Rain soaked most of the area last night. Totals were highest near and south of Hwy. 60. Joplin to Billings picked up over an inch with Springfield picking up 0.67″. The rain exited early, and for a moment, skies were bright. Clouds filled back in by noon and we ended the day on a mild note with daytime highs in the 60s.

A major warm-up is on the way as we experience a season shift by Saturday.

A warm front will push through Saturday morning bringing early summer heat and humidity to the Ozarks. Temperatures will be in the 80s to near 90 degrees Saturday and Sunday, challenging record highs in some areas.

There is a chance for an isolated storm or two in central Missouri Saturday afternoon. Although there is abundant instability in the atmosphere Saturday afternoon, the storm chances remain low for the Ozarks because the lifting energy is fairly weak and not necessarily supportive for thunderstorms. Keeping that in mind, if a storm can develop Saturday in central Missouri we can expect it to become severe producing some hail and wind.

Sunday will have similar conditions to Saturday, but upward forcing, or lift) maybe a little stronger Sunday and therefore the chance for scattered thunderstorms Sunday is higher. Once again, given the instability Sunday any storm that develops has a chance of becoming severe producing large hail and damaging winds. Neither chance over the weekend will be widespread.

The pattern will remain warm and humid into Monday with a chance for showers and thunderstorms as a cold front drops south through Missouri. The front should usher in drier air, cutting back rain chances for Tuesday. Temperatures will remain warm.

The front will stall to the southwest for Wednesday and Thursday with rain focused over states to the west. Showers could spill into Western Missouri and Northwest Arkansas on both days. Temperatures will be a bit cooler with humidity levels running a little lower than this weekend.

Rain chances look to head higher Thursday into Friday across all of the area. Afternoon highs will remain warm for early May but will be trending a little lower.