Wednesday Night: Mostly Clear. Windy. Low: 17°F

Thursday: Mostly Sunny. High: 25°F

Thursday Night: Mostly Clear. Low: 16°F

Friday: Mostly Sunny. High: 40°F

Friday Night: Partly Cloudy. Low: 27°F

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General Discussion:

A significant drop in temperatures is expected through the evening hours tonight behind a cold front that is draped across northern Missouri. Cold temperatures will also be partnered with gusty winds through the evening and overnight hours. While cold air is returning it will be short lived and followed by a warmup to close out the forecast period.

– Stevens

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Forecasters: Stevens, Thee 

Date Issued: 12/04/2024 5:00 PM.

Technical Discussion: 

Key Messages:

• Frigid conditions arrive by the late night hours Wednesday behind a powerful cold front.
• High pressure results in a warm up by the end of the forecast period.

Current temperatures across the region have soared into the 50s across the state of Missouri. Many areas are seeing high temperatures climb into the lower 50s resulting in the snow pack across Missouri to melt away as seen on satellite imagery. While temperatures are above the seasonal average, a drastic change is on the way as we head into the overnight hours on Wednesday. Current visible satellite imagery depicts a line of clouds associated with a cold front stretching across southern Iowa and northern Missouri. As the cold front slides south into the region, clouds will enter central Missouri, but do not look to be very widespread leading to mostly clear sky conditions overnight. With a mostly clear sky and strong northerly winds ushering in CAA we will see temperatures plummet into the upper teens overnight on Wednesday.

CAA will knock back temperatures not only overnight, but through the day on Thursday as well. The seasonal average is in the upper 40s for this time of the year (Avg: High: 47). Temperatures on Thursday will struggle to warm thanks to the CAA leading to a high only in the mid 20s.

An upper-level low is the focal point of this cold weather that has been directly associated with the surface response to a cold front draped off of a mid-latitude cyclone centered over Canada. This low-pressure system is causing a tight pressure gradient resulting in strong winds throughout the day today and will continue to be strong through the evening behind the cold front as the low produces a expansive wind field across the middle third of the CONUS. Although these conditions remain in place through Thursday, surface high-pressure looks to take hold by the time Friday rolls around. WAA will take place throughout the day on Friday and will result in temperatures taking a major jump back into the upper 30s to near the 40 degree mark. These temperatures are something that should be watched closely over the next couple days by future forecast groups. Temperatures will warm considerably thanks to WAA and could increase higher than models are illistrating.

– Stevens