ST. LOUIS – A clear start Thursday morning with cool temperatures. Skies will see increasing clouds during the afternoon. Highs will be in the upper 70s.

Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall late Thursday in Florida’s Big Bend region on the Gulf Coast. Moisture from that powerful storm will get pulled northward and wrapped around a cut-off area of low pressure over the Mississippi River Valley. That means rain and gusty winds for the bi-state region.

Southeast of St. Louis, scattered showers and storms may move in late Thursday. The most widespread rain will move in early Friday morning, with waves of rain wrapping in from the east through the day.

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Anywhere from one to three inches of rain is expected for the region. The highest totals in our region will be across southern Illinois and southeast Missouri, along and south of a line from Ironton, Mo., to Sparta and Mount Vernon in Illinois.

Waves of more scattered showers will continue through Saturday. Some data shows the cut-off low moving east on Sunday, but still there looks to be a chance of afternoon rain showers. As always, the exact track of Helene and its movements after landfall will be key to the exact path of the heaviest rain.

Stay tuned for updates to the forecast.

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