Post updated at 7:55 p.m. Tuesday, April 30:
A tornado warning was issued for Douglas County as a storm passed through the area Tuesday evening.
It was not immediately clear whether there was damage anywhere in Douglas County or nearby Jefferson County to the north. The tornado warning expired at 7:30 p.m.
A vehicle in the westbound lanes of Kansas Highway 10 east of Iowa Street hydroplaned and slid off the highway at 7:20 p.m., according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. There were no injuries reported.
Here’s a time lapse video of a view of the sky from southeast Lawrence for one hour as the storm moved overhead:
Deputies reported that they saw a funnel or rotation around K-10 and the Farmer’s Turnpike just before 7 p.m.
The National Weather Service in Topeka also confirmed a rain-wrapped tornado near Williamstown, which is about 5 miles north of Lawrence, at 7:05 p.m.
More storms are expected Wednesday through Thursday.
“Several rounds of thunderstorms could generate heavy rainfall and increase the potential for flooding and flash flooding. Be sure to remain up to date with the latest forecast information,” according to the NWS.
This post will be updated with more information if possible.
Severe weather resources
National Weather Service local office (Topeka):
• Find the latest weather forecast info and severe weather advisories for the Lawrence area at this link.
• In the event of rapidly changing severe weather, such as tornadoes, the NWS posts frequent updates on Twitter, @NWSTopeka. You do not need a Twitter account to see tweets from NWS.
• NWS is also on Facebook, facebook.com/NWSTopeka.
• Call 785-234-2592 to hear the forecast.
Douglas County Emergency Management:
• Follow @DgCoEM on Twitter or Douglas County, KS- Emergency Management on Facebook, facebook.com/dgcoem.
• Sign up to receive emergency alerts at dgcoks.org/emalerts.
• Find lots of tips on severe weather and other emergency preparedness on DgCoEM’s website at douglascountyks.org/emergency-management.
• Report storm damage (for non-emergencies only, and after storm danger has passed) by calling the nonemergency dispatch line at 785-843-0250 or 785-832-7509.
Evergy outages:
• Check the status of power outages on the Evergy outage map, outagemap.evergy.com.
• Report a power outage at evergy.com/report-outage, or call 800-544-4857.
• For down powerlines, call 911.
City of Lawrence snow info:
• The city has snow information and a map at lawrenceks.org/snow that shows information about road conditions and snow plow locations. The city typically begins snow and ice control for residential roadways when 2 or more inches of snowfall or icing occurs.
Air quality:
• Check the current air quality index in Lawrence and elsewhere through AirNow, airnow.gov.
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