Strong storms, heavy rain possible this evening and overnight

A flood watch for flash flooding has been issued for roughly a third of the state, including Polk County, through 7 a.m. Friday. Overnight storms moving through central Iowa are packing a punch, with heavy rains and damaging winds. Interactive Radar | Weather Alerts | Skycams A severe thunderstorm watch has been expanded to nearly 40 counties in central, southern and western Iowa through 4 a.m. Friday.Here’s what you need to know: More than 800 power outages reported in central IowaAccording to MidAmerican Energy Company’s outage tracker, nearly 850 central Iowa customers are without power as of 12:45 a.m. That includes more than 600 in Madison County with another 200 in Dallas County.Other areas with outages include Council Bluffs (284), Sioux City (225) and Iowa’s side of the Quad Cities (125), MidAmerican Energy reports. According to the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives, nearly 400 customers are without power in Cass County and more than 100 are without power in Guthrie County. KCCI’s downtown skycam has captured several power flashes, along with lightning, as the storm pushes through central Iowa. Watch below.Severe thunderstorm warning for central IowaA severe thunderstorm warning was updated around 12:30 a.m. to include parts of 4 central Iowa counties through 1:15 a.m. Warned areas include Polk, Madison, Dallas and Warren counties. At 12:30 a.m., severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near Minburn to near Jordan Creek Town Center to near East Peru, moving east at 45 mph. Hazards include damaging wind gusts, which include reports of 74 mph around 12:50 a.m. from the Des Moines International Airport. People in this area are encouraged to move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building.Iowa weather: Storm Team 8 tracks severe thunderstorm moving across central IowaTornado warning for part of Guthrie CountyA tornado warning for southeastern Guthrie County was allowed to expire as planned for 12:15 a.m. Friday. According to the National Weather Service, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near Casey at 11:45 p.m., moving east at 35 mph. Heavy rains and wind gusts over 60 mph were reported in this storm, with radar indicating about penny-sized hail. Radar is also indicating winds over 70 mph in the Panora area.Emergency management officials have reported several large limbs down and trees on homes in parts of eastern Guthrie County.Iowa weather: Severe thunderstorm watch expands east; tornado warning west of metroShare videos, photos of storm with KCCI If you capture videos or photos of tonight’sstorms, please consider sharing them with us through this link.Severe thunderstorm warning expands as it approaches Des Moines metroA severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for parts of eight counties as storms push east toward the Des Moines metro area. The warning is in effect until 12:15 a.m. Friday for the following areas, according to the National Weather Service: Western Madison County Cass County Northwestern Union County Guthrie County Eastern Audubon County Northern Adams County Adair County Western Dallas CountyAround 11:20 p.m., severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 9 miles east of Audubon County Airport to near Exira to near Lake Anita State Park to near Grant, moving east at 40 mph. Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny-sized hail, along with the possibility of flash flooding. Tracking severe storms Thursday night and FridayThe Storm Prediction Center has most of western and northwestern Iowa in an Enhanced Risk, or level 3 out of 5, for severe weather. This means that at least scattered reports of damaging wind or hail can be expected.A line of storms is racing over western Iowa late Thursday night. As the storms push into central Iowa, a weakening trend is expected, with the severe weather potential diminishing. However, a few wind gusts of 50 to 60mph may still be possible as the storms approach I-35. The weakening should continue as the storms pass I-35 around midnight, with the severe risk largely ending for the rest of the night.However, the threat for heavy rainfall will likely continue through the late overnight hours. Where the heaviest storms are able to train over the same location for an hour or two, isolated rainfall totals of 2 to 5 inches are possible. This could result in some isolated flash flooding. The most likely area to see this type of rainfall will again be mainly western and northwest Iowa, west of I-35. The storms should move out of the area early Friday morning, leaving behind some slightly cooler weather for Friday afternoon. Another round of storms is possible Friday evening and overnight, however this batch of rain has shifted a little farther south, and would mainly affect far southern Iowa into Missouri and Illinois, and will move out of the area Friday night.The storms should be completely out of the area by Saturday morning. Clouds will linger for the first half of the day and then break apart into the afternoon. We will have clear skies for the rest of the weekend and start of next week. There will be a slightly more mild feel for the weekend with a drop in humidity and temperatures, but a rebound to start next week. Highs will be back near 90 for Monday afternoon. We are keeping an eye on storm chances returning Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.State adjusts postseason baseball schedule ahead of Friday’s anticipated stormsAccording to the Iowa High School Athletic Association, the schedule has been adjusted for the following substate baseball games Friday, July 11.CLASS 3ASUBSTATE 1: Glenwood @ Denison-Schleswig — 1 p.m. startSUBSTATE 4: Maquoketa @ Decorah — 4 p.m. startSUBSTATE 5: Central DeWitt @ Mount Vernon — 4 p.m. startSUBSTATE 5: Grinnell @ Solon — 4 p.m. startSUBSTATE 6: Fort Madison @ Xavier — 4 p.m. startSUBSTATE 7: Perry @ Ballard — 1 p.m. startSUBSTATE 7: Bondurant-Farrar @ North Polk — 2 p.m. startSUBSTATE 7: Nevada @ Carlisle — noon startSUBSTATE 7: Winterset @ Gilbert — 5 p.m. startSUBSTATE 8: Centerville @ Saydel — 5 p.m. startCLASS 4ASUBSTATE 2: Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson @ Waukee Northwest — 2 p.m.startSUBSTATE 2: Des Moines Lincoln @ Ames — 5 p.m. startSUBSTATE 2: Norwalk @ Southeast Polk — 4 p.m. startSUBSTATE 3: Des Moines East @ Waukee — 1 p.m. startSUBSTATE 3: Cedar Rapids Washington @ Cedar Rapids Kennedy — 11:30 a.m. startSUBSTATE 5: Urbandale @ Cedar Falls — 4 p.m. startSUBSTATE 6: Ankeny @ Indianola — 4 p.m. startSUBSTATE 7: Waterloo West @ Iowa City Liberty — 5 p.m. startSUBSTATE 7: Marshalltown @ Ankeny Centennial — 4 p.m. startSUBSTATE 7: Linn-Mar @ Iowa City West — 5 p.m. startToledo, Iowa event canceled Friday With storms in the forecast, Friday’s Toledo Stoplight Festival has been canceled, according to a social media post by the Tama-Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce. The cancellation means there will be no live music or food/drink vendors downtown.See more information:Tornado warning issued east of Des Moines metro expiresA tornado warning for eastern Poweshiek County expired at 6 p.m.The National Weather Service said a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Brooklyn, or 10 miles northeast of Montezuma, moving southeast at 15 mph, at 5:07 p.m.People in the warned area were encouraged to take cover.Iowa weather forecast:Tonight: Thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low around 70F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.Tomorrow: Scattered thunderstorms in the morning, then partly cloudy during the afternoon with a few more storms possible by evening. High 87F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.Tomorrow Night: Showers and thundershowers for southern Iowa in the evening, then overcast overnight. Low 69F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.Keep an eye on weather across Iowa with KCCI’s skycamsWeather watchers can keep an eye on conditions by checking our skycam page, which shows aerial views from 20 sites across the state.

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