Kansas City storms dump 3 inches of hail on airport taxiways

A bout of severe storms in Kansas City Tuesday night into Wednesday morning left behind three inches of hail at the downtown airport along with other damage.

The Kansas City Downtown Airport released images of what appears to be a layer of snow on the runway but is actually a pile of hail with some taxiway sections receiving up to three inches.

“Who would have thought our snow crews would have to do snow removal in August?” the airport wrote on Facebook.

Winds exceeding 70 mph, heavy rain, lightning strikes and large hail brought several power outages, downed power lines, fallen trees and flash floods to the area. The high winds blew part of a roof off downtown’s Holiday Apartments, displacing over 60 residents.

The Kansas City Downtown Airport had a utility pole destroyed and lost power to parts of the airport including its self-service fuel tank, which the electric utility Evergy is working to restore.

Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, which started classes Monday, have canceled school Wednesday due to power outages and hazardous road conditions caused by the storm.

(Photo credits: Facebook, Kansas City Downtown Airport)