Heavy rains head for Columbia, flash flood watch expected

Heavy rains were making their way toward Columbia early Wednesday afternoon, and forecasters said a flash flood watch could be posted for Boone County as early as 4 p.m..

“How much rain Boone County gets really depends on where the heaviest thunderstorms line up, but it looks like the heaviest is going to be just north of Columbia to Quincy, Ill.,” said forecaster Jon Carney of the National Weather Service in St. Louis. “Two or more inches of rain is certainly possible because the air is very warm and moist, almost tropical.”

The heaviest rain is expected Wednesday night into Thursday morning. The flood threat is being caused by a cold front in northern Missouri that is dropping south, encountering an upper level disturbance moving north from the southern Plains.

Any thunderstorms that develop probably won’t be severe, Carney said. “Severe weather needs dry and cool air, and we don’t have that right now. So we aren’t that worried about tornadoes or other severe weather. It is just going to primarily be heavy rain.”