Tracking rain, storms, and heat returning for the weekend

TONIGHT: Mostly clear and mild with lows in the lower 70s.

TOMORROW: Increasing clouds with storms by mid-late afternoon. Some storms may bring gusty winds and brief heavy rain. Highs in the upper 80s.

EXTENDED: We'll enjoy one more night with low humidity before southwesterly winds aloft push in more moisture and raise the dew points into the upper 60s tomorrow. Clouds start to stream in ahead of a slow moving cold front that will stall out across Mid-Missouri Friday through Sunday. Without much upper level support to steer the front away until Monday, we'll see chances for scattered showers and storms starting Friday through Saturday, and perhaps into Sunday before it lifts north of us by July 4th. A few storms may be strong with isolated wind gusts late Friday afternoon, but the lack of low level wind shear will keep us from seeing a widespread severe threat. Rain amounts will be in the 1-1.5" range, which would be beneficial as we're ending June about an inch and a half below average on precipitation. Next week looks steamy, starting with the holiday on Monday with heat indices near 100. We get into the upper 90s on Tuesday, with perhaps another front moving in between Wednesday and Thursday brining some relief in the form of rain and storms.