Tracking a warmer Friday, rain and storms this weekend

TONIGHT: Mostly clear to partly cloudy and chilly with lows in the low to mid-30s.

TOMORROW: Partly to mostly cloudy and breezy with highs in the upper 60s.

EXTENDED:

We're chillier overnight as winds die down with lows falling into the low to mid-30s. Tomorrow is warm and windy as warmer are starts to move in from the southwest. Highs get into the upper 60s but the breeze will be in the 25-30 mph range. The air won't be quite as dry as moisture begins to stream in to set the tone for the weekend, so I'm not as concerned for a fire danger Friday. The weekend starts off warm with some clouds sticking around on Saturday, but strong southwest winds get us into the lower 70s for highs. A cold front stretching from Iowa back through Kansas could trigger a few thunderstorms by late afternoon/sunset, but there are a few limiting factors as far as coverage or intensity. Cloud cover and an atmospheric "cap" otherwise known as a temperature inversion could keep strong storms from bubbling up. If we were to get an updraft to burst through that warmer layer aloft, a few storms across northern Missouri could have isolated strong winds. The slight risk of severe weather is centered over Iowa today, with a marginal risk for areas north of I-70. The front looks to stall to our southeast on Sunday, but another low pressure system will ride up along the boundary, bringing steady rainfall late Sunday afternoon into the evening. Severe weather is not expected for our area, but we could end up with 1-2" of rain by early Monday morning. Lingering precipitation on Monday morning could change from rain to snow, but given temperatures near the freezing mark in the morning warming to about 40, we are also not concerned for major impacts at this time. If we do see any accumulation, it looks to be around a dusting for the northern half of the area. We warm into the upper 40s and low 50s for most of the week with another storm system on the horizon by the end of the week.