ST. LOUIS — Thanksgiving week is here and more people are expected to travel than last year according to AAA. The good news for those driving or flying across the Midwest on Wednesday, the weather looks to cooperate for the most part.
A weather front will be slicing through the heart of the country during the day Wednesday. While clouds will be plentiful, rain and snow don't look to be. In fact, for much of the middle part of the country, temperatures will be well above normal ahead of this weather system.
Ahead of the front, warmer weather is expected Wednesday with dry weather to start the day around St. Louis for sure. Highs will be in the lower 60s in St. Louis. Moisture will continue to increase and the clouds will lower and thicken during the day.
By the evening hours, scattered rain will be developing across parts of Kansas and Oklahoma with a few rain showers in Michigan. Some snow is forecast to increase from west of the Denver area and to the south.
The rain will continue to increase Wednesday evening spreading into parts of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri by late evening.
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A slight chance of a wintry mix exists late in the evening over parts of Nebraska and Iowa, but ground temperatures remain warm and major travel impacts, other than wet roads, are not anticipated.
By early thanksgiving morning, areas of rain will be likely along the front from Michigan south through the bi-state region and stretching into parts of Arkansas and Texas.
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The area of rain will push east through the day Thursday and be to the east and south of the metro St. Louis area by lunchtime allowing for a dry afternoon and evening across our part of the world. In the colder air wrapping around the backside of the system, there will be some snow showers in northern Michigan and parts of Wisconsin on Thanksgiving afternoon.
Friday into next weekend looks relatively quiet with any quick-moving weather systems starved for enough moisture to create travel problems. Black Friday is cold with highs only in the lower 40s in St. Louis. A touch warmer over the weekend, closer to 50° for the afternoon high temperatures.