Tracking a frigid morning, rain by Friday

TONIGHT: Mostly clear with lows in the teens. Wind chills between 12-15 degrees by daybreak.

TOMORROW: Partly sunny with highs in the upper 30s. Temperatures are expected to be a bit warmer in the upper 40s south of Highway 50.

EXTENDED: Winds die down a bit tonight, but we can still expect wind chills to fall into the low to mid-teens with actual air temperatures in the upper teens in the morning. The afternoon is a bit warmer as highs reach the upper 30s with clouds starting to increase toward tomorrow night. We'll likely see a temperature gradient across the region between Thursday and Friday as a slow moving cold front works north, so areas near the Lake of the Ozarks may actually get closer to 50 degrees during the day. Rain looks to hold off until at least late Friday afternoon ahead of the cold front, with more widespread showers by evening. Rain looks to exit by Saturday afternoon, with warmer temperatures in the upper 40s. Sunday looks dry during the day before another system approaches to bring rain from late Sunday night into Monday. Both of those events combined will give us about 1-1.5" of rain. Tuesday looks dry, but another low pressure system moves in on Wednesday, bringing the potential of rain or a wintry mix as temperatures are looking cooler.