Brace Yourself-Wind About to Be a Big Problem for Missouri

Missouri is known for weather extremes and there will be no better example of that than Sunday through early Monday morning. There are a wild variety of weather impacts possible, but all of them will be complicated by extremely strong winds and it will present problems.

By now, I hope you've heard that Missouri could see everything from tornadoes to blizzards for the next day or so. The latest map just shared by the NOAA Storm Prediction Center only tells part of the story as southeastern Missouri is under an enhanced area where severe thunderstorms are likely to happen.

Wind will also cause the inch or two of snow that is expected to fall across the northern part of Missouri into blizzard-like conditions. Travel late Sunday night into early Monday morning could be treacherous as visibility is likely to be minimal all because of wind gusts that the National Weather Service says will consistently be over 40 mph.

Many parts of Missouri will start seeing 40+ mph winds starting Sunday during the day and those gusts are expected to continue the rest of the day, night and into the first half of Monday. Even if there are no tornadic thunderstorms, the wind will cause problems for Missouri. That's why the National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory saying "Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result." The NWS in St. Louis goes on to say "Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution".

Even if you don't believe tornadoes or a blizzard will happen, know that powerful wind will impact Missouri today. The phrase "tie down all loose objects" is one to take seriously today.