Tracking showers and storms for the morning commute, cooler weekend ahead

TONIGHT: Increasing clouds with storms arriving from the west a few hours before daybreak. Gusty winds with lows in the upper 50s to low 60s.

TOMORROW: Rain and storms likely through the morning. Some could bring isolated strong wind gusts and heavy rain. Spotty storms and gusty winds stick around through mid-late afternoon. Temperatures reaching the lower 70s.

EXTENDED: Strong winds have gusted to about 30 mph today and we can expect a windy evening before storms arrive tomorrow morning. An approaching cold front moves in on Friday, and we can expect storms to move into our western counties along Highway 65 by about 3:00 a.m. Rain and storms will move into Columbia and Jefferson City between 5:00 - 7:00 a.m., with the back edge of more widespread rain exiting by midday. However, a couple storms will linger right along the front through late afternoon before we clear out for the night. A couple storms could be strong through the morning into early afternoon, but a lack of sufficient instability may limit any severe threat. Still, we'll be mainly keeping an eye on the threat for strong wind gusts between 50-60 mph in a few storms. Rain amounts will end up around 0.5" with 1" possible in isolated areas. With the conditional threat for severe weather, we're not anticipating the need for a Weather Alert Day. Winds will continue to be strong in the wake of the front as highs reach the low 70s on Friday, and eventually shift to the northwest to kick off the weekend. Clouds and a few spotty showers are possible on Saturday with the low pressure system still spinning to our northeast, keeping temperatures in the mid-upper 50s. Sunday will be chilly as well as clouds hang on and highs only reach the mid-50s. We'll see more sunshine next week and slightly warmer temperatures by mid-week as upper winds try to shift back to the southwest.