Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS St. Louis, MO
Issued by NWS St. Louis, MO
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947 FXUS63 KLSX 221744 AFDLSX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service St Louis MO 1144 AM CST Sat Nov 22 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Dry weather with seasonably mild temperatures is expected this weekend. - Another storm system will bring light rain to the area Monday and Monday night ahead of a cold front. Behind the front, slightly colder than normal temperatures and dry weather is expected for the Thanksgiving holiday. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/... Issued at 1139 AM CST Sat Nov 22 2025 (Through Late Tonight) Issued at 249 AM CST Sat Nov 22 2025 Low clouds along with some fog and patchy drizzle will gradually push off to the southeast by midday. Sunshine should become more prevalent with time today. Temperatures are expected to top out in the 50s by afternoon, or slightly above normal for the date. A weak cool front is expected to move through the mid-Mississippi Valley overnight. There may be some increase in high-level cloudiness associated with this front, but otherwise, no impacts to sensible weather conditions are forecast. Lows tonight will remain a bit on the mild side (upper 30s to low 40s) as surface winds veer to the southwest ahead of the front. Gosselin && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... Issued at 1139 AM CST Sat Nov 22 2025 (Sunday through Friday) Issued at 249 AM CST Sat Nov 22 2025 (Sunday - Sunday Night) The front that moves through tonight is a Pacific front, so the air mass coming in will not usher in any cold air. In fact, high temperatures on Sunday should be warmer than today due to plenty of sunshine expected. Highs are forecast to range from the upper 50s to mid 60s from north to south. Increasing mid/high level clouds ahead of the next weather system should lead to another mild night Sunday night. Lows are only forecast to drop back into the upper 30s (south-central Illinois) to mid 40s (central Missouri). (Monday - Monday Night) A midlevel shortwave trough is forecast to move out of the south- central Plains into the Upper Midwest by Monday night, with a weak surface low tracking across the Missouri-Iowa border. Widespread rain showers are expected Monday afternoon/evening ahead of the midlevel trough in the presence of increasing low-level moisture convergence. This round of rain still looks to be of much shorter duration than the event that just ended last night. This should really limit total rainfall amounts. Probabilities on the LREF for at least 0.25" of rain are near 50%, but drop below 20% for at least 0.50" of rain. Any widespread rain though on the heels of yesterday`s rain however would be very beneficial and could put another dent to the ongoing drought. (Tuesday - Friday) Ensemble guidance remains in pretty good agreement that a secondary mid/upper level trough will move across the Upper Midwest late Tuesday/Tuesday night. This will help bring in a colder air mass into the mid-Mississippi Valley as we head toward the Thanksgiving holiday. Clusters of the 500-hPa height pattern still show more spread later next week with the strength/speed of the mid/upper level trough as it heads eastward. This means there is still uncertainty with temperatures and how cold it will be in/around the Thanksgiving holiday. Trends over the past 24 hours have been toward a weaker/faster trough evolution, which would mean only slightly below normal temperatures for the holiday. The deterministic NBM is near the 75th percentile, with highs in the mid to upper 40s Wednesday through Friday. Those temperatures would be about 5 degrees below normal on average for late November. Lows are also expected to drop back below the freezing mark both Thursday and Friday mornings for the first time in about 2 weeks. The good news for holiday travelers is that it looks dry through at least Thanksgiving Day itself. The LREF has 6-hr probabilities for measurable precipitation below 10% through Thursday. Gosselin && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z MONDAY/... Issued at 1139 AM CST Sat Nov 22 2025 Challenging TAF forecast on track for this afternoon and again overnight. Confidence is high in a period of VFR for the metro St. Louis TAFs, as pesky stratus has finally moved to the south and mixed out. Have stuck with IFR stratus longer at UIN/COU/JEF, but think with time all sites will see at least some VFR into late this evening. Confidence then deteriorates tonight with potential reformation of fog/stratus. Have gone the most pessimistic at UIN/COU/JEF, where limited mixing today will mean it won`t take much to get renewed fog/stratus. However, IFR restrictions are certainly possible in metro St. Louis as well and this will be re- evaluated for the 00Z issuance. With an incoming weak front, leaned more towards IFR stratus formation. Winds will be fairly light and variable through the period. && .LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...None. IL...None. && $$ WFO LSX