Weather Alert Day: Tracking strong to severe storms this evening

The ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather Team has issued a Weather Alert day beginning at 5:00 tonight through 2:00 Wednesday morning for the potential of strong to severe storms.

SETUP:

A cold front currently situated just to the west in Kansas looks to shift to the east as the day continues making its way into Mid-Missouri by the overnight hours.

Due to rising temperatures this afternoon, there is plenty of energy in the environment to feed into any developing storms along this cold front.

Winds out of the southwest allows the lower level jet to pull moisture form the Gulf of Mexico back to the region allowing for storm development ahead and along the incoming cold front.

TIMING:

Storms begin in northwestern portions of Mid-Missouri after 6:00 p.m. and look to head southeast as the evening/overnight hours persist.

Storms make their way through Columbia and Jefferson City between 8:00 and 9:00 tonight.

Storms look to exit the region to the southeast after midnight, following along the leading edge of the passing cold front revealing clearer skies into Wednesday morning. Winds switch out of the northwest throughout the rest of the week leading to a steep cool down.

IMPACTS:

The main threat with these storms focuses on winds up to 60 mph and hail up to 1" in diameter. Heavy downpours are expected but should remain brief as the line of storms pushes southeast. The threat level for tonight has been upgraded for a level 2/5 for just about all of Mid-Missouri as these storms work through.

PREPARE:

Make sure you have the ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather App downloaded and programmed to your location ahead of storms tonight. It would also be a good idea to bring in any loose furniture or plants, and pull in cars to a garage or overhang if possible.