Thursday, September 26 forecast: Hurricane Helene bringing local impacts

Today will be another super September day! Look for temperatures in the upper 70s under mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies this afternoon. Winds will be a bit breezy at times from the north around 10 mph.

We’ll largely stay dry tonight and temperatures should be comfortable again in the upper 50s. Rain begins to move in from the southeast by sunrise Friday morning. Friday will also be windy with gusts over 20 mph at times.

Recent headlines have all been focused on Hurricane Helene. Helene is now expected to become a major hurricane featuring wind speeds of 130 MPH or more at landfall. The storm is expected to make landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida this evening. Storm surge could be as high as 20 feet with Helene. After landfall, the storm will make a left turn and come west towards Missouri.

The potential is there for several inches of rainfall on Friday across Southeast Missouri. The latest guidance this morning is continuing to show that rain is less favorable west of Highway 65 and north of Interstate 44. This would be a similar outcome from when “Francine” brought rain to the Ozarks in early September. Areas north of I-44 may wind up seeing no rain at all and just cloudy days Friday and Saturday.

Clouds will remain widespread on Saturday, but showers will be focused near and east of Hwy. 63 with mainly dry conditions to the west. By Sunday the storm will be far enough east of the area for mainly dry conditions and partly sunny skies.

Back-to-work weather will come with warmer temperatures with highs back in the 80s. The warm-up will be short-lived with another front freshening up the fall feel by Tuesday.

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