ST. LOUIS — A winter storm watch has been issued for northern MO into west central and northwest IL. This includes our Pike County, MO but not St. Louis for now. A potent winter storm is still on track for the midwest, but the track, and thus the axis of heaviest snow, has shifted a bit more to the northwest.
There was a slight chance of some patchy drizzle or flurry action this morning. Outside of that, there is a quiet day ahead. There are still a lot of clouds around, with highs reaching around 40. Some clearing is possible this afternoon and evening. Partly cloudy and a bit colder overnight, with lows falling into the upper 20s to low 30s.
Clouds increased throughout the day on Monday ahead of the incoming storm system. We will see rain and a rain/snow mix build in from southwest to northeast Monday afternoon and evening. Precipitation will continue for much of the overnight hours but much of this will fall as cold rain in our area as the rain/snow line lifts to the north. By Tuesday morning, we should be dealing with cold rain for most of the viewing area. The track of the low looks to pass overhead, keeping the colder air to the northwest for much of the timeframe. Behind the system, we’ll see the colder air and more moisture wrap back into our area. This will lead to a transition from that cold rain to snow from west to east from late Tuesday morning into the afternoon. The precipitation will end Tuesday evening with all snow.
Heavy snowfall in excess of 6″ is possible across parts of central and northeast Missouri into west central IL. In our viewing area, northwest of the metro, we have the best shot at seeing some decent accumulations. To the southeast of St. Louis, this system will bring mainly rain. St. Louis will be on that transition, where some snow and accumulations are possible but amounts look to stay lower. As always, a shift in the track either way shifts the snow forecast. The system is still far away and has to come out of the Rockies, where it’ll deepen and continue northeast toward our area.
On top of the rain and snow, we’ll see gusty winds Monday becoming stronger Tuesday or Tuesday evening, where gusts to 45 mph will be possible.
Another system could potentially impact portions of our area from Friday into the weekend.
