Tracking strong storms this evening, lower humidity Friday

TONIGHT: Storms with heavy rain and strong winds through about midnight with mostly cloudy skies and lows near 70.

TOMORROW: Mostly sunny and hot with lower humidity, highs in the upper 80s.

EXTENDED: The main focus for this evening will be for severe storms that develop in the next couple of hours and slide south through late tonight. The highest threat will be along and north of Highway 24 where a Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect until 10PM. Baseball size hail, 60-80 mph winds and a few tornadoes will be possible with those storms. We are already seeing some development up near the Iowa border. Storms will likely weaken with time after 10PM, so the severe threat will be a bit lower for Columbia and Jefferson City. Tomorrow will be warm but much less humid behind the cold front that moves through tonight, but still warm with highs near 90. The weekend looks hot and humid with low storm chances Saturday and a heat index between 95-97, and near 100 on Sunday. All of next week will be stifling with highs in the 90s, airmass thunderstorm chances, and heat indices anywhere between 95-100, with the hottest values on Monday and Tuesday.