Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS St. Louis, MO
Issued by NWS St. Louis, MO
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592 FXUS63 KLSX 011758 AFDLSX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service St Louis MO 1158 AM CST Sun Nov 1 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Beneficial rain and a few weak thunderstorms arrive with a strong system between late Monday and Wednesday. The threat for severe weather or flooding is low (less than 10%). - Temperatures will cool closer to early November normals starting today. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 259 AM CST Sun Nov 1 2026 While not a completely dry Halloween, most locations saw little to no impactful rain during peak trick-or-treating times before a shortwave brought more substantial showers to the region. This broad wave, embedded amidst deep southwest flow aloft in advance of a more amplified trough out west, will gradually meander east through the day. This feature will continue to promote widespread cloud cover and showers through at least midday today, the latter gradually ending from west to east. The lower clouds and precipitation will greatly inhibit highs today, with most locations struggling to warm to 70 degrees. By about sunset, most of the precipitation will come to an end with most guidance showing weak subsidence arriving for the overnight hours. Despite the subsidence, abundant low cloud cover is forecast to persist overnight with near-surface RH guidance remaining saturated and a lack of dry air or stronger wind to scour out this moisture. The lack of low-level lift evident in model soundings, drizzle or light rain would be very hard to manifest. The only impact from the cloud cover would be the warmer overnight lows. A warm front is then forecast to lift north through the region on Monday as the aforementioned highly-amplified trough advances east and its surface cyclone deepens. Aside from a low (10-20%) chance for weak showers Monday afternoon in the warm sector, primarily in central Missouri, expect a dry start to the work week ahead of this potent system. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... Issued at 259 AM CST Sun Nov 1 2026 The timing of the upper-level wave and surface low/cold front continues to gradually slow down among the available guidance compared to recent runs, but confidence is increasing that rain along and ahead of the cold front holds off until after midnight. At that point, there is some potential for overnight showers as the low- level jet intensifies across the Mid-Mississippi Valley. A closer analysis of the ensemble guidance members suggests continued variance in the trough`s structure, which will impact the track of the surface low itself. That said, a majority of this guidance now supports a few closed circulations embedded within the larger trough: one originating from the polar jet and remaining to our north and the other forming over the central Plains. Both of these features and their surface reflections will work in concert to bring rain along the cold front and gusty 15-30mph winds through the day on Tuesday. The trough`s forward progress is still expected to stall through the day, weakening any height falls across our region. Precipitable water values near climatological maxima will still be available to the front to promote precipitation along the front. That said, the warm air aloft evident in model soundings and meager mixed-layer CAPE (as much as 250 J/kg in the most bullish guidance) won`t bode well for robust, deep convection. Even in this worst-case scenario, it would be difficult for strong thunderstorms to develop. One feature that may assist in large-scale ascent is the presence of some favorable jet dynamics during the afternoon, but instability is still quite meager overall. For the reasons outlined above, we are choosing not to message the SPC Day 3 Marginal (Level 1) Risk for severe weather across southeast Missouri on Tuesday afternoon. If instability increases and height falls become more substantial among the guidance, the threat would certainly become more probable. Rain will continue in rounds along and ahead of the front through late Wednesday, but the trough becomes more established across the central CONUS and stalls. Several impulses will likely propagate throughout the cyclonic flow aloft, each of which would threaten additional showers through the rest of the work week. While our rain chances in the forecast, which is largely based on the NBM, are fairly low, that is more a function of where the rain falls, not if. As such, I expect those values to climb a little bit as we approach the end of the week. Still, we will begin to see more dry time once the front passes to our east. We`ll also enjoy cooler and slightly- drier conditions through the duration of the week. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 1143 AM CST Sun Nov 1 2026 A mix of MVFR and IFR ceilings are expected to prevail through Monday. Ceilings are slowly rising across the area, and I expect most locations along and north of I-70 in Missouri and I-64 in Illinois to be MVFR this afternoon into early this evening. IFR ceilings down to 500-800 ft will likely continue to prevail this afternoon, and through the remainder of the forecast period. The MVFR ceilings farther north will likely begin falling again this evening from south to north, and most locations are likely to have ceilings below 1000 ft before sunrise on Monday fall through the night. IFR visibilities in fog are also likely across the higher terrain of the eastern Ozarks late tonight. It should be largely dry through the period, though an intermittent sprinkle or a few patches of drizzle cannot be ruled out. && .LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...None. IL...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...MRB LONG TERM...MRB AVIATION...Carney