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A tornado watch has been issued for a good chunk of Missouri, including the entire listening area.

This is the first warning in what is expected to be a day of turbulent weather. Although this first warning does not include communities across the river in Illinois, they are not out of the woods--more warnings and watches could be issued today.

The tornado watch expires at 10PM and a watch means that conditions are favorable for a tornado to develop, but none have been spotted.

Complete List of Included Counties:

Missouri counties included are Audrain Barry Barton Bates Benton Boone Buchanan Caldwell Callaway Camden Carroll Cass Cedar Chariton Christian Clay Clinton Cole Cooper Crawford Dade Dallas Douglas Franklin Gasconade Greene Henry Hickory Howard Jackson Jasper Jefferson Johnson Laclede Lafayette Lawrence Lincoln Linn Livingston Macon Maries Marion Mcdonald Miller Moniteau Monroe Montgomery Morgan Newton Osage Pettis Phelps Pike Platte Polk Pulaski Ralls Randolph Ray Saline Shelby St. Charles St. Clair St. Louis Stone Taney Vernon Warren Washington Webster Wright Missouri independent cities included are St. Louis City.

Counties included in Illinois:

IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS

CALHOUN IL GREENE IL JERSEY IL MACOUPIN IL

IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

ADAMS IL BROWN IL PIKE IL

Less than two weeks ago, the region was hit with a foot of snow. This weekend highs in the 70's are expected. What does the weather roller coast bring next? 

 

The Climate Predication Center forecasts a pretty standard April for St. Louis, with what they call an equal chance for precipitation. Julie Phillipson with the National Weather Service tells KTRS News, that means there is an even chance for more, less, or average amounts of rainfall, but it doesn't rule out severe weather.

 

"It is Spring an generally during the spring, especially in this part of the country, we do see a rise in thunderstorms climatologically, so we will be seeing those more and more often as we move further into the spring months", says Phillipson.

 

Rain and storms are expected to move into the area late this weekend and stick around through early next week.

 

ST. LOUIS -- AP -- Another wet weekend has caused a renewed rise of Midwestern rivers, creating flooding that is an ironic end to a winter spent fretting about drought.

Parts of eastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois were hardest hit by rain that began Saturday afternoon and fell through Sunday. Potosi, Mo., got 4.4 inches of rain, Randolph County, Ill., 4.1 inches, Farmington, Mo., 3.9 inches. Combined with heavy rain the previous weekend and two big snows in the weeks before that, all the water is causing rivers to rise.

The National Weather Service cites several rivers at or near flood stage in Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Indiana and Iowa. A man was rescued from his flooded car in Perry County, Mo., Sunday. Dozens of roads and thousands of acres of farm land are under water.

Air travelers might want to check on any connecting flights before heading out of Lambert Airport.

Lambert spokesman Jeff Lea tells KTRS news 16 arrivals have been cancelled as of 10:00 a.m.and 19 departures cancelled, the majority from Chicago.

If you're heading north or east or have a connecting flight through Chicago, airlines are canceling nearly 1,000 flights at Chicago's two airports because of a winter storm that's expected to dump up to 10 inches of snow on northern Illinois.

Most the canceled flights are at O'Hare International Airport.

That major winter storm is threatening to bring blizzard conditions to the north and central portion of Missouri--hitting Kansas City hard and in other parts of the central Plains today. 

Kansas City leaders are  telling people to move their cars off the street or they'll be towed. This snow plow driver says cars parked haphazardly have made it been difficult to clear the streets. "It's not that we haven't tried or haven't been there. Just a lot of times we get there and we can't get through."

 Kansas City - which got a foot of snow last week - could get another 15 inches staring Monday afternoon Jesse Bustamonte was out with a shovel clearing a storm drain in front of his house Sunday. "I had to dig out a friend of mine. Every time he tried to move he was spinning his wheels because of the ice. So it was dig out and move, dig out and move."

The National Weather Service in Dodge City, Kan. says there could be "upward of a foot across south-central Kansas with lesser amounts across west-central and central Kansas." The storm also could bring tornadoes to the South.