Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS St. Louis, MO
Issued by NWS St. Louis, MO
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652 FXUS63 KLSX 212039 AFDLSX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Saint Louis MO 239 PM CST Fri Nov 21 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Rain across northern Missouri and central Illinois will taper off this evening. Isolated showers or patchy drizzle may continue overnight - This weekend continues to look dry and mild.. - Another storm system will bring rain to the area Monday and Monday night. Cold front will move through the region Tuesday night bringing temperatures down to near or slightly below normal for the end of the week. && .SHORT TERM... (Through Late Saturday Night) Issued at 232 PM CST Fri Nov 21 2025 Low pressure over southeast Kansas/southwest Missouri will move east into the Ohio Vally by early this evening. Widespread light to moderate rain across northeast Missouri will continue into the evening before tapering off around midnight. Some lingering sprinkles or patchy drizzle will continue to be possible across much of the area after midnight as the 850-500mb trough passes. Northerly flow behind the system will bring cooler air into the forecast area tonight. Expect lows about 10 degrees cooler than last night ranging from the mid 30s in northeast Missouri and west central Illinois to the upper 40s across the eastern Ozarks. The airmass behind the system isn`t particularly cold. Even with the cooler start to the morning temperatures Saturday should rebound into the mid to upper 50s. However, low ceilings may not clear/scatter until late in the morning/early afternoon across the eastern Ozarks. Temperatures may not warm there as much as expected if this occurs. The clouds should eventually clear which will allow good radiational cooling Saturday night, leading to widespread lows in the mid to upper 30s. Sunday will be warmer in the upper 50s to low 60s due to the clear sky and better insolation. Carney && .LONG TERM... (Sunday through Next Friday) Issued at 232 PM CST Fri Nov 21 2025 Little change to the forecast for next week. The next mid-upper level short wave moves into the Great Plains on Monday and through the Mississippi Valley Monday night bringing us our next chance for rain. A second, stronger short wave digs into the northern Plains/Midwest, hot on the heels of the first wave. The general long wave pattern in the deterministic GFS and ECMWF are very similar, however the details are different. The GFS develops a strong closed low on Tuesday out of this second wave over the Dakotas which takes the rest of the week to move across the northern CONUS. The EC maintains an open, negatively tilted short wave for another 24 hours and closes off north of the Great Lakes. These different solutions lead to very different surface low positions, but the surface cold front and the thrust of the colder air into our area Tuesday night/Wednesday are still very close in both models. Temperatures fall from the mid 50s to low 60s Monday and Tuesday to the mid 40s to near 50 for the rest of the week. High temperature IQRs from the LREF are only 3-5 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday behind the front which is pretty tight for days 5 and 6 just after a FROPA which lends good confidence to the forecast. Confidence begins to wane Friday as the cold surface high moves east. Temperature IQRs spread to around 10 degrees Friday due to stronger return flow which would raise temperatures more quickly in some of the ensemble solutions. Carney && .AVIATION... (For the 18z TAFs through 18z Saturday Afternoon) Issued at 1141 AM CST Fri Nov 21 2025 IFR flight conditions are expected to prevail across the area through early to mid morning on Saturday. There is an area of lifting and scattering ceilings that will try to get into central and southeast Missouri, however it`s unclear how long the improved conditions will last given that additional shower activity is developing in central Missouri at this time. Low pressure will then move across Missouri this afternoon and evening which will shift the low level flow to the north and fill in any MVFR/VFR spots in with IFR ceilings and potentially fog. Rain associated with this storm system will continue across northern Missouri into central Illinois at least through the evening hours before tapering off around 06Z. Isolated showers or perhaps some patchy drizzle will be possible across much of the area for the remainder of the night. Ceilings should clear/scatter across most of the area by 18Z Saturday. Carney && .LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...None. IL...None. && $$ WFO LSX