Sunshine and southwest winds pushed temperatures into the mid-50s today. This was our shot at warmer weather before we descend back into a cold pattern.
For tonight, we’ll find mostly clear skies with breezy winds out of the southwest preventing most locations from getting down to freezing tonight.
Clouds will be on the increase by morning with mostly cloudy skies Thursday morning giving way to partly sunny skies during the afternoon. A band of light showers or sprinkles will move through the area around noon, but amounts will be very light. Temperatures will climb into the upper 40s with gusty winds out of the northwest.
Clouds will be spreading back into the area by Friday morning as colder air pours into the area. A spoke of upper-level energy will lead to a round of snow showers or light snow by afternoon, tapering off Friday night. Any snow accumulations will be very light and will tend to hold off until late afternoon as the sun gets low on the horizon and temperatures start to slip. Daytime highs will only be in the low to mid-30s with gusty winds out of the northwest driving wind chills into the low to mid-20s. The best chance for light accumulations will be closer to Central Missouri where a little shy of an inch is possible. A dusting is possible all the way down to the state line.
The pattern will remain cold and rather cloudy through the weekend. Skies will start cloudy on Saturday with a few peeks of sun possible late in the day. Temperatures will only warm into the 30s for highs.
Sunday doesn’t look a whole lot better. We should see some morning sun, but the bulk of the day looks mostly cloudy with highs near 40°.
The pattern does warm up some by MLK Day. Southerly winds and partly sunny skies will lead to afternoon highs near 50°.
Colder weather will follow Tuesday into Wednesday. A cold front will push through on Tuesday with a slight chance for showers. Another storm will move out of the Southwest crossing south of the area Wednesday into Thursday. This should lead to increasing clouds on Wednesday with an increasing chance for rain to the south. We’ll have to watch how much cold air is available and the exact track and strength of the storm. This storm looks like it has the potential to be something more interesting.