100% chance of sogginess

If April showers bring May flowers, then we're going to be up to our eyeballs in plants. Thanks to the ongoing parade of storms, we're expected to receive 7-9 inches of rain during the next 5 days.

No, that's not a typo. The latest projections from the National Weather Service are quite ominous:

We're in the middle of the yellow blob where 7+ inches is forecast. I haven't seen these colors on the map since May 2008 when Cape Girardeau had 13.5 inches over two days. It's unlikely that we'll see a repeat of the Mother of All Rainstorms, but it's going to be quite soggy for sure.

To make matters uglier, we also have a chance for more severe thunderstorms, especially this evening. Watch boxes are starting to pop up like mushrooms across the Midwest. Areas just to the west and south of Cape Girardeau are under a moderate risk of severe storms. I don't see anything threatening on the radar right now (at 1:45 PM), but as we learned Tuesday evening, these things can come out of nowhere in a hurry.

In the latest Hazardous Weather Outlook, the Paducah forecast office states:

AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES THIS EVENING...NUMEROUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. SUPERCELLS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS WITH LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND HEAVY RAINFALL THE PRIMARY CONCERNS. A FEW TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE AS WELL. WITH TIME THE STORMS WILL ORGANIZE INTO A LARGE LINE OR MULTIPLE LINE SEGMENTS...WITH DAMAGING WINDS BECOMING THE PRIMARY THREAT...AS THE STORMS MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS.

Another round of severe thunderstorms is possible Monday evening. Oh joy!