075 FXUS63 KLSX 050816 AFDLSXArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Saint Louis MO 316 AM CDT Sun Oct 5 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
-High temperatures in the 80s will persist today and Monday.
-There is a 40-60% chance for rain across the forecast area Monday into Tuesday, though not everyone will see rain.
-Temperatures will cool briefly to near normal Wednesday and Thursday.
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.SHORT TERM... (Through Late Monday Afternoon) Issued at 314 AM CDT Sun Oct 5 2025
Morning satellite imagery shows our next weather system over the Dakotas and Nebraska, associated with a strong mid-level trough along the US-Canada border. Imagery also shows a mid-level ridge persists over the Eastern Seaboard. The strong ridge combined with an exiting surface high are resulting in clear and dry conditions across the mid-Mississippi Valley again today. Deep mixing and southerly low-level winds will support high temperatures a few degrees warmer today than yesterday. The deep mixing will also bring gusty winds to the surface, particularly across northeast Missouri and west-central Illinois, closest to the low-level jet. Winds will gust during the afternoon into the low 20s (mph), diminishing with sunset.
The mid-level trough will push eastward Sunday and Monday, approaching the mid-Mississippi Valley. As this feature edges the mid-level ridge to the east, a shortwave disturbance will flow north through the ridge from the Southeast into the mid-Mississippi Valley during the day Monday. This will bring chances for showers and thunderstorms back to portions of southeast Missouri and southern Illinois Monday afternoon and overnight. Global ensemble guidances indicates a 40% chance for at least 0.25" and a 25% chance for at least 0.50" across southeast Missouri. And hi-res ensemble guidance indicates a 50-60% chance that at least 0.10" will occur as far north as the I-44 corridor. This increases confidence that at least some folks will see some minor relief from our most recent dry spell, though not everyone will benefit from this rain due to its convective nature.
At the same time a cold front will approach the region from the northwest, driven by the approach of the mid-level trough. The front is expected to enter the CWA Monday evening, and progress through the area Tuesday. The front won`t be particularly strong when it enters the CWA and will rapidly lose its low-level forcing and surface convergence as it moves into the CWA. There is only a 50-60% chance of 0.10" of rain across northeast Missouri and west-central Illinois, and only a 25% chance of 0.25" in the same area. Probabilities of these rainfall amounts drop off rapidly as it moves southeast through the CWA. Once again, not everyone will see rain, and even those who do are not expected to see a beneficial rain. High temperatures on Monday will be in the mid 80s ahead of the front, temperatures will be stunted several degrees where rain occurs in the afternoon.
Delia
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.LONG TERM... (Monday Night through Saturday) Issued at 314 AM CDT Sun Oct 5 2025
The cold front will continue to slide through the forecast area Tuesday as the axis of the mid-level trough pushes across the CWA. Behind this front, a surface high pressure will move into the region while a mid-level ridge slides in behind the exiting mid-level trough. The result will be the advection of cool, dry continental air into the mid-Mississippi Valley. Cooler temperatures are expected in the wake of the front as 850 temperatures drop to 8-10C, and confidence is high that temperatures will hit their peak closer to normal for this time of year, solidly in the 70s. These seasonal temperatures will last at least through Thursday under the influence of easterly low-level and surface winds.
By Friday the mid-level pattern starts to diverge, with the ensemble guidance evenly split in how to evolve the mid-level ridge. One scenario shows the ridge strengthening across the central US and remaining in place through much of the rest of the forecast. This scenario would support a return to well above normal temperatures. Scenario two indicates the ridge retrograding to the Intermountain West and strengthening there, resulting in northwesterly flow over the mid-Mississippi Valley and near normal temperatures. In a period fraught with uncertainty, a largely dry forecast is the unifying factor between these scenarios. While there are some periods that do show PoPs (Friday), confidence in this occurring is low due to the uncertainty in the evolution of the mid-levels and the lack of moisture return into the region from the Gulf.
Delia
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.AVIATION... (For the 06z TAFs through 06z Sunday Night) Issued at 1122 PM CDT Sat Oct 4 2025
With the exception of IFR fog likely developing overnight tonight at KSUS, dry and VFR flight conditions are forecast through the valid TAF period. Winds will strengthen out of the south tomorrow with gusts developing in the afternoon, but will slacken as the sun sets.
MRB
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.LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...None. IL...None. &&
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WFO LSX
NWS LSX Office Area Forecast Discussion