After a brief respite Sunday and Monday from hot, dry weather, hot temperatures return today and are expected to last through the week, with no obvious chances of rain, says the National Weather Service in Springfield.
As Monday’s high temperature peaked in the upper 80s and lower 90s across the south central Missouri region, locals can expect daytime highs to stay in the upper 90s to lower 100s through Friday, at least. Weather officials are anticipating this weekend to be the “hottest period so far,” and while humidity is expected to stay low, air temperatures alone may provoke heat advisories or warnings.
Despite the rain that fell overnight Saturday and Sunday, fire danger still remains moderate to high in Howell and surrounding counties, the NWS reports.
West Plains received about two-thirds of an inch of rain, according to the NWS climate report for Sunday, and 0.05 inches of rain overnight Saturday, bring the month’s total to 0.70 inches. That rain was the first precipitation to fall since early June; since June 1, the city has seen a collective 1.37 inches of rain, about 5 inches less than the normal 6.41 inches.
The NWS recorded precipitation Sunday in West Plains in the form of thunderstorms, light to heavy rain, and fog with visibility reduced to a quarter-mile or less.
Thunderstorm winds knocked down trees shortly after 4:30 p.m. Sunday in Houston, Texas County, and at about 6:30 p.m. winds downed a tree in the Mark Twain National Forest near Winona in Shannon County, according to storm reports submitted to the NWS. The weather service also received a report of a power line knocked down by wind at about 6:45 p.m. near Porter Wagoner Boulevard and Eighth Street, and wind gusts reaching 50 mph at 7 p.m. in Rover.
At about 9:30 p.m. the same night, Howell-Oregon Electric Cooperative reported 527 members without power in Douglas, Howell, Oregon and Shannon counties; affected communities included Vanzant, West Plains, Mtn. View, Birch Tree, Alton and Couch.
Myles Smith, manager of member services for the co-op, said the majority of customers without power were spread across the Howell and Oregon county service areas and all had power restored by the end of Sunday night. The culprit was primarily lines that had been knocked loose by high winds, he said, adding that only one power pole had been blown down.
