Rain

Typically, Christmas is when we start wondering about the weather, making travel an issue.

The GFS computer model shows Missouri and Illinois in areas that could get pelted with big rain on October 31.

Illinois is known for a lot of things. Hurricanes is fortunately not one of them. However, the Land of Lincoln could very well be impacted by a hurricane as soon as this weekend, but a lot of things need to happen first.

You might want to locate your umbrella. There's no certainty at this point, but it looks like both Missouri and Illinois are going to see a lot of rain this week. If some computer models are accurate, some places could get drenched with up to 5 inches of rain between now and Friday.

I always look forward to summer in Illinois because I expect the weather to be in the 80s all the time. That's not always the case, though.

The good news is we didn't have a lot of snow in Missouri and Illinois this winter. The bad news (for farmers) is we didn't get a lot of snow in Missouri or Illinois this winter. That lack of moisture appears about to change as forecasters are saying both states will likely get drenched with badly needed rain near the end of this week.

When your spouse is a meteorologist, you think you've heard it all when it comes to weather-related history. That's what I thought, but today I learned there was one Missouri weather fact I was unaware of. Did you know the world record for rainfall is held by a tiny Missouri place that was slammed with a foot in just an hour?

I hadn't thought about it until today, but we haven't seen much rain in November. Many parts of Missouri haven't received anything truly measurable. Has Missouri ever gone an entire month without rain? History says...almost.

It appears that parts of Missouri that are desperately in need of moisture will get rain later this week. The only question is how much and will it help the state's dire drought conditions. It looks like there's at least some hope of helpful rain coming.

The rain will be lasting well into the weekend.