Stormtrack Weather Alert Day for Wednesday night from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. Thursday, because of storms that could bring big hail, damaging winds, and even tornadoes.
By Wednesday evening, a storm with strong wind shear might be able to take advantage of the little instability we have now. Because of a big pressure difference, it will be windy again Wednesday morning. A good flow of wind through the sky will bring more moisture into the area during the day, which will help the storm form that night. Because of this setup, there will be moisture and turbulence. In this setting, storms may form in the afternoon and early evening to the west. Later that night, a cold front will come through, giving storms more lift.
If storms form to the west of us before the cold front, they might get really bad in the afternoon, when it’s hot and unstable. By 9 p.m. Wednesday, this could spread to our westernmost towns. It’s not clear how far these storms will make it into Mid-Missouri because they will lose strength as they move east. Between 11 p.m. and midnight, the cold front we talked about earlier will probably bring a line of storms to our westernmost areas. This line will go east through the area, cutting it in half across the middle around 1-2 a.m. and ending at the eastern border around 4–5:00 a.m.
Though hail and severe wind will be the main threats from Thursday’s storms, tornadoes are still a small chance that they could happen. There is a higher chance of tornadoes in eastern Kansas. However, if there is enough “spin” in the air, a few small tornadoes could happen in mid-Missouri, especially west of Highway 63.
Storms tend to get weaker over time, which means that as time goes on and the storm moves eastward, its worst effects should become less common.
