Weather Team and knowledgable others on here keeping people updated with facts, it was still a nerve wracking experience. I think the coverage by KSHB was the most awesome I have seen them or anyone else ever do.
I just want to thank them AND the people on here who were watching radar and letting everyone know where they were seeing rotation and super cells forming. It was a collective effort yesterday and I thank all of you.
Jeri

Kristi-
No damage in Liberty proper.  Power outages here though.  Just NW @ 291 and Stark there is a lot of damage.  I live on South side and we had 86mph winds on our street from a home weather station.  Now sure how my house and trees stayed up but they did.  Take care of yourself and thinking of your mom and dad!

On to the next event....

After reading the various comments I take for granted how the weather team does talk directly to the kids that may be watching.  I guess I usually overlook it being 36 years old.  But when I think about it, they do address the kids and, as evidenced just from today's blog alone, it keeps them informed and calm.  Not only that but you guys don't seem to ever oversensationalize which is good because when times come that you DO need to stress the severity of a storm, we'll know it to be true.  GREAT job, team!

Also, "nowcasting" with break-ins during regular programming I have no problems with as long as it is warranted.  I'm sure we've all been watching a show (perhaps on another station, God forbid...LOL) and they break in with something that really doesn't seem critical enough to break in for.  But when you're dealing with tornadoes or that CRAZY bow echo from this morning, it's MORE than warranted.  In fact, those are the times I turn to the local channels to see what's going on.

Already 2 people killed by a tornado north of Little Rock this morning.

Thanks Gary and team for a great blog! Kept me informed while waiting to see how bad it got down here in Joplin. Nothing major except 50 mph winds and heavy rain but that was an hour after KC storms. I saw my power line in front of the house arc. Some of my electrical sockets are blown. Weird.

Today, it's a gorgeous blue sky, sunshine, and 58 degrees. :-)

I am hoping that NBC Action News might consider live web streaming during the next event.  On a few occasions, when the dish went out, I was forced to watch the only local station that was broadcasting on the internet.  I'd much rather watch your station.

Scott:
Thanks for the DMA info.
My question for 41 is, if this is what we are "selling" to, why is there so much coverage of events to the north and east of KC, after it is out of the "area".
Seems as much mention as Chilicothe gets, it is a suburb of KC.

------------------

I honestly believe we treat everyone equally.  It depends on what is going on at the time.

Gary

Thanks, LibertyJeff, for the info!

Live web streaming would benefit those of us who do lose our satellite signal during storms.

The team absolutely called that line of storms that came thru here early this morning.

Kristi  

**************** Kristi, We were streaming live...but the link to click on was tough to find. Some people I work with watched the coverage from a computer in their basement. We'll make sure to have the link right on front of the home page next time. Jeremy

The NWS has determined that those were tornadoes that hit in the Northland.  They estimate EF2 or EF3.  They were very quick spinners.

Kristi

Looks like the NWS is confirming tornado damage in the northland as well as straightline winds.  Rating of EF2 or EF3.  My mom, who lives in gladstone said the sound was the same as the May 4th in '03. ***************** I posted the link to the story in the Kansas City Star. Jeremy

Gary & Team--

Thanks for the great coverage and working to keep everyone calm, especially my two preschoolers.  On the 2nd trip to the basement, my sleepy 4 yr. old told me she wasn't scared b/c she was just going to lay down and watch Gary.  Thanks again for the accurate and professional reporting!!

man the tornado sirens are going off in raymore right now, i am sure it is just a test but kind of scared me after last night.

Is there some where I can go to watch a replay of the storms that came through yesterday and last night??????

WOW...I feel bad for all those people with damage...thank goodness no deaths. You all did a great job on the coverage and keeping us all informed. I very much appreciate that!! I got mainly rain, wind and alittle hail, but not big hail. My rain amount is 1.75 inches. Not to bad! Take care. I am hoping the rain and wind do not happen tomorrow....it is my big garage sale. :o)
Monica
Pleasanton, KS

Kind of odd for places so close to each other to encounter strong tornadoes (F2+) within 5 years... isn't it?

