Wednesday, August 14 Forecast: Steamy Thursday comes with a risk of strong storms

Rain came down in buckets east of Hwy. 65. A corridor of thunderstorms persisted for hours from early this morning into the early afternoon, finally winding down late in the day. Totals of 2 to 3″ were common with some locally higher amounts over 5″. Meanwhile, areas to the west stayed rain-free. A wall of hot air is trying to bully its way into the Ozarks and areas west of Hwy. 65 did get into the 90s.

The heat will continue to build east into Thursday, but it will have to contend with cloud cover and rain chances that may hamper highs to some extent.

A cold front is sparking severe storms this evening across Kansas into Southeast Nebraska. These storms will push east with an outflow boundary dropping south into the Ozarks early Thursday morning. Showers and storms will bring a risk of strong winds as far south as Central Missouri after midnight with the storms running out of gas as they push south. The leftovers of this line may manage to make it into Southern Missouri by sunrise.

A lingering band of clouds and a few showers and thunderstorms may persist through the morning near I-44. This may hold back the heat a touch with highs near I-44 in the low 90s with areas to the west and south in the low to mid 90s. Additional widely scattered showers and thunderstorms may develop late in the day or early in the evening over Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas. Additional storms may develop near the approaching cold near Central Missouri before dropping southeast overnight. Any of this activity could produce strong wind gusts and some hail with the likelihood for stronger storms higher closer to Central Missouri.

The cold front will slowly make its way into Southern Missouri Friday with highs back in the 90s. A few spotty showers and thunderstorms are possible mainly south of Hwy. 60. We’re eyeing Kansas for additional development heading into Friday evening. A more organized area of thunderstorm activity may ride the front into Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas Friday night into Saturday morning.

The trough that we’ve seen in the East so much this summer will once again amplify this weekend. Milder, less humid air will press back into the Ozarks. The pattern looks like a dry one too, but we’ll have to keep an eye on areas of clouds and showers spilling down the east side of the summer ridge to the west.

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