Tracking some additional rain chances before a dry and warm weekend

TODAY: Rain continues Wednesday, but in a much lighter and more sporadic manner. Gone is the widespread soaking rain. We are trading that for more hit and miss sprinkles to light rainfall most of the day. This and cloud cover keeps us from climbing out of the low 70s this afternoon. We should see a band of more focused rainfall again this evening, largely south of I-70. This may bring pockets of better rainfall to the tune of a few tenths of an inch, but most of the region will only pick up trace amounts to a tenth from very light precipitation off and on through the day. Lightning will be a risk with afternoon rainfall.

TONIGHT: Rain is expected to taper off around sunset, with rain likely ending by midnight. Overnight, clouds linger, but break up towards sunrise, leaving us bright at the start of Thursday.

EXTENDED: Rain chances have been removed from Thursday, leaving us increasingly sunny, with highs just hanging onto the 70s. The warmup is coming, though, as we expect 80s and abundant sunshine Friday through the weekend. This means we're looking warm for Mizzou's homecoming, but not excessively hot. The good news is that despite highs possibly reaching mid-80s, humidity is continuing to trend low. We should avoid a heat like we felt at the Louisiana game earlier this month. Additionally, kickoff is at 6:30, and the parade at 9 AM, so the warmth will mostly affect tailgaters.