Tracking unsettled weather this week, calm by the weekend

TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy with a spot shower possible. Lows in the mid-upper 60s.

TOMORROW: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s to around 80.

EXTENDED: The severe weather threat looks low on Tuesday, but there could be a couple of strong storms near a front that will be draped across far northern MO/southern IA over the next couple of days. Showers and storms begin to diminish late Tuesday night into early Wednesday across southern Missouri, leaving us drier for much of Wednesday. We'll still be warm with highs in the low 80s through Thursday. The aforementioned front will begin to move south on Thursday, bringing a chance of rain and a few storms to northern Missouri on Thursday morning. As the front slides south during the day, it will be entering a more favorable environment for severe weather across Mid-Missouri in the afternoon/evening. However, morning rain could limit our severe chances later in the day if it reaches far enough south. A Weather Alert Day could be coming in the next day or so as we continue to pore over new data. The Storm Prediction Center already has much of Mid-Missouri in a Day 4 severe weather risk, so we're keeping a close eye on it. Once that batch of storms clears the area on Friday, we'll be left with a few lingering morning showers Friday, followed by about a 10 degree temperature drop into the lower 70s. The weekend looks more comfortable and dry to start on Saturday with highs in the lower 70s. We warm gradually on Sunday with a better chance of showers and storms returning by Memorial Day. The week-long rain total will likely add up to between 1-2" for our area. We have surpassed 5" of rain in Columbia for May, putting us about 1.5" ahead of schedule with a week to go in the month.