Tracking summer air today ahead of tomorrow’s storms

TODAY: Wednesday is shaping up to be the warmest and driest day this week. Expect highs near 80, as winds pull in warmth from the south. We'll have some clouds, but skies remain bright enough for sunglasses through the day. Some showers to our northwest this morning may drift into areas north of HWY 24 through the early morning, bringing a few sprinkles, but largely Wednesday is dry. Winds will be sustained near 20 mph, gusting to 30 at times, making Wednesday breezy.

TONIGHT: We'll stay in the 60s overnight, as winds hold on. Ongoing showers and storms to our west will arrive by early morning.

EXTENDED: The strongest storms overnight are expected to stay well northwest of us, but after 9 a.m. or so, we'll see showers and storms arrive along a cold front in our western most counties. These are likely weak at first, but may strengthen as they push east. The front pushes storms out of mid-MO by 3-4 p.m., but we may see isolated strong to severe storms within the line as it works through our eastern most counties. Our main concern with any severe storms will be hail and damaging wind. The cold front clears us for Friday, leaving us cooler, with highs in the 60s. We'll dive even cooler on Saturday, starting with frost potential, and ending near 50 by the afternoon. The coldest start will be on Sunday, where lows are near 32. Then we start our rebound. Temps will reach 60s again by Monday afternoon, staying mild leading into Tuesday. Hints at rain are showing up in the forecast for Tuesday.