Severe weather is possible in parts of the Ozarks, the Bootheel and the St. Louis region this afternoon and evening.

This graphic from the National Weather Service office in Paducah, KY shows the expectation for severe weather in Southeast Missouri.

This graphic from the National Weather Service office in Paducah, KY shows the expectation for severe weather in Southeast Missouri.

A cold front moving through the state is going to cause temperatures in central Missouri to drop from the 60s and 70s into the 40s. That same front has been causing hail and some strong wind gusts in north Missouri in the late morning and early afternoon.

That front has slowed slightly, and Meteorologist Jim Packett with the National Weather Service office in Paducah, Kentucky says as the afternoon progresses storms will form along and east of a line from St. Louis to west of Van Buren. There is a slight risk those storms will be severe. A moderate risk for severe weather exists south and east of Missouri.

The cold front is expected to be along that St. Louis to Van Buren-area line around 3:00 p.m., though Packett says variance could have that happen an hour earlier or an hour later.

The primary threat in areas of Missouri that might see severe weather is damaging wind. Packett says there is a slight tornado threat east of the St. Louis to Van Buren area line and a greater threat for tornadoes east of a line from Perryville to Poplar Bluff.

In Northwest Missouri some snowfall is possible, with accumulation estimates ranging from a trace of an inch to 2 inches north of a line from south of the Kansas City area to northeast Missouri to 2 to 4 inches north of a line from St. Joseph to south of Lamoni, Iowa.

There is also a flood risk in far northeast Missouri where prior snow melt is expected to combine with rainfall and could cause smaller creeks and streams to rise out of their banks.

Gusty winds are also possible with sustained winds expected from 20 to 30 miles per hour and gusts as high as about 50 miles per hour.

For information for your area, visit these NWS pages.

In northwest and western Missouri:  Kansas City (Pleasant Hill)

In northeast and eastern Missouri:  St. Louis

In southwest Missouri:  Springfield

In southeast Missouri:  Paducah, KY

Scotland and Clark counties:  Davenport, IA