Thursday, August 15 Forecast: Summer turns stormy before another vacation

Steamy summer weather is back, spreading east across the Ozarks today. 90° highs and high humidity drove heat indices over 100° and will contribute to a risk of severe storms this evening.

Storms are firing up this evening and will continue through midnight. The focus for storms will tend to be along and south of I-44. A few severe storms are expected with locally strong wind gusts and hail up to quarter size. The tornado risk is very limited, but not zero. The wind energy is stronger and a little more favorable for severe storms and isolated tornadoes closer to areas near Lake of the Ozarks south through Cabool and east. A Severe T-Storm Watch has been posted for Southern Missouri through midnight.

Storms will gradually push southeast out of the area by sunrise.

A frontal boundary will work south into Northern Arkansas Friday, but the heat will remain. Mostly sunny skies will drive afternoon temperatures back into the low to mid-90s, but the humidity levels should be running lower.

The front will remain a highway for additional storms to move along, especially Friday night into Saturday. A cluster of storms or clusters of storms are expected to push southeast out of Kansas and Northeast Oklahoma Friday night through Saturday morning. We’ll have to watch for strong winds with these storms along with pockets of heavy rainfall.

The rain will wind down by noon with clouds thinning out. Saturday afternoon will become mostly sunny with some lingering heat. Mild, dry air will filter in by Sunday making for a bright day with highs below 90°.

The trough that we’ve seen in the East so much of this summer will once again amplify this weekend through next week. Mild, low-humidity air will press back into the Ozarks. The pattern overall looks dry, 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. Some of this cloud cover, and maybe even shower activity, could clip some of the region.

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