ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A cold front will push out the heat and humidity in the St. Louis area this afternoon. Storms are expected to fire up to our north and then head south. Severe storms are possible with the main threat coming from strong downburst winds up to 60 mph and some localized flash flooding. There may be a little hail as well. The risk of tornadoes is quite low.

The St. Louis area is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 9:00 pm. Isolated storms will start bubbling up north of St. Louis early this afternoon. They will likely start up in the St. Louis area between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm. The storm threat will then build and settle south into the evening.

The severe threat will end by midnight. Non-severe storms capable of heavy rain will continue, especially south of I-70, through the night.

The entire region may see at least 1/2 inch of rain. However, one to two inches of rainfall is likely within a band from Illinois into southeast Missouri. Within that band, a few spots may see multiple storms which could drive rainfall totals in those locations up over two inches, perhaps as high as four inches.

The good news is that the most likely areas to get that much rain are areas that are very dry right now and really need the rain. Hopefully, it does not end up being too much of a good thing.