Tornado Watch Issued for Kansas City Metro Area on April 13
National Weather Service issued Tornado Watch 105 covering Kansas City metro area and surrounding counties until 11 PM on April 13.
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI — The National Weather Service issued Tornado Watch 105 on April 13, placing the Kansas City metropolitan area and surrounding counties under tornado watch conditions until 11:00 PM CDT that evening.
The initial tornado watch, issued at 6:33 PM CDT by the National Weather Service Kansas City/Pleasant Hill office, covered seven counties across Missouri and Kansas. In Missouri, Jackson, Cass, and Bates counties were included in the watch area. Kansas counties under the watch included Johnson, Wyandotte, Linn, and Miami.
Expanded Coverage Throughout Evening
Weather officials expanded the tornado watch coverage as conditions developed throughout the evening. At 8:39 PM CDT, the watch area remained the same with seven counties total. By 9:34 PM CDT, meteorologists added Johnson County in Missouri to the watch area, bringing the total to eight counties.
The final update at 10:04 PM CDT reduced coverage slightly, removing Wyandotte County in Kansas and Jackson County in Missouri from the watch area while maintaining coverage for the remaining counties.
Cities Under Watch
Major cities included in the tornado watch varied as coverage changed throughout the evening. Kansas City, Kansas City Kansas, Independence, Olathe, Overland Park, Lenexa, and Shawnee were among the larger communities under the watch during peak coverage periods.
Additional cities covered by the tornado watch included Adrian, Belton, Butler, Clinton, Harrisonville, La Cygne, Louisburg, Mound City, Osawatomie, Paola, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, Raymore, Rich Hill, Stanley, Warrensburg, and Windsor. The specific cities included in the watch changed as county coverage was adjusted throughout the evening.
Weather Conditions
The tornado watch indicated atmospheric conditions favorable for tornado development across the region. Watch conditions differ from tornado warnings, which are issued when tornadoes have been spotted or detected on radar.
All tornado watch conditions for the area expired at 11:00 PM CDT on April 13, according to the National Weather Service alerts. The watch covered both urban areas of the Kansas City metropolitan region and rural communities in the surrounding counties.
