By Lucky Kidd
SOUTHEAST, Kan. — Very heavy rainfall Thursday into Friday morning caused flooding issues in parts of southeast Kansas, with the potential for additional heavy rainfall through the weekend.
The highest rainfall totals locally were in Anderson, Bourbon and Linn Counties. The National Weather Service in Topeka said a cooperative observer at Colony reported 5.7 inches of rain through 7 AM Friday, with 3.52 inches reported in Westphalia. 3.5 inches was reported near Mound City by the Weather Service office in Pleasant Hill, Missouri.
In Anderson County, there were numerous reports impassible roads due to a combination of flooding and debris on roadways. This included K-31 east of Kincaid. In Bourbon County the Kansas Department of Transportation reports K-65 is closed from K-3 to Mapleton, K-7 closed from US 54 north to K-31, and K-31 closed from the east K-7 junction to US 69 near Fulton.
Pottawatomie Creek north of Garnett went over the 26-foot flood stage Thursday evening and is expected to go below flood stage early Saturday morning.
Elsewhere in the area, the Iola Water Plant reported 1.5 inches of rain in the 24-hour period ending at 7 AM Friday, with .61 inches at Allen County Airport. 1.5 inches was also reported in Chanute, with 1.89 inches near Galesburg and 2.46 inches in Gridley.
Additional storm chances are in the forecast for southeast Kansas through Sunday. The Storm Prediction Center has a slight chance for severe storms late Friday afternoon into Friday evening. If storms form, they could produce baseball sized hail and damaging winds, with a tornado risk not out of the question. Level of severity is still somewhat up in the air.
For Saturday, an enhanced risk of severe weather exists for about the eastern half of Kansas, with all modes of severe weather possible. Locally this would primarily be for the late afternoon and evening hours. A slight risk for severe storms also exists for Sunday. There is also a flooding risk for the weekend, especially in areas that see training thunderstorms, or storms moving repeatedly over the same area.
