Titan Claussen, left, and Jason Ratzlaff remove fallen tree limbs from Ratzlaff’s yard in Halstead on Monday. The town suffered extensive damage from a storm that passed through on Sunday night.
The Wichita Eagle
A thunderstorm Sunday night brought strong wind gusts that could’ve left damage in your front yard.
According to the National Weather Service, while 53 miles per hour wind gusts were reported at the Wichita airport last night, reports of even stronger gusts came in from around the area.
Gust of 59 miles per hour were reported in southeast Maize, 60 miles an hour were reported in Andover. Winds even reached as high as 100 miles per hour in Salina, a NWS forecaster said in a phone call with The Wichita Eagle.
Wind gusts can leave pretty substantial damage. As of noon Monday, 40 reports have been made to the city’s forestry division.
“Emergency Forestry crews were dispatched immediately following the storm to respond to blocked streets and other emergency scenarios,” Tyler Schiffelbein, the city’s communications manager, said in an email to The Eagle.
The city is telling residents to call 316-268-4003 anytime between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. if they come across trees or limbs that are blocking any public right-of-way, like a city-maintained road.
But if you have trees in your own private property, you are responsible for cleaning them up.
To safely dispose of trees, the county’s website says to cut the branches and limbs into lengths of 3 to 4 feet and bundle them up using heavy string or twine. You can place the bundles on your curb, which haulers will pick up for you.
“We recommend residents contact a reputable and licensed tree services provider for help with any larger trees that suffered damage,” Stephanie Birmingham with Sedgwick County said in an email to The Eagle.
The county’s website says you should contact your trash hauler ahead of time to see how many bundles they can pick up at once.
The city of Newton announced this morning that they will be providing free pickup of tree limbs only starting 7 a.m. Wednesday. If you live in Newton and want to participate, stack all tree limbs in a pile on your curb.
What will Wichita’s weather be this week?
It could continue to be a windy week for the Wichita area.
Here’s a quick look at this week’s forecast, from the National Weather Service:
Tuesday: A sunny day and a high around 91, and wind gusts could reach 33 miles per hour. Tuesday night will see 30% of thunderstorms before 1 a.m. Low around 57 degrees. Winds could reach 25 miles per hour.
Wednesday: Sunny with a high around 78, with wind gusts reaching 20 miles per hour. Night should be mostly clear with a low of 56.
Thursday: Thursday is expected to see a 40% chance of thunderstorms during the day with a high around 81. The night is expected to see a 30% chance of thunderstorms with a low near 62.
Friday: A 20% chance of thunderstorms during the day with a high around 83. There’s a 30% chance of thunderstorms during the evening, with a low around 61.
Saturday: Mostly sunny with a high around 85, with a 30% chance of thunderstorms during the night with a low near 65.
This story was originally published May 20, 2024, 1:01 PM.
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Lindsay Smith is a service journalism reporter for the Wichita Eagle. Previously, she was editor-in-chief of Wichita State University’s student newspaper, The Sunflower, for two years. She graduated from WSU in December 2022 with a degree in journalism.
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