


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS St. Louis, MO
Issued by NWS St. Louis, MO
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270 FXUS63 KLSX 071058 AFDLSX Area Forecast Discussion...Updated Aviation National Weather Service Saint Louis MO 558 AM CDT Mon Jul 7 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Scattered thunderstorms are possible mainly this afternoon across the eastern Ozarks. They are not expected to be as strong as Sunday`s storms. - Another round of strong to isolated severe storms is possible on Tuesday. Isolated gusty winds up to 60 mph and locally heavy rain are the threats on Tuesday. && .SHORT TERM... (Through Late Tonight) Issued at 407 AM CDT Mon Jul 7 2025 The "cold front" is difficult to discern in surface obs this morning, however there is a pressure trough which lies generally along the I-70 corridor. Short range guidance shows it sagging south today as a weak high pressure system moves across the Upper Midwest and pushes somewhat drier air south into eastern Missouri and central and southern Illinois. The lower humidity will be noticeable across northeast Missouri and west central/south central Illinois, but temperatures will be very similar to Sunday`s ranging from the mid 80s to around 90. The lower dew point temperatures are expected to lead to lower instability this afternoon, particularly north of I-70 where RAP MLCAPE values are hard pressed to break 1000 J/Kg. However, 1500-2000 J/Kg MLCAPE values are forecast by the RAP farther south across the eastern Ozarks, and this is where the best chance for thunderstorms is today. Most short range guidance is not particularly bullish on developing thunderstorms this afternoon so have limited PoPs to 30-40 percent. Models are developing an MCS over South Dakota or Nebraska late this afternoon or early this evening. The MCS drops southeast into western Iowa and northwest Missouri late in the evening into the overnight hours. There are speed and strength differences in how each model handles the MCS tonight, but a few bring the dissipating storms into central and northeast Missouri after 09Z tonight. There may be some gusty winds associated with the outflow boundary should this occur, but severe gusts are not expected. Carney && .LONG TERM... (Tuesday through Sunday) Issued at 407 AM CDT Mon Jul 7 2025 The upper level pattern shifts slowly Tuesday and Wednesday with the upper level ridge over the Desert Southwest and a long wave trough drifting east through the Central U.S. into the Ohio Valley. The trough axis is forecast to pass over Missouri and Illinois Tuesday into Tuesday evening. Synoptic scale lift with the trough as well as low level moisture convergence ahead of the 850 trough will produce another round of convection Tuesday afternoon and evening which should be more widespread than today`s. Most guidance focuses the convection along and east of the Mississippi River Tuesday afternoon, which makes sense given the trough axis is forecast to be stretching from west central Illinois into central/east central Missouri at that time. However, small differences in the speed of the trough will change the position of the best forcing, which would produce convection farther west or east than the current forecast. The GFS continues to look like it`s contaminated by convective feedback, but the extended RAP looks clean with MLCAPE reaching 2500- 3000 J/Kg Tuesday afternoon/evening. This may be a higher-end value as the LREF shows about that much CAPE at the 75th percentile. 0- 6km shear is not very impressive at ~20kts, but those levels of instability and shear will be capable of sustaining marginally severe clusters and inverted V forecast soundings will be conducive to wet microbursts. Precipitable Water values will be near 2 inches, and warm cloud depths will be in excess of 12,000ft as well, so locally heavy rain will continue to be possible Tuesday afternoon and evening. Weak northwest flow aloft on Wednesday will transition to more zonal Thursday and Friday with a series of waves moving across the Upper Midwest. Guidance shows the energy from these waves staying north of the forecast area so our convection will likely be driven primarily by daytime heating lingering outflow boundaries, and weak overnight low level jets. It will be tough to find a time during that period where there is NO chance for rain, but coverage through that period is not expected to be greater than isolated to widely scattered (20-30%). A stronger short wave will move along the U.S./Canada border on Saturday and Sunday, driving a surface cold front through the Northern Plains into Iowa and northern Missouri. The front could make it as far south as the I-70 corridor by Sunday afternoon and be a focus for more widespread (40-50%) storms. Guidance continues to show seasonably warm temperatures and humid conditions, typical for early to mid July. Carney && .AVIATION... (For the 12z TAFs through 12z Tuesday Morning) Issued at 552 AM CDT Mon Jul 7 2025 Isolated showers south of the Missouri River into southwest Illinois and over the eastern Ozarks should slowly dissipate over the next few hours. Redevelopment over the eastern Ozarks is expected later in the day. The stronger storms could reduce the visibility to below 3SM in isolated heavy downpours. Farther north into central and northeast Missouri and west central Illinois, fog is reducing the visibility to 1SM or less with ceilings as low as 100-200ft. These low visibilities and ceilings are expected to improve to VFR over the next 2-3 hours. VFR flight conditions are expected to prevail thereafter outside of any thunderstorms that develop this afternoon. Afternoon thunderstorms should dissipate by mid evening. There is a chance for more storms across parts of central and northeast Missouri after 06Z tonight, but confidence in storms overnight is low at this time. Carney && .LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...None. IL...None. && $$ WFO LSX