Tracking higher fire danger Tuesday, rain and storms by mid-week
TONIGHT: Clearing and chilly with gusty winds up to 25 mph. Lows in the upper 30s to around 40.
TOMORROW: Breezy and mostly sunny with highs in the lower 60s. Gusty winds to 25 mph could increase the fire danger with low relative humidity in place.
EXTENDED: We'll begin clearing out tonight, leading into a couple of chilly nights before a mid-late week warm up. The cold front that moved to our southeast today has ushered in drier air, and with high pressure returning tomorrow, we'll see strong winds ramp up to the tune of 25-30 mph. With lower humidity and strong winds, we'll see an elevated fire danger across the northern half of Mid-Missouri during the day. We'll top out near 60-65, with the higher end of that range near the Lake area. Tomorrow night is chilly again as winds die down with lows falling down to near 40. We'll begin to warm up on Wednesday as a warm front lifts through the area, bringing a chance of scattered showers and storms from Wednesday into early Thursday morning. Any chance of severe weather on Thursday looks to stay to our north, but we'll be warmer in the upper 70s in the wake of that front. A stout "cap" or warm temperature inversion aloft will prevent many storms from developing on Thursday, and may hold into Friday, limiting the severe potential on Friday as a cold front works in. That said, we'll be watching the potential for some heavy downpours and perhaps some wind and hail with any storms that develop by Friday night. That cold front looks to settle across southern Missouri over the weekend as several disturbances work in our direction. We'll see waves of rain between Saturday and Sunday that could add up to 1-2" of rainfall. The highest flooding potential will be south of I-70 where several inches of rain fell about a week ago. Temperatures for the holiday weekend will be in the mid-upper 60s to around 70.
