A thunderstorm bringing rain, hail and winds up to 60 mph will blast through the Lawrence area late Wednesday night, says Ross Janssen, 6News meteorologist.

The thunderstorms will be moving into the Lawrence area between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., Janssen said.

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“I think the storms will be fairly strong with brief gusty winds, 50 to 60 miles per hour. And we’ll see hail nickel-sized or smaller,” Janssen said.

The storm will also bring heavy rains, with flooding in some areas, he said.

“Right now I would say Lawrence has a very good chance of seeing two to three inches of rain, because it’s going to rain all day tomorrow,” he said. “We’re going to have heavier rain in the morning and lighter scattered showers tomorrow afternoon.”

The forecast calls for cooler temperatures as a cold front moves through the area. Thursday’s highs are expected to be in the 60s. The highs through the weekend will be in the 70s.

A thunderstorm that rolled through Lawrence early Wednesday morning left only 0.07 of an inch of rain at Lawrence’s Municipal Airport.

Douglas County was in a severe thunderstorm watch area Wednesday afternoon issued by the National Weather Service. The watch area included 46 Kansas counties in eastern Kansas.