http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/small-chance-rain-exists-today-ozarks_41700.mp3
Meteorologist Gene Hatch with the National Weather Service in Springfield says there's some rain north and west of Springfield that’s trying to make its way through our area…
"However, the atmosphere is still fairly dry. There is the possibility we could see a little bit of rain today, but it does not look like it's going to be widespread at this point. If anything, this area of rainfall may help to keep things a little cooler today with temperatures getting out of hand with cloud cover, but there's a slight chance we could see a little bit of rain today."
According to Hatch, if rain does fall it likely won’t be much—just enough to knock down the dust a bit.
He says if any storms move through the Ozarks, the main threat will be lightning…
"Especially with any lightning strikes that do hit into any forested areas or areas that are fairly dry. It is a potential that we could see some of those lightning strikes cause some wildfires kind of similar to what you'd expect to see out west."
A U.S. Drought Mitigation Center report says the state of Missouri is currently ranked the most susceptible to wildfires.
According to Hatch, no relief from the heat is in sight. He says the ridge of high pressure bringing us temperatures around 100 will stay in place at least through the middle of next week.