Tracking light rain and snow tomorrow, near record warmth by Friday

TONIGHT: Increasing clouds and chilly with lows in the low to mid-20s.

TOMORROW: Light rain showers changing to scattered light snow. No accumulation expected. Highs in the mid-upper 30s.

EXTENDED: Winds are expected to die down overnight and despite cloud cover creeping in we'll drop down into the mid-20s by morning. Low pressure moves over the area tomorrow, bringing the potential for some light precipitation and continued cold temperatures. We could see some light rain showers shift to snow showers by mid-late afternoon, but the lower section of the atmosphere is going to be too dry for much of anything to make it to the ground before it evaporates, so don't expect any impacts or accumulation for much of Mid-Missouri. Warmer air starts to filter in toward the middle and end of the week as we bounce back closer to normal on Wednesday before southwest upper level flow kicks us back into the low to mid-60s on Wednesday. Friday could break another temperature record with a forecast of 70 degrees and a record at Columbia of 69. If we hit 70 again it will be of climatological interest; we have only hit 70 twice in December six times since 1889. There's a little less clarity on how another system plays out late Friday into the weekend, but we could end up with some rain showers late Friday into Saturday and likely cooler temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s on Saturday and Sunday. Trends continue to point at above average temperatures and below average precipitation leading up to the week of Christmas.