Weather Alert Day: Strong winds Sunday, dangerous wind chills Monday morning

The ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather Team has issued a Weather Alert Day for the potential of widespread strong to damaging wind gusts on Sunday and wind chills below zero by Monday morning.

The big changes can be blamed on a deep trough pushing off the Plains, bringing a strong cold front to Mid-Missouri on Sunday. Ahead of the front Saturday night, south/southwest winds will continue to bring moisture to the region, allowing for a few elevated showers and storms to develop overnight into Sunday morning.

Overnight temperatures hold in the upper 50s to around 60s with dew points near that temperature. There will be a small window where instability surges to the north, giving a limited window for a few strong storms east of Highway 54.

The Storm Prediction Center has this zone in a level 1 out of 5 severe risk for isolated 50-60 mph damaging wind gusts and a few quick-forming tornadoes as we'll have plenty of wind shear for storms to forge ahead.

The better environment for those hazards looks to lie to our east, east of St. Louis into southern Illinois where temperatures will warm enough ahead of the front to sustain strong storms.

As the front quickly moves east, temperatures fall though the day and strong winds pick up in the wake of low pressure. A Wind Advisory is in place for locations west of Highway 63 for the possibility of 45-50 mph winds. Power outages are certainly possible at those wind speeds.

Strong winds from the northwest will push temperatures down into the teens by Monday morning, and drop wind chills to around -3 to 0 for the start of the day. Even as highs rise into the mid-20s Monday, wind chills remain in the teens through the afternoon. Tuesday morning wind chills will still be between around 5 and 10 degrees.

Make sure you have the ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather App if you have plans to be out on Sunday morning for church services or holiday travel.