SPRING-LIKE PATTERN CAUSED STORMS

A clash of cold air from the north and warm, humid air from the south generated Monday's damaging storms, the National Weather Service said.

"We had a strong boundary between opposing air masses," said Rick Shanklin, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Paducah, Ky. That resulted in extreme temperature differences.

Temperatures were in the 30s in central Missouri and central Illinois. In contrast, temperatures reached into the 60s in Cape Girardeau and into the lower 70s south of the Ohio River in advance of the storm.

Cape Girardeau recorded a high of 63 degrees at about 9 a.m. After the storm passed, temperatures began to drop. It was about 10 degrees cooler by 4 p.m. with temperatures expected to drop to the mid-30s overnight.

Temperatures were expected to remain in the 30s today. The forecast called for the possibility of light snow in the area Monday night and early today.

"We do have a chance at least of some lingering snow," said Shanklin.

Snow fell in Kansas City and northwest Missouri Monday.

The Weather Service said the severe storm that passed through Southeast Missouri featured a downburst that damaged Cape Girardeau area buildings.

"A downburst has a damage path that is typically much broader than a tornado in relation to its distance," Shanklin said.

Monday's downburst left a path of damage about a half-mile wide and two miles long across the southern edge of Cape Girardeau.

With a downburst, the storm plummets toward the ground and then spreads out from the center of the damage path, Shanklin said.