Tracking isolated storms tonight, widespread rain Thursday

TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy with isolated storms north of I-70. A few could be strong with quarter size hail before sunrise Thursday.

TOMORROW: Cloudy to start, with temperatures falling from the 60s early into the 50s by afternoon. Heavy rain and embedded thunderstorms developing by late afternoon, especially for areas along and south of I-70.

Tonight, I'll be tracking the possibility for a few isolated strong storms to develop along that frontal boundary in northern Missouri. Some of those could sink as far south as Mexico to Boonville, but I am not expecting a widespread severe threat or hail to get much larger than quarter size in those storms. Storms wane in coverage overnight, but we won't be out of the woods for rain. I'll be tracking the associated cold front sliding north to south during the day, which will drop temperatures from the 60s in the morning to the 50s by the afternoon. Strong low level winds aid in the potential for heavy rain for areas along and south of I-70 Thursday afternoon into Thursday night. Rain and storms continue overnight into Friday, with more showers pushing back north on Friday as low pressure to our southwest tries to move into the Ohio Valley. We can't rule out showers until very early Saturday morning. Columbia and Jefferson City will be in the 1-2" rainfall range, while points south of Highway 50 could end up with 3"+. Those locations are in a Flood Watch until late Friday night for localized flash flooding and river flooding as rainfall rates could be intense at times. Saturday will be seasonably cool in the upper 50s, with another shot at rain Sunday into Monday as another disturbance moves in from the west. Next week starts off cooler, but could be active yet again.