Thunderstorms moving in on Thursday night could make way for severe weather on Friday afternoon.
Meteorologist Spencer Mell with the National Weather Service said the first wave of storms is expected to start around 10 p.m. to midnight Thursday, bringing large hail.
If the storms clear out Friday morning, Mell said that would increase the potential for all modes of severe weather later that afternoon, including tornadoes and damaging winds.
“If the storms overnight linger through most of the morning hours, that won’t give us the chance to get the instability in the area to really see those afternoon storms kick off,” Mell said.
But even if the likelihood decreases for more severe events like tornadoes, the forecast still anticipates thunderstorms and showers around the metro Friday afternoon.
Mell encourages people to pay attention to Missouri Severe Weather Preparedness Week and make sure they have a tornado plan ready and in place in case one does occur.
“If you haven’t had a chance to get that out and brush it off and plan what you’re going to do for severe weather, make sure that you are practicing that and have that ready to go,” Mell said.
The Friday morning commute might be slowed down by thunderstorms and showers, Mell said.
Warm temperatures on Friday will take a dip on Saturday before going back up, possibly into the 80s, next week.
