Severe Thunderstorms Sweep Through Parts of the Ozarks

6:02 P.M. UPDATE: The Severe Thunderstorm Warning for southeastern Douglas County will expire at 6:15 p.m. The National Weather Service says the storm has weakened below severe limits. Forecaster say those storms southeast of Springfield should weaken with time as they head further east into a less unstable environment.

5:52 P.M. UPDATE: Getting reports of dime size hail along Highway JJ just north of Highway 5 in the Squires area. Another report of dime size hail is coming in along P Highway and Highway 14 east of Ava.

5:37 P.M. UPDATE: The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for southern Douglas County until 6:15 p.m. A severe storm is located near Ava, moving east at 50 miles per hour. Ping pong ball size hail and 60 mile per hour wind gusts are possible in the Ava Vanzant, Drury , Rome, Squires, and Gentryville areas.

5:35 P.M. UPDATE: Reports of dime size hail with the storm south of Highlandville , dime size hail in Goodhope, and pea size hail in Kimberling City. Penny size hail is is possible with a separate storm cell just south of Taneyville and east of Forsyth.

5:32 P.M. UPDATE: The severe weather has moved out of Webster County, but a Severe Thunderstorm Warning remains in effect until 5:45 p.m. for western Douglas and southeastern Christian Counties. We’ve had reports of penny size hail along Highway 65 just northeast of Chestnutridge.

5:15 P.M. UPDATE: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect until 5:45 p.m. for southeastern Webster, eastern Christian and western Douglas Counties. A severe storm is located near Sparta, moving east at 60 miles per hour. Ping pong ball size hail and 60 mile per hour wind gusts are possible with this storm as it moves through Ava, Sparta, Garrison, Chadwick, Seymour and Bruner.

Severe thunderstorms popped up late Friday afternoon across parts of the Ozarks, with large hail the biggest threat, along with 60 mile per hour wind gusts and the potential for isolated tornadoes.

The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 10:00 p.m. Friday for areas general south of I-44, including Christian, Webster, Barry, Douglas, Ozark, Stone, Taney, and Wright Counties.

93-3 and AM 560 KWTO will have the latest on severe weather, with updated watches and warnings and damage reports as they come in.