The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch from Saturday morning through Monday morning for Fayette County, along with all the counties on your drive to St. Louis and including the city of St. Louis. A stalled frontal boundary across Southern Missouri and Southern Illinois this weekend will act as the focus for several rounds of showers and thunderstorms from Saturday through Sunday night. Locations north of Interstate 44 in Missouri and Interstate 70 in Illinois appear most likely to receive the heaviest rainfall. Widespread rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches are likely in the watch area with higher amounts possible .
The National Weather Service has issued a Special Weather Statement for the rest of our Illinois listening area, including, Coles, Cumberland, Clark, Edgar, Vermilion, Jasper, Crawford, Clay, Richland, Effingham, Shelby, Christian, Moultrie, Douglas, Piatt and Champaign counties. Periods of moderate to heavy rain is expected over the holiday weekend. Rain and thunderstorms will track eastward along the boundary much of the Holiday weekend. Areas from Jacksonville to Taylorville to Flora will start to see this rain move in as early as midday Saturday, but the main period of concern is Saturday night and especially Sunday into Sunday Night. A significant rain threat will continue into Independence Day over Southeast Illinois, but areas further north will see showers and storms more scattered in nature on Monday. The heaviest rain axis is expected to be centered roughly along the I-70 corridor, where 3 to 4 inches of rain is expected through Monday. Amounts of 2 to 3 inches are possible as far North as Springfield, Decatur and Champaign. These rainfall totals will likely result in significant rises on area rivers and streams. However, much of this region has been relatively dry the last couple of weeks and the ground should be able to absorb a lot of the rain.
With the Holiday Weekend, outdoor activities will be common. Make sure to have alternate plans for threatening weather and have a place to take shelter if needed.