Possible severe storms Friday

A cold front in northwestern Missouri will move to the southeast Friday afternoon. Ahead of the front the atmosphere will become unstable as temperatures warm into the 80s in the humid air.

Showers & storms will develop by early afternoon mainly north of I-70 with a few spotty storms possible farther south. These could become strong rather quickly in the unstable air, producing heavy rain and strong wind gusts.

Storms will become more organized and form a line ahead of the cold front from north-central Missouri to south of Kansas City which will move to the southeast through the evening. Wind shear is forecast to be highest north of I-70 in the unstable air Friday which will give us a low tornado threat. The primary severe threats are damaging wind and large hail with the more widespread severe threat west and north of HWY 54. Weakening storms will move to I-44 by 6 AM Saturday with decreasing clouds to the northwest as cooler, drier air moves in.

Rainfall amounts are forecast to be highest near HWY 36 with up to 2 inches of rain, decreasing to near a half inch in counties along Interstate 44.

Track storms with us through the afternoon and evening at: http://www.abc17news.com/weather/livetracking