Tracking strong storms through late tonight, cooler Friday

TONIGHT: Scattered rain and storms. Some storms could be strong through 10:00 p.m. with damaging winds. Lows in the lower 60s.

TOMORROW: Partly sunny and cooler with highs in the lower 80s.

EXTENDED: Storms have started to develop ahead of a cold front in far western Missouri as we have instability to work with to allow storms to grow. Winds are a bit more conducive to more intense thunderstorms before that instability runs out late tonight, so we'll have a window from about 5-10 PM where 60 mph gusts and 1" hail are possible in some storm clusters. Storms look to move into the Highway 65 corridor by around 5PM, and near Columbia and Jefferson City between 7-8PM. Storms look to weaken but rain will continue through late tonight, tapering off to the east by or before sunrise. Rain amounts look to stay under 1", but we could see some locally higher amount with embedded stronger storms. Friday is looking drier and more comfortable with highs in the lower 80s, and 70s expected in the evening for high school football. We could see a few showers on Saturday in the morning with a large break during the day, allowing temperatures to rise into the low to mid-80s. Showers and storms could return on Saturday night, especially after sunset. We could see another round of rain and a few storms on Sunday to keep temperatures cooler around 80 degrees. Next week looks active with a strong low pressure system slowly moving across the region and stalling a front right across our area. That could generate daily rain and storm chances with temperatures gradually cooling into the upper 70s by mid-week.