Tracking afternoon storms that bring much need cooldown
TODAY: Wednesday is another ABC17 Stormtrack Weather Alert Day as it's becoming more clear that most of the region will have another shot at heat indices near 105°. This comes as rain timing may delay slightly. The National Weather Service has bumped the Heat Advisory northward, into Boone county through 7 p.m. tonight. Storms will largely glide to our north this morning, leaving us with some clouds and cool outflow air at best north of HWY 24 to about I-70. There is a chance that this sparks storm development, but it appears likely that we will stay mostly dry through this round. This has some potential to keep us a few degrees cooler in the north, but it will still be warm and muggy. Storms develop ahead of the cold front, likely during the afternoon. This is what will more than likely kill the heat for those north of I-70 as storms develop at the start of the hottest hours of the day. Current estimates put storm development somewhere close to noon near the Missouri Iowa border, then theses are expected to spread south to near HWY 24 by mid-afternoon. At the same time, spotty storms may develop further south near Columbia and Jefferson City during the mid afternoon, making for a quick transition to scattered rain chances. The isolated to scattered nature of storms brings some uncertainty to the timing of heat relief, but it's looking likely that a steamy afternoon is on tap until this relief can arrive.
TONIGHT: Storms become scattered to widespread in the evening, and last overnight. The cold front passes, but leaves lows in the 70s, once more Thursday morning.
EXTENDED: Thursday's rain chances are low, and tied to exiting rainfall in the morning, likely in the south. Highs struggle to reach 80, and will land in the 70s in most locations thanks to clouds and north wind. However, the airmass is slowly changing. This means despite sunshine increasing Friday and Saturday, we can continue to expect temperatures in the 70s alongside dewpoints likely in the low 60s, if not 50s! This may yield early morning lows in the 50s on Sunday before a return to afternoon highs in the 80s early next week. This will come with spotty rain chances in the forecast, but not a return to extreme heat.
