The following is information from the National Weather Service in Wichita, Ks. regarding the chance of heavy rain and flooding going into Memorial Day weekend for southern Kansas. This includes Cowley and Sumner counties.
An active weather pattern will support the potential of several rounds of showers and thunderstorms over the next several days, likely continuing into early next week. At this time, a widespread one to three inches of rain appears likely, with higher amounts of three to five inches possible.
There is still quite a bit of uncertainty in where the heaviest rain will fall through the weekend. However, parts of southern Kansas were harder hit with heavy rainfall within the past 7-10 days, and is where confidence in flooding issues is increasing some for the upcoming days.
By the end of the Memorial Day weekend, the greatest threat may be for river flooding. However, if thunderstorms end up hitting the same locations multiple days in a row, or move slowly over one areas, there could also be a flash flooding concern.
Please continue to monitor later forecasts for possible flood- related watches or warnings. For those in flood-prone areas, now is a good time to assess any potential actions you may need to take, especially if the threat of flooding increases. This is especially the case for those in southern Kansas where flooding occurred recently.
Cowley County experienced flooding in the past week, especially areas along the Walnut River.