KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI — A rapidly intensifying severe weather system is taking shape across eastern Kansas and pushing into north and northwestern Missouri this afternoon. In response, the Storm Prediction Center issued Mesoscale Discussion #192 and signaled an 80% chance that officials will need to issue a Tornado Watch.
The alert zone runs from Topeka and Lawrence, Kansas, northeast through Kansas City, St. Joseph, and Leavenworth, and extends into Missouri communities including Chillicothe, Trenton, Kirksville, Macon, Hannibal, and Quincy.
Strong daytime heating is destabilizing the atmosphere across the warm sector, while a weak low-pressure system along the boundary is boosting lift and creating a stronger focus for storm development…