Kansas City spent Monday night under a tornado watch as severe storms pushed toward the metro from the southwest, putting both Missouri and Kansas counties on alert and keeping weather radar busy across the region.
The watch was issued through 11 p.m. Monday for Jackson, Cass and Bates counties in Missouri and Johnson, Wyandotte, Miami and Linn counties in Kansas before the immediate Kansas City metro portion was canceled later in the evening.
The most dangerous stretch of the evening developed south and southwest of the city, where warnings began stacking up as the line of storms moved east.
A confirmed tornado warning was issued in Franklin County, Kansas, and later updates confirmed a tornado near Mound City in Linn County and another in Miami County.
Additional warnings were issued for parts of Johnson, Miami, Linn and Bates counties as the storm cluster worked toward the broader Kansas City area.
Read More: Kansas City 7-Day Weather Forecast (April 12–April 18, 2026): Stormy Start, Early-Week Heat, and a Cooler FinishEven though the tornado watch for the immediate metro was canceled around 10:05 p.m., several nearby counties remained under the watch later into the night.
Damage reports were already coming in by then, including downed trees, power problems and structural damage in parts of eastern Kansas. Radar may have shown the storms moving out of the core metro by late evening, but the aftermath was still unfolding in communities south of Kansas City.
Some of the worst publicly confirmed damage was reported around Ottawa, Kansas, where officials said storms caused structural damage after a tornado warning was issued at about 7:25 p.m. Monday.
Three people suffered minor injuries at a heavily damaged home east of Ottawa in Franklin County, while the majority of the town was left without power and many streetlights were knocked out.
Ottawa schools canceled classes for Tuesday, April 14, as emergency crews continued responding overnight and officials urged residents to stay off the roads and avoid downed power lines.
For Kansas City itself, the storm threat is not completely gone. The National Weather Service office in Kansas City/Pleasant Hill continued to show active watches, warnings and advisories on its overnight map update, and its Hazardous Weather Outlook indicates a continued strong to severe storm threat on Tuesday and Wednesday.
That means Monday night’s radar activity may end up being only the first round in a more active stretch of severe spring weather for the metro.
The immediate tornado watch may have ended in Kansas City before midnight, but the evening still delivered exactly the kind of weather forecasters had warned about: fast-moving storms, rotating cells south of the metro, confirmed tornado reports, and visible damage in communities close enough to remind Kansas City residents that this system was never far away.
Read More: Kansas City April 2026 Weather Forecast and Outlook: Warm Spells, Repeated Rain Chances, and a Wide Temperature Range Across the Metro
