First round of rainfall arriving this afternoon, Flooding concerns increasing for this weekend
THIS AFTERNOON: We’re tracking a slow moving cold front in western Missouri bringing rainfall to Kansas City along the I-49 corridor as of 11am. This front will ease it’s way off to the east this afternoon, affecting our western counties by 2-3pm, making it’s way closer to the HWY 63 corridor by the evening rush. We’re likely to see scattered showers and thunderstorm developing from west to east through the remainder of the afternoon. Chances for rain this evening decrease the further east you are of HWY 63.
TONIGHT: Scattered storm chances continue into tonight, with the better chance for storms north of I-70. Building clouds will lead to overcast skies, as the slow moving front gradually stalls out near I-70. A secondary round of rainfall will develop after 2am bringing waves of rainfall into the Thursday morning commute. Winds will shift out of the northeast up to 9 mph, with overnight lows falling near 70.
EXTENDED: As this front moves south and stalls out, rain chances continue Thursday into Friday with highs cooling into the upper 70s. Tropical Storm Gordon made landfall late last night just west of the Alabama/Mississippi border. It will continue to track to the northwest around the periphery of the upper level ridge before turning to the northeast and eventually into Mid-Missouri. Current consensus brings the influx of moisture into Arkansas then up to southwestern Missouri Friday night. This moisture will likely interact with the aforementioned front, bringing widespread rain beginning as early as Friday and lasting through the weekend. While the track does bring the remnants of Gordon into Mid-Missouri, how much rain we’ll see depends on the amount of moisture left in the system. Right now it’s looking possible that as we head through the weekend many spots could see up to, if not higher, four inches of rain with the potential of flooding as we head into Saturday. The greatest rainfall amounts look to be northwest of the I-44 corridor. With the rain in place, we’ll also see cooler conditions. Highs by the weekend will likely struggle to climb out of the 70s. Make sure to stay tuned to ABC 17 News for the latest on the changing weather pattern.
