Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS St. Louis, MO
Issued by NWS St. Louis, MO
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592 FXUS63 KLSX 011054 AFDLSX Area Forecast Discussion...Updated Aviation National Weather Service Saint Louis MO 454 AM CST Sun Feb 1 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... -There is a 20-30% chance for light snow along and east of the Mississippi River today with a dusting up to localized quarter inch of accumulations. Roads may become slippery. -The chances of precipitation are decreasing for the mid week period. -Temperatures will go through a few warm up-cool down cycles, though generally stay warmer than last week. && .SHORT TERM... (Through Late Monday Afternoon) Issued at 223 AM CST Sun Feb 1 2026 While today will dawn cold with morning temperatures in the single digits to negative single digits in some sheltered locations, a warm up is on the way. Warm air advection will kick off today along the backside of a small low-level ridge, helping temperatures to ease into the upper 20s to low 30s area wide. Temperatures will be warmest west of the Mississippi River, closest to the warmer airmass to our west. In the wake of the progressive shortwave ridge, a shortwave trough will immediately follow today. This will combine with a north-south oriented front to produce light snow mainly along and east of the Mississippi River late this morning and into the evening hours. QPF has trended upward in the last 24 hours from areas of 0.01-0.02" across small portions of west-central Illinois, to now showing widespread 0.01-0.02" along and east of the Mississippi River with pockets of 0.03". The nature of this snow is expected to be more banded and irregular, given the frontogenesis at play. The result will be a widespread dusting with snow accumulations 0.1-0.25" in localized areas. Slippery roadways, particularly those that do not still have lingering treatment from last week`s system, are expected. Warm air advection will continue into Monday, increasing temperatures nearly 10 degrees from today. Portions of central and southeast Missouri are projected to reach their maximum temperatures in the 40s for the first time since early January. Delia && .LONG TERM... (Monday Night through Saturday) Issued at 223 AM CST Sun Feb 1 2026 By Tuesday a mid-level trough will dig into the central CONUS and during the day a shortwave within the southern portion of the trough will move into the lower Mississippi Valley. Ensemble guidance continues to move the resulting surface low largely to the south of our forecast area through the day Tuesday. Ahead of this system`s approach a cooler airmass will push into the region with the approach of the mid-level trough, dropping temperatures back to the 30s for most of the forecast area. The incoming airmass will shift winds to the north, resulting in limited moisture return ahead of the surface low. In fact, deterministic and ensemble guidance has been trending this system drier while it`s within arms` reach of the LSX forecast area, only ramping up the system`s moisture as it moves into the Ohio River Valley. All of this results in a continuing trend of a drier forecast with currently only a 20% chance for precipitation across southeast Missouri and southern Illinois. The passage of this system will allow Tuesday`s cold air mass to ooze southward, and the core of the cold air is expected to move across the forecast area during the afternoon on Wednesday. This will result in another cool day with temperatures in the upper 20s to 30s areawide. Thursday will start another brief warm up that will continue through Friday as low-level warm air advection increases from west to east ahead of the next system. Another mid-level trough axis will bring a surface low through the Great Lakes region Friday into the weekend. While the surface low is still forecast to remain to our northeast, ensemble guidance has been inching this system increasingly closer to the forecast area. The current forecast is largely dry, but the impact from this system will be felt in the passage of another cold front. How strong the push of cold air behind this front will be remains uncertain and tied in part to the uncertain positioning of the system. The subsequent 15 degree interquartile temperature spread for the weekend has temperatures ranging from the 30s to the upper 40s and low 50s. Delia && .AVIATION... (For the 12z TAFs through 12z Monday Morning) Issued at 435 AM CST Sun Feb 1 2026 Light snow with trace to 0.25" accumulations will move into UIN between 16-21Z and the St. Louis metro airports between 21-01Z. MVFR visibilities will be possible with the snow. There will also be a period of MVFR ceilings between 21-03Z at UIN. Otherwise VFR flight conditions are expected. Winds are expected to be out of the south at 5 to 10 knots before becoming light and variable toward the end of the period. Britt && .LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...None. IL...None. && $$ WFO LSX