Happy Thursday! While some people can brag about the rain they’ve been blessed with at their homes… much of the area is still praying for rain. After a brief afternoon shower at the station, we picked up 0.02″ (as of 5 pm).

The slow-moving cold front has not cleared the entire area and you can certainly tell where the front is at. Fayetteville is at 88° and right down the road in Harrison they are 72°.

As we head into the evening, we will continue to see a chance of rain and a few stronger storms sprinkled in. The main threat will be southwest of Springfield, but models are bringing some of the rain into the metro area overnight. The storms could pack a punch of hail and strong winds.

Tonight will be mild in the low 60s with light easterly winds around 5 to 10 mph. Friday will be dry with temperatures in the low to mid-80s under partly cloudy skies. Friday night will be in the low 60s with a slight chance for rain, but rain is more likely late Saturday into Sunday.

The chance of rain will increase as we head into the weekend. While models have been less than stellar with the timing, it looks like our southern counties will see the chance of rain early Saturday, before it becomes more widespread in the afternoon. Rain and storm activity will remain likely into Sunday afternoon before winding down for Sunday evening.

While the severe weather risk is low in the Ozarks with the weekend storm system, it is still possible to see a stronger storm that could produce winds of 60 mph and quarter-sized hail, mainly on Saturday. Storm chances wrap up Sunday night and we should be dry and becoming sunny for Monday afternoon. Monday will be nice with temperatures in the upper 70s and light northwest winds.

Another round of rain and storms is beginning to come together for the middle of next week. Right now, the latest timing is Tuesday night into Wednesday. This storm system may pose a risk for strong to severe thunderstorms so we’ll need to keep an eye on this going into next week.