Photos: Severe Storms Batter Wichita, Tulsa

By Jillian MacMath, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

July 24,2013; 8:44PM,EDT

 

 

 

"Incredible storms last night. Pretty sunrise, though," Twitter user John Anderson (@JWAJR62) tweeted with the photo above.
Severe storms moved across the Plains last night, causing damage across Kansas and Oklahoma. As cold air met thick humidity, thunderstorms, hail and strong winds wreaked havoc on the states.
Pea-sized to softball-sized hail fell across Kansas, cracking car windshields and dinging cars and house siding.
Trees and power lines were reported downed across Reno, Kan., as winds gusted as high as 75 miles per hour. In Kingman, Kan., a trained spotter estimated winds in the range of 80 to 100 miles per hour.
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Water as high as a foot flowed across roadways in Wichita, impeding travel.
"It was a beast of a storm," said Senior Vice President of AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions, Mike Smith, who watched the storms from Wichita.
As much as 1 foot of water was reported flowing across roadways in Wichita Tuesday evening. Photo courtesy of Brian Edwards.
The Wichita Mid-Continent Airport reported 1.02 inches of rain last night.
Wichita's real-time rainfall network reported between 1.25 and 1.75 inches in a period of 15 minutes in central Wichita, according to the National Weather Service Wichita office.
Overall, the city has had an unusually wet month, receiving 3.63 inches of rain since July 1. This is the most received in this time period since July 2005.
Farmers in Kansas caught a break from these storms, as wheat has already been harvested for the summer.
"In general, hail storms are more damaging in May and June, before the wheat is harvested," according to Dale Mohler, AccuWeather.com meteorologist.
Sunflowers, corn and sorghum remained at risk, however. "Those could have been damaged," Mohler said.
Lightning lit up the sky as strong storms moved through Wichita Tuesday night. Photo courtesy of Twitter user @Brewski_Brad.
The storms did little to cool the city, where temperatures have been in the high 80s and low 90s for several days.
In Oklahoma, thousands of power outages were reported as strong winds whipped through Tulsa. Around 5 a.m., nearly 70,000 customers in Tulsa County were without electricity.
Trees and power lines were downed across Muskogee, Rogers, Tulsa and Wagoner counties. Flash and street flooding were reported in Tahlequah and Miami.
A shelf cloud hovered over Wichita around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Mike Smith.