The threat of severe weather has moved south and east of the St. Louis Public Radio listening area, though flood warnings remain in effect along many of the area rivers. The National Weather Service is also warning of possible flash flooding, and has issued an urban and small stream flood advisory until 1 a.m.
At 10:30 p.m., Ameren Missouri was reporting about 2,900 people without power in the listening area. On the Illinois side, about 1,700 people in Madison and St. Clair counties did not have power.
Updated at 9:45 p.m. to correct Illinois county under thunderstorm warning.
It's not quite over yet: as of 9:40 p.m., St. Louis and St Charles counties in Missouri, and St. Clair Madison County, IL were under a severe thunderstorm warning until 10:40 p.m.
As of 8:25, the tornado warning for St. Clair County, IL was shortened until 8:30 p.m. However, a severe thunderstorm warning is now in effect for St. Clair and Madison counties, in Illinois, until 9:30 p.m.
As of 8:20 p.m., the tornado warning for St. Clair County was extended until 9 p.m. The warnings for St. Louis city and County, and Madison County, IL have expired.
As of 8:05 p.m. the tornado warning for Madison County, IL was shortened to 8:15 p.m. The tornado warning for St. Clair County will remain in effect until 8:30 p.m.
As of 8:00 p.m., the tornado warning for Madison, IL was extended until 8:45 p.m. Weather reports on local TV stations are saying a possible tornado on the ground near Festus, in the southern sections of the listening area.
As of 7:50 p.m., the tornado warning for St. Clair County, IL was extended until 8:35 p.m.
As of 7:40 p.m., Jefferson and Franklin counties are under a tornado warning until 8:40 p.m.
As of 7:35 p.m., St. Louis city and county, and Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois are under a tornado warning until 8:15 p.m.
A tornado watch remains in effect for the entire St. Louis Public Radio listening area until 9 p.m.
Updated at 7:30 with latest watches/warnings:
As of 7:20 p.m., Franklin and Jefferson counties are under a severe thunderstorm warning until 8:05 p.m.
As of 6:55 p.m., St. Louis city and County, St. Charles County, and Madison County, IL are under a severe thunderstorm warning until 8:30 p.m.
As of 6:30 p.m., St. Charles County is under a flash flood warning until 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
As of 5:45 p.m. the severe thunderstorm warning for Lincoln County had been extended until 6:45 p.m.
As of 5:30pm, the severe thunderstorm warnings for St. Charles and St. Louis counties had been extended until 6:30 p.m.
As of 5:15, the severe thunderstorm warnings for Warren, Franklin, and St. Charles counties had been extended until 6:15 p.m.
Updated at 5:10 pm with latest watches/warnings:
A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for the following areas:
- Franklin County, MO until 5:30 p.m.
- St. Louis city and county, MO, Madison County, IL until 5:40pm
- St. Charles, Warren and Lincoln counties in MO until 5:45 p.m.
The National Weather Service says the storm near Franklin County could produce baseball-sized hail and winds nearing 60 miles per hour. Near St. Charles, hail the size of tennis balls is possible. Areas north and west of the area have seen confirmed tornadoes.
Updated 1:10 p.m. with corrected watch time.
A tornado watch is in effect for the St. Louis Public Radio listening area until 9 p.m. A watch means conditions are favorable for the formation of tornadoes, but none have been spotted.
Will be updated with watches and warnings as information becomes available.
A surge of warm, moist air will bring the possibility of severe weather into this evening's commute around the St. Louis area. The severe weather may include large hail and tornadoes.
Jim Kramper at the National Weather Service's St. Louis office said the larger tornado threat will be just north and further south of the metropolitan area. In those higher-risk areas, some tornadoes could have wind speeds above 110 miles an hour.
But Kramper said tornadoes that may form in the St. Louis region will be hard to spot. The storms that will initially form will be individual "supercells". But as they move east, those cells will start to merge into line systems.
"The problem with these is when tornadoes form, often they are kind of embedded in heavy rain, makes them very, very difficult to see," Kramper said. "That's what we faced in the New Year's Eve event, and also in our late February event." He said St. Louisians need to have something to watch or listen to that will provide the latest updates and warnings, paying special attention between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Kramper said the storms also bring with them the possibility of flash flooding, especially in areas where it rained this morning. Some locations along the Mississippi River and smaller local waterways are already under flood warnings.
