386 FXUS63 KLSX 102323 AFDLSXArea Forecast Discussion...Updated Aviation National Weather Service Saint Louis MO 623 PM CDT Fri Oct 10 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Mostly dry conditions are expected to prevail through the forecast period.
- Above normal temperatures are forecast through Monday, with the temperature forecast next week being uncertain for most locations. Despite this, confidence is high that temperatures will at least be normal to above normal for this time of year.
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.SHORT TERM... (Through Late Saturday Night) Issued at 217 PM CDT Fri Oct 10 2025
Water vapor imagery this afternoon shows northwesterly flow over the Middle Mississippi Valley, with a shortwave departing the region and moving into the Ohio Valley. This shortwave was responsible for our earlier rainfall, which has since dried up thanks to weakening instability and a dry airmass over the CWA. Surface observations show that a weak cold front extends from Wisconsin southwestward through Iowa, northwestern Missouri, and into Kansas. This front will push into the CWA via the northwesterly flow, but weaken as it does so. Therefore, while isolated sprinkles can`t be ruled out, additional impactful rainfall is not expected through this evening, and only a minimal impact on temperatures is expected tonight and tomorrow.
In fact, temperatures tonight are forecast to be warmer than last night thanks to cloud cover limiting radiational cooling. However, thanks to the recent rainfall, fog is now expected mainly across portions of central and northeastern Missouri. This fog threat may be enhanced by weak moisture convergence along the dissipating front as it moves into the region.
As an expansive area of high pressure at the surface moves through the Great Lakes tomorrow and skirts northern portions of the CWA, temperatures will vary notably from north to south. Values will top out in the low to mid 70s beneath increasingly clear skies for locations north of the I-70 corridor, with upper 70s forecast along and south of the corridor.
Elmore
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.LONG TERM... (Sunday through Next Friday) Issued at 217 PM CDT Fri Oct 10 2025
On Sunday, both ensemble clusters and deterministic guidance depict a highly amplified ridge stretching from the Southern Plains northeastward into the Great Lakes. Low to mid-level winds will become increasingly south-southwesterly through the day, increasing warm air advection over the Middle Mississippi Valley and pushing afternoon temperatures into the low 80s for most locations across the CWA - approximately 10-15 degrees above seasonal normals.
A weak cold front will drop toward the CWA on Monday, and similar to the one on Friday, will undergo frontolysis as it enters the area. Ensemble-based probabilities for measurable rainfall (0.01) top out around 40% across far northeastern Missouri. Unfortunately for our drought-stricken region, confidence in this solution is high, as the upper-level ridge will be amplifying, heights rising across the Middle Mississippi Valley, and moisture return ahead of the front will be meager.
How far the post-frontal airmass makes it into the region for the rest of the workweek varies among guidance due to differences in the phasing of the ridge from Monday onward. For areas that are impacted by the airmass, high temperatures are expected to be closer to climatological normals (upper 60s to around 70 degrees), and if this does occur, will most likely do so north of I-70. If the upper-level ridge builds further into the region, then the airmass will struggle to make inroads, leading to above normal temperatures persisting across the entire CWA. If the ridge retrogrades westward, placing the Middle Mississippi Valley beneath persistent northwesterly flow, then seasonable temperatures are most likely through the week. Guidance is approximately evenly split between these two solutions, with the current forecast representing the middle ground.
Elmore
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.AVIATION... (For the 00z TAFs through 00z Saturday Evening) Issued at 617 PM CDT Fri Oct 10 2025
MVFR stratus is expected to move out of the central Missouri and KUIN terminals over the next few hours. Concern then turns to fog development overnight. The combination of a clearing sky, light winds, and recent rainfall are a good recipe for widespread fog, and believe all 3 of those sites will see IFR visibilities. A period of dense fog is possible, but wasn`t confident enough to go that low quite yet. There are also signs the fog may lift into more of a stratus layer Saturday morning, but there is a lot of uncertainty there. Regardless, there should be at least some gradual improvement through the morning hours.
Gosselin
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.LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...None. IL...None. &&
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NWS LSX Office Area Forecast Discussion