Tracking a wet Friday morning, a few strong storms by late afternoon

TONIGHT: Increasing clouds, widespread rain and storms moving in before daybreak. Lows near 70.

TOMORROW: Morning storms through about midday with another round developing by late afternoon ahead of a cold front. A few storms may be severe with damaging winds. Highs in the upper 80s, heat index in the mid-upper 90s.

EXTENDED: I'm tracking two waves of rain and storms, the first could impact how the second plays out. An upper level disturbance will be strong enough to stir up a big complex of storms to our west overnight as low level winds draw in more moisture from the south. This will lead to a wet Friday morning with storms moving generally west to east tomorrow morning, arriving before sunrise and approaching Highway 63 between about 5-7:00 a.m. This first round exits east out of Mid-Missouri before lunch time. If clouds linger, that will inhibit the atmosphere from recharging enough to get many severe storms by early evening. If clouds can clear and sunshine returns, we could destabilize enough ahead of a cold front to get a few strong to severe storms capable of producing damaging winds. A brief, weak tornado can't be ruled out east of Highway 63 if this scenario plays out. The threat for any strong storms would be from about 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. with storms essentially developing along the Highway 63 corridor and pressing east through sunset. Low pressure looks to linger across Illinois and into the Ohio Valley on Saturday, with clouds and a few light showers lingering. With winds wrapping around from the north, it will be significantly cooler than where we started the week with morning temperatures in the upper 60s and highs only touching the mid-70s. Sunday will feature more sunshine and highs in the lower 80s. Next week gradually warms to the upper 80s to low 90s, with a front to bring a low chance storms toward the end of the week.