Tracking showers for Christmas Eve (includes Santa’s flight forecast)

TODAY: We'll have a chance for showers on Tuesday, with coverage slowly increasing from the south of I-44 to near I-70 with emphasis east of HWY 63 through the afternoon and evening. This rain is light where it falls and will mainly impact areas southeast of a line from Sedalia to Paris. At most, folks Nearest I-44 will pick up near a quarter inch to a few tenths. Showers will likely hold off until the afternoon for Columbia and Jefferson City. Even without rain, skies are mostly cloudy. Expect high temperatures to stick in the 40s.

TONIGHT: Showers will linger overnight for some, especially in the east. Weather looks great for Santa's arrival tonight, as he'll only have to fly through a little light rain. Rudolph's nose will surely come in handy though, navigating through some low clouds on approach. Temperatures stay above freezing thanks to the clouds, so icing won't be a problem below about 7,000 feet. The sleigh should have no problems here tonight!

EXTENDED: Christmas day, we'll keep highs in the mid-40s. Some showers may linger into Christmas, especially in the east. This system continues to shift in placement and speed, but also how it evolves. A trend of broad, week, low level flow increasing across the region has the chance for spotty light showers further west popping up in the forecast now. Still, this will leave us mostly dry on Christmas day, but we can't rule out a stray light shower anywhere across the region. We'll have a better chance at rain with our next system that brings a chance for rain and thunder Thursday night and Friday morning. High temperatures remain in the 50s Thursday through the weekend.