Forecast:

Low temperatures tonight will struggle to reach the lower 70s across the heartland with mostly clear skies as a south/southwesterly breeze will keep temperatures warm overnight. Dew points will remain in the mid-70s overnight which could lead to some areas of patchy fog Thursday morning.

High temperatures will reach the lower 90s on Thursday with a west/southwesterly wind at 5 to 10 miles per hour. Mostly sunny skies will persist for the first half of the day before scattered showers and thunderstorms move in throughout the afternoon.

Stormcast currently shows scattered storms over most of the area by mid-afternoon. An isolated damaging wind threat is possible with any stronger storms, with the Storm Prediction Center monitoring a Marginal Risk (Level 1 out of 5) for portions of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and western Kentucky.

For Cape Girardeau, temperatures will heat up quickly, with 90 degrees possible before noon on Thursday. An isolated shower or thunderstorm will be possible anytime after 2 p.m. CDT, with current models suggesting storms could last in the area until 10 p.m. CDT.

In addition to slightly above average temperatures, heat indices will be well into the triple digits on Thursday. The forecast heat index for Cape Girardeau reaches 107 degrees. Anyone with outdoor work or plans, particularly during the afternoon, should have a plan to take a break from the heat, drink plenty of water, and monitor for signs of heat illness.

Listed above are the different symptoms of both heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Be sure to monitor yourself and those around you, particularly those in sensitive groups.

We see a brief “cool down” back to near average temperatures starting on Friday through the weekend. Isolated storm chances will be possible, particularly in the afternoon, for the next several days. Heat returns to the forecast at the start of next week, with high temperatures returning well into the 90s by the middle of next week.

Storm Alert Team Meteorologist

Dominic Ferraro