Tracking one wet and cool day ahead of a prolonged heat wave

TODAY: Friday is an ABC17 Stormtrack Weather Alert Day for flood potential this morning. The newsroom received reports of flooding late Thursday as heavy rain persisted across mid-Missouri. This immediate flood threat has subsided with a lull in rain overnight, but more rain is forecast, leaving a threat for additional flooding through the day. As of this morning, a flood watch is in effect through 7 p.m. Showers remain possible through the morning, with a chance for thunderstorms continuing this afternoon. This convective element in the forecast will give us potential for heavier rain. The concern is that the areas that have already picked up over an inch of rain could add about that much to their totals over the course of the day, lending to our flood concerns. High temperatures are expected in the upper 70s

TONIGHT: Many will be drier by the afternoon, but storms may persist south of HWY 50 well into the evening. Spotty showers chances linger overnight; however, rain accumulation should slow appreciably.

EXTENDED: We'll start Saturday warm, with a chance for showers. The stationary front that has been the focus for rain will begin to lift north on Saturday. This will keep a chance for isolated to scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon, but many will be mostly dry. Where there is dry time on Saturday, there is heat and humidity. Highs are forecast to jump into the upper 80s with heat indexes in the 90s. From there, we kick off a stable and dry pattern. A heat dome is forecast to spread across the central United States over the end of the weekend, before shifting to the east early next week. It is expected that this ridge will be expansive enough to give us daily highs in the 90s alongside heat indexes well into the triple digits from Sunday through most, if not all, of next week.