Tracking the threat for heavy rain through early Thursday

TONIGHT: Spotty storms and mostly cloudy. Lows near 70.

TOMORROW: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers and storms becoming more widespread by Wednesday night. Some storms could produce very heavy rainfall. Highs in the lower 80s.

EXTENDED: Storms on Wednesday are expected to be scattered, but fire up earlier in the day with breaks in between. The heaviest rain will move in for the southern half of the area late Wednesday along and ahead of the front through Thursday morning. Most of the precipitation early Thursday will be tied to the front and exit south of us by mid-late afternoon as the front slides into far southern Missouri. We could end up with another 2-4" between now and Thursday afternoon, so the Flash Flood Watch has been extended across our northwestern tier of counties that fall under the NWS Kansas City's watch, essentially west of Highway 63 and north of Highway 50. Storms are not expected to be severe over this time frame but will continue to be efficient rainfall producers. Luckily, some of the heaviest rain will fall on Thursday across the southern third of the state that hasn't seen as much of an impact over the last week.

We may end up seeing secondary river rises later this week, delaying the retreat to below flood stage on the Missouri River. Jefferson City, Glasgow, and Hermann are all in moderate flood stage and we don't get below minor at any location until the weekend.

We'll begin feeling the effects of a big pattern chance on Friday with the front well south of us and a nice cool air mass settling in. Lower humidity and cooler than average temperatures will take hold for the entire weekend, making for an unusually pleasant 4th of July. Next week looks to start off dry with highs getting back into the upper 80s by Monday and Tuesday.