Severe weather could be headed for the metro-east. Here’s the latest forecast
The metro-east is under a severe weather threat throughout most of Wednesday evening and into Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service of St. Louis.
What exactly that means, at this point, still is undetermined.
Lydia Jaja, a meteorologist with the agency, said the region is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 8 p.m., with the focus primarily on St. Clair and Monroe counties, and a lesser threat for Madison County. Jaja added, at full severity, the storm could produce damaging winds in excess of 60 miles per hour and large hail.
“There is a line of thunderstorms that seems to be developing kind of in western St. Louis County moving toward our area — albeit slowly,” she said Wednesday afternoon. “Gusts of 60 miles per hour don’t do a heck of a lot of damage, but they can knock small limbs off of trees.”
Jaja said the prime time for severe weather will be from now until 10 p.m.
She also said the possibility exists for localized flash flooding. In fact, the weather service issued a flood watch from 7 p.m. Wednesday until 10 a.m. Thursday for St. Clair, Monroe, Randolph and Clinton counties, among others. There were no warnings as of 4:45 p.m.
“It looks like about 1-2 inches are possible,” Jaja said. “But, at the same time, localized flash flooding is a possibility for our area. Isolated spots could see up to 5 inches of rain.”
She said the rain will persist overnight, with the heaviest pockets through 10 p.m. Wednesday. The entire system should be out of the area around 8 a.m. Thursday
Jaja offered these following safety tips.
“Since there is a severe thunderstorm watch, we recommend people stay aware of any impending storms coming. Pay attention to the sky. Seek shelter. If it looks like it’s going to storm, it’s probably going to storm. Turn around don’t drown in case rain gets heavy,” she said.
As Jaja suggested, the National Weather Service recommends keeping plugged into the forecast as it develops at www.weather.gov. Their Facebook page is www.facebook.com/NWSStLouis.
