Several hours of rain, rapid winds expected Saturday across St. Louis region

ST. LOUIS - Widespread rain and rapid winds make way into the St. Louis region on Saturday.

Winds will begin to pick up as the day goes on, with gusts anticipated as high as 25-30 miles per hour. The soaking rains will come in waves, sometimes light, sometimes moderate to heavy at times.

Rainfall could come to an end in the early evening hours as drier air moves in and shoves the precipitation east of the viewing area. When all is said and done, rainfall totals could reach up to an inch in certain parts of the St. Louis metro.

While most of the rain exits around dinnertime tonight, it wouldn't be surprising if we see a stray shower north of I-70 this evening. Otherwise, largely dry conditions overnight under cloudy skies.

Sunday looks like the 'pick day' of the week with highs in the 50s and near 60 degrees in southern Missouri and Illinois.

Our fluctuating wet weather pattern continues through next week as more rain, and a few storms return late Sunday into Monday. The strongest chances of rain will be along or south of I-44 in Missouri and I-70 in Illinois