After a few very quiet overnights, mother nature made her return to the area. Just before 1:40 a.m. a severe thunderstorm watch was issued for a large portion of eastern Kansas as storms approached from the northwest. At 2:05 a.m. that was upgraded to a severe thunderstorm warning. The main threat for the storm was gusty winds, large hail, torrential rains and frequent cloud to ground lightning

Before the storms moved in, Lawrence Fire responded on a report of an apartment fire in the 1700 block of west 24th Street around 11:10 p.m.. LPD arrived just before LDCFM and were able to advise that the fire was out and related to someone attempting to cook on the stove top. This is a fairly common occurrence at apartment complexes.

Shortly after 6 a.m. Lawrence Fire was dispatched to the intersection of 24th and Ousdahl. Multiple callers advised that a large tree limb had fallen and on its way down collected a power line. The fire unit arrived quickly and found that there was active sparking and sporadic small fires caused by the live power line. As of 6:50 a.m. fire crews advised that Westar has arrived on scene.

Just before 6 a.m. Westar was reporting 415 customers without power. As of 6:50 a.m. Westar is reporting approximately 113 customers without power in Douglas County. Most of those appear to be within the city of Lawrence.

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