About a 1.25 miles SE of the 23 & 291 we had 1.65" of rain but no wind damage.

Kristi, I think we gave the right advice for cheiffan. Because look what happened in the northland.

http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/

Select the site and time

Best results, select our area and do a 2 hour loop from 0800.

Anyone know...these tornados that touched down, were they in Gladstone, around Stark, or both?  I live on 110th a few blocks west of Stark and feel blessed that I got as little damage as I did.  A little roof damage, a lot of debris in the yard...it did knock around the patio furniture on the deck and somehow shattered the glass in my patio table, but other than that I think we faired better than a lot in my neighborhood.  
Whether it was a tornado or straightline winds, I'll never forget that sound.

It is so sad to still see people being upset about the meteorologist's being on the air interupting their "can't miss" program's. There are some people that don't have weather radio's and the TV is their only source of info. I for one am appreciative that they stayed on like they did, even if it didn't effect me. On February 28th 2007, if it hadn't been for Gary staying on the air, we wouldn't have known that a tornado was heading straight for our house. Yes, we had a weather radio, but seeing a doppler radar and him giving the direction it was heading in was what sent us for cover. I am just glad our house only sustained minor damage, but it could have been worse. So I just want to say THANK YOU to the weatherteam!!!

If you look *VERY* close on the radial velocity you can see the rotation couplet near 72nd St. & N. Oak Trfwy at 06:56:16

And that same strong but very hard to see rotation couplet can bee seen 07:05:23 near Stockdale, MO (on US-69 between I-35 and Excelsior Springs)... the frame right after. These were detectable - but only if you're looking for them.

When are you going to update the Friday forecast and Seven Day forecast on nbcactionnews.com?

Here in Parkville, it hit about 155 A.M. Winds probably 100 MPH, trees down all over the place, basketball goals broken, everything is really a mess up here. The streets are pretty much covered with leaves and bark from the trees. Power went out about 2, didnt come back on till about noon. Houses destroyed about 3 miles to the east. Glad it wasnt mine.

Gary and Weather Team
Great Job last night. you got over 1000 comments between yesterday and today.
I saw where some people were mad that the sirens did not go off. I understand that especially if thier house was damaged but mother nature is constently changing and throwing us curve balls at us to keep us on our toes.
also remember any thunderstorm can produce a tornado  at any time and just as quick that tornado can be gone, as we saw early early this morning.

Hello, I would just like to thank Simplykristi, Twister11, and HailJonthan for all the help last night and early this morning. I left about 12:45 and got back home around 2:30. Everything was fine but I'm still glad I took your guys advice because that wind was crazy.

Thank you all again for all the help.

For those looking for the NWS statement itself...

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
1258 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 2008

...PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS INDICATE TORNADO NORTHWEST OF LIBERTY...

NWS SURVEY TEAM HAS DETERMINED THAT THE DAMAGE 3.5 NW OF LIBERTY IN
A LINE FROM NE 109TH TERRACE TO NE 109TH LANE AND MARSH AVE TO N
LEWIS AVE IS COINCIDENT WITH A TORNADO. THE RATING IS STILL UNDER
CONSIDERATION BUT PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES RATE THIS DAMAGE AROUND EF-2
TO EF-3. THE AREA WHERE THE TORNADO WAS LIKELY AT ITS STRONGEST
LEVEL WAS NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF 109TH LANE AND N MARSH AVE. AFTER
THAT POINT...THE TORNADO CROSSED NE COOKINGHAM DR AND MOVED TO THE
VICINITY OF N LEWIS AVE BEFORE DISSIPATING AS THE STORM MOVED
NORTHEAST.

OTHER DAMAGE AREAS ARE ALSO BEING SURVEYED BY THE NWS...OFFICIAL
RATINGS ARE EXPECTED LATER TODAY.

