Emergency crews, especially in the southern part of the metropolitan area, responded to numerous reports of drivers stuck in high water after they drove into water-covered roads.
The drivers became stranded by the fast rising and swift moving waters.
The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill, Mo., continued a flash flood warning for most of the Kansas City area until 11 a.m. Friday.
The warning is in effect for Johnson, northern Miami and southern Leavenworth County in Kansas and southwestern Lafayette, northwestern Johnson, southern Jackson and northern Cass counties in Missouri.
The National Weather Service said radar indicated at 6 a.m. Friday that thunderstorms with torrential rainfall was moving across the southern Kansas City metropolitan area.
Areas from Olathe to Lee's Summit was especially impacted by the rainfall.
Guages indicated that as much as 2 to 3 inches of rain fell in one hour.
The National Weather Service warned that this was an extremely dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation in eastern Johnson and western Jackson counties.
People in flood prone areas should seek higher ground, the National Weather Service advised.
Runoff from the excessive rainfall was causing flash flooding to areas in Belton, Blue Springs, De Soto, Edgerton, Fairway, Gardner, Grain Valley, Grandview, Greenwood, Lake Lotawana, Lake Quivira, Leawood, Lee's Summit, Lenexa, Merriam, Mission, Mission Hills, Oak Grove, Odessa, Olathe, Overland Park, Peculiar, Pleasant Hill, Prairie Village, Raymore, Raytown, Shawnee, Spring Hill, Westood and Lake Tapawingo.
Some Local Storm Reports gave a snapshot of what was occurring in the metropolitan area Friday morning:
- At 7:33 a.m., a National Weather Service employee reported that 4.58 inches of rain fell in Pleasant Hill, Mo., over the past two days. That includes 2.29 inches of rain since Thursday afternoon.
- At 7 a.m., a National Weather Service employee was reporting flash flooding in Lee's Summit. The westbound lanes of U.S. 50 just east of the Todd George Road exit had about 6 inches of water over the road. Traffic was restricted but able to pass through.
- At 6:46 a.m, broadcast media was reporting that cars were stranded due to high water at 151st Street and Lindenwood Drive and 139th and Mur-Len Road in Olathe.
- At 5:53 a.m., rain gauges indicated that 2.19 inches of rain fell in Gardner and 2.57 inches of rain fell 4 miles southeast of Olathe between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m.
- At 4:20 a.m., a member of the public reported that 1-inch hail fell 3 miles east of Liberty.
- At 4:15, broadcast media reported that quarter-sized hail was falling at the Wheeler Downtown Airport.
- At 3:55, an emergency manager reported that an 3/4-inch hail was falling in Gladstone.
The waters began to recede as the storms moved off to the east.
The storms in the Kansas City area are expected to persist through the morning and end around noon.
Today's high should be near 79 degrees.
Thunderstorms are expected to redevelop across parts of central Missouri Friday afternoon and early evening hours.
The location of the storms will depend on Friday morning's thunderstorm activity. Any storms that do redevelop will bring a threat for large hail, damaging winds and torrential rain.
In the Kansas City area, there's a chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly before 1 a.m. Some of those thunderstorms could produce heavy rainfall.
The rains, however, will give way to a mostly sunny weekend with highs near 73 Saturday and 69 degrees Sunday.
The next chance of showers and thunderstorms doesn't return to the area until Monday night.
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