Flash flood watch posted for Boone County

COLUMBIA — A flash flood watch was posted for Boone County into Thursday night as another storm system brings the threat of heavy rain and severe weather.

Columbia is under a flash flood watch from 1 a.m. Thursday to late Thursday night for the possibility of 2 to 4 inches of rain.

There’s also a possibility of severe thunderstorms that could produce hail, mainly Thursday afternoon to late Thursday night.

The forecasted rainfall would pile on to an already wet year. The National Weather Service has recorded 12.32 inches of rain at Columbia Regional Airport since Jan. 1, 4.04 inches above the normal mark.

Butch Dye of National Weather Service in St. Louis said the ground in the Columbia area is saturated.

“Any rain that falls is not going to soak in, it’s going to be a runoff,” Dye said. “So it’s going to raise the potential for flash flooding.”

The heavy rain will lead to “some slight rises” in the Missouri River, Dye said, “but not major flooding.”

Until now, Dye said, Columbia has missed some of the heaviest precipitation that’s tracked along the southern third of the state.

He said the rainfall should hit the Columbia area in six-hour waves, with the first round beginning about midnight. Columbia’s best chance for severe weather, Dye said, is Thursday afternoon to late Thursday night.

“It’s a spring weather pattern. It’s common in spring time,” Dye said. “Now, do we get one every spring? Not necessarily.”