Still preliminary..with ratings still being considered, but certainly look consistent with EF2/3 depending on structure soundness etc...

well I just woke up and am shocked to see that an EF 2 or 3 tornado touched down. I just didn't see it coming in a bow echo. I really hope Chief is okay. and I feel like an idiot for saying what I said. I was just saying that they are usually weak just simply just to calm him down cuz I could see he was panicing. wow. unbelievable stuff. I'm sure he did seek refuge because at one point in the night I noticed he just stopped blogging so i'm sure that's when he decided to bail. I'm sure he's okay.

Folks, here is my experience from early this morning.  I am originally from Houston where we are used to wicked weather (usually from flooding and hurricanes), but last night was something that I will never forget.

Our weather radio woke us up at some point between 1:30 and 2:00.  I got up to go see what it was and to turn down the volume so that it didn't wake the baby.  I seem to remember it saying that there was just a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for my county.  I didn't think anything of it and went back to sleep.  Within 10 minutes, my wife woke me up (as did the hail and wind) and asked me if there was a plane flying over the house.  I told her that they usually don't fly from KCI at this hour of the morning...I then put two and two together.  

I have never heard a sound like what I heard last night.  You hear people describe the sound of a tornado as a freightrain or like a jet engine.  To me, it was the sound of something that I have never heard before, and it was very scary.

I live near I-29 and Barry Rd.  There was limited damage to my neighborhood...mostly tree limbs and a couple of fences knocked down in a fairly narrow path (most likely a EF-0 if I had to guess).  Needless to say, we are lucky compared to others in the Northland and the region.  

If anything, this experience taught us that we really need to have a better plan in place for getting everyone downstairs in a quick manner.  It has also reinforced the fact that my wife is always right...in this case, we do need to get that emergency kit prepared in the basement like she's been telling me for months!  We briefly lost power and did not have a flash light.  (I'm still catching grief!)

Anyway, I just thought I would share my first tornadic experience...thanks again for giving us the most consistent weather information in the region.

Chief Just saw your post brother...your so welcome man. my facts and figures may have been a bit crooked for last nights situation but I'm glad you were calmed down by our advice and I'm glad you got to a safe place and I'm glad your safe and alive today!

cheiffan, Your welcome for the advice. I believe you did the right thing since there was a tornado just a few miles away from you.

KB that sounds really neat I wish I was in your house when that was going on. Like I always say I hate to hear about things being destroyed and people getting hurt but I love being at the center of the worst because at 115th and holmes although it was wicked it wasn't as bad (for obvious reasons) as it was in other places.

Thanks Gary for the coverage. Everybody at school was upset about missing primetime, but you needed to be on for the people in the sever storms & tornadoes. You'd be surprised how many people didn't go to their basement in the JoCo tornado warning! Like hardly anybody! Well thanks anyway. For next week, it looks like the low may track south of us in northern Texas (I know it's 1 week out!). How would this still bring us severe weather? (Wed-Thurs)
   Roberto

Thanks Gary for the coverage. Everybody at school was upset about missing primetime, but you needed to be on for the people in the sever storms & tornadoes. You'd be surprised how many people didn't go to their basement in the JoCo tornado warning! Like hardly anybody! Well thanks anyway. For next week, it looks like the low may track south of us in northern Texas (I know it's 1 week out!). How would this still bring us severe weather? (Wed-Thurs)
   Roberto

Did south Olathe just get winds or was it a small tornado, you can clearly trace a path to the damage, it ran through our subdivision, so we took pics starting at the sheetrock building destruction, through out subdivision and out through town.  Does just wind leave such an obvious hop skip and jump path and leave everything else untouched?  I know that freight train roar woke me up, so I'm just curious.

I havent seen any damage from last nights storm in Olathe.

****************

Sky Tracker shot some damage video in Olathe of a dry wall business.  We'll show it on the newscasts today.

Jeremy

Chieffan,
You are welcome!  I am sooo glad that you sought a safe place of refuge.  I was even nervous as I was watching those storms moved thru the metro.

Yes, twister!  I would give anyone in Chieffan's situation the same advice.  I would rather they leave than stay.  Those storms were wicked.

Kristi

Just for trills I checked the distance from my house to the of NE 77th & Euclid in Gladstone. 1.31 miles SE of my house - that is WAY tooo close for comfort.