Warming up for the weekend, rain returns next week

High pressure at the surface will continue to track southeast over the next day, allowing winds to shift to the south for Thursday.

This will bring in slightly warmer afternoon temperatures, with highs reaching the upper 80s.

In the upper levels of the atmosphere, a large ridge that has kept us dry and tranquil will gradually push east, helping to increase our temperatures into the weekend. Humidity will also increase slightly, as dew points increase into the upper 60s. This will bring the heat index into the mid-90s for the weekend.

That ridge will begin to flatten out, allowing a few waves of low pressure to affect Mid-Missouri.

Our first rain chance comes Monday evening into Tuesday with the first wave.

Forecast models are indicating a strong low pressure system will develop off the northwest coast and track across the Plains, bringing a cold front into the region Wednesday into Thursday. This, coupled with a robust low level jet stream mid-week could mean the possibility of heavy rain once again next week.

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