Not Over Yet 4/23

A busy night in the weather department last night. I am sure by now you have also heard of the significant damage to the west and northwest side of St. Louis.

We are not out of the woods yet. A front has draped across the area and is not going to move much for the next several days. This is going to allow for an almost daily chance for strong to severe thunderstorms and extremely heavy rain.

The Storm Prediction Center has parts of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, northwest Tennessee, western Kentucky and northeast Arkansas in a "Slight Risk" area for severe storms through 7am Sunday.

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The main threat today will be large hail and heavy rain.

The Storm Prediction Center keeps the KFVS viewing area in a "Slight Risk" area for Sunday and again Monday. In other words, don't let your guard down.

I talked about the heavy rain threat on yesterday's post. New data coming out is indicating the heavy rain threat could be worse.

Last night's storms dropped anywhere from 0.25" to over 3" of rain across the region. The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center has updated their rainfall forecast for the next five days. The forecast covers today through Wednesday.

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Unfortunately, they have increased their numbers for the middle Mississippi River Valley and the Ohio River Valley. The maximum amount indicated in their forecast is 10.1" pinpointed over southern Illinois. Generally around the KFVS viewing area the forecast is calling for 6" to 10" of rain. This does not bode well for water levels along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

There could also be periods of flash flooding around the region as the ground continues to saturate. Unfortunately, flooding contributes to more than 100 deaths across the United States every year. For some reason people think they can cross the water and they end up getting swept away. I don't want to see that happen around here. I can't stress this enough. If you see water over roadways, DO NOT CROSS or DRIVE THROUGH IT. "Turn Around. Don't Drown."