93.3 KWTO Keeping Watch Over the Ozarks
Severe storms along a cold front have produced hail and high winds as they moved across southwest Missouri Thursday afternoon.
As of 3:30 p.m., areas generally south of I-44 and east of Highway 65 are under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 8:00 p.m. Thursday.
The storms began to form west of the Springfield metro area late Thursday morning, then turned severe as they tracked into the city of Springfield.
We had numerous reports of anywhere from pea to dime to penny and up to quarter size hail in the Springfield area as the storms hit just after 1:00 p.m.
The weather service received a report from trained weather spotters of golf ball to tennis ball size hail in Protem, down in Taney County.
A 62 mile per hour wind gust was measured at the Springfield-Branson National Airport early Thursday afternoon.
The storms will continue to push through the eastern Ozarks and south central Missouri, where they are expected to continue to produce large hail and damaging winds through the early evening.