ST. LOUIS — Our severe weather threat is winding down this evening as the first line of storms is slowly working its way over to the Illinois side. If you're on the Missouri side or west of the storm line, your severe weather threat is over.
The Illinois side will be dealing with this a bit through about 8 p.m.
According to the Ameren Outage Map, more than 10,000 people in Missouri and another 11,000 in Illinois are without power. Most of the outages on the Missouri side are in the St. Louis metro area, while the Illinois outages are spread throughout the state.
The outages are due to a strong line of storms that stretches more than 500 miles from Missouri up to Michigan.
Below is the previous story from earlier in the day.
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5 On Your Side is in Storm Alert as severe thunderstorms have developed and continue to affect many areas around St. Louis this evening.
A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for the greater St. Louis area until 9 p.m.
Many areas have already seen 50+ mph wind gusts at this hour. Minor roads are flooded and some trees are down as well. The severe weather threat will wind down and heavy rainfall will fall later tonight.
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Heavy rain will also be a threat, especially on already saturated ground. While most of the area's rainfall totals will be below 1 inch, there is the potential for some of the heavier bands to produce 2 to 3 inches, especially in southern Missouri and southern Illinois.
Things to do to prepare
- Clear out any litter in and around storm drains near your home
- Check gutters for any debris clogging the gutter
- Check on generators in case of power outages
- Keep in mind, that the heaviest rain will set up overnight into Thursday morning, so seeing flooded roadways may be difficult during the pre-dawn hours Thursday.
STORM TIMELINE:
Pop-up thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon become more widespread during the evening.
Heavy rain will continue overnight.
The rain should clear away during the morning on Thursday, with dry weather returning through the upcoming weekend.
Keep up to date on the forecast and rain totals on 5 On Your Side's website.
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