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***UPDATED AT 8:40 AM***
Obviously many areas have already had showers and strong thunderstorms this morning. Heavy rain has also already fallen in a lot of areas. The bulk of the rain has moved north of the area, but additional thunderstorm development is expected through the moning in the area I have circled below. That region of development will shift east this afternoon and evening.
A serious flood threat remains across the Ozarks! We’ll have more on our potential for severe weather around 1 PM this afternoon.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! Remember to wear green so those folks who insist on pinching you…don’t. I am in need of a few folks to help me build an ark today - in some places you might need one or at least an umbrella. A heavy rain event will begin today (especially tonight) and last through Wednesday morning. Moisture started to increase across the area Sunday afternoon and it has continued to pour into the area. An approaching storm system will combine with that moisture and create the setup for our heavy rain.
Showers and thunderstorm can be expected on and off today areawide, however the heavy rain during the daylight hours today can be expected to the northwest of Interstate 44.

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Can’t make it to the parade? 6News will have live coverage at 1 p.m. Monday on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6. Replays will air at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m. Wednesday, 11 p.m. March 20, 9 p.m. March 21 and 11 a.m. March 22.
Rick Laughlin won’t be wearing green during the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, but he’ll be cruising in a green fire truck wearing a big smile.
Laughlin, 60, is retiring Monday after serving 30 years as a firefighter and paramedic with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical.
“Personally, I can’t imagine having a better career,” he said. “It’s rewarding, and in so many ways you work with the best people possible; there’s a lot of camaraderie.”
He said it was fortuitous that he chose his retirement date for Monday.
“When I realized, I spoke to my battalion chief and I said it would be nice if I could drive the truck, since I’m Irish,” Laughlin said.
Typically, Laughlin is at Fire Station No. 2, which doesn’t participate in the parade, but Joe Hoelscher, Laughlin’s battalion chief, said a special adjustment was made.
Laughlin will be waving to a downtown crowd as the acting officer in a ladder truck for Station No. 5. The fire department, which always features its older green trucks, is one of 100 floats or vehicles in the parade. It’s a long-standing tradition in the community, and a great way to send off a firefighter, Hoelscher said.

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If you don’t get your fill of everything Irish this St. Patrick’s Day, a spoken-word event dedicated to the Emerald Isles comes up just nine days afterward.
South Mountain Community College’s main campus, 7050 S. 24th St., will be home to the 13th annual Storytelling Festival Wednesday, March 26 to Friday, March 28. The festival, put on by the SMCC Storytelling Institute, will feature presentations by Liz Weir, one of Ireland’s best-known storytellers.
“We’ve been offering a spring storytelling festival for over 10 years, and we always feature at least one well-known storyteller,” said teacher and event organizer Liz Warren, “although no one’s ever come this far before - all the way from Ireland.”
The highlights of the three-day festival come Thursday and Friday. March 27 is the Community Storytelling Festival, occurring 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. then again from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., which is free and open to the public. March 28 features a public performance by Weir, 7 to 9 p.m. in the school’s performance hall, called “Folktales from Ireland & Beyond.” This event is $10.
Weir also kicks off the event March 26 at 6:30 p.m. with a two-hour storytelling workshop called “Shortening the Road: Storytelling on the Path to Peace in Northern Ireland,” in which Weir will describe projects she has been involved with over the last 30 years. That workshop is $50.

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St Peter’s expulsion from the Daily Mail Cup could have repercussions on the competition’s future
The Gloucester school paid the price for fielding ineligible players in their under-18 quarter-final victory against Wellington College.
They broke the rule that states only three imports into a sixth form can play in Daily Mail games.
However, although this does level the playing field and prevent schools filling teams with rugby-only players, from next season, sixth form colleges could be restricted to players coming in from local schools.
“It is imperative that the integrity of the competition be protected,” said Barnard Castle coach Martin Pepper, adding: “And I think most people involved will applaud the English Schools Union for taking tough action. It is a warning for the future.”
Some believe no rugby scholars should be playing in the competition, RGS Newcastle head James Miller being one but Pepper says it is natural for boys at 11-16 schools to move on.
He insisted: “What I am against is schools and professional clubs who persuade boys to join for purely rugby reasons. I think they are too young for that. It might suit some players but very few are going to make it in the professional game and where will they be when their education has been neglected?
“As time goes on, traditional rugby playing schools will not be keen to play sixth form colleges where professional clubs have increasing influence.”
The end of the matter is also a relief for RGS Newcastle who had been waiting for a month to learn of their quarter-final opponents and were unable to fix an early date for their tie because several players and coaches were on a half-term skiing trip.
Wellington College, re-instated in the competition, will now host RGS in Berkshire on March 1 while, on the same day, Barnard Castle play St Benedict’s, Ealing in a semi-final at Broadstreet RFC.
The second semi-final will take place at Broadstreet on Thursday, March 13. Champions Warwick await the winners of the Wellington-RGS tie and the successful team will still have almost three weeks preparation for the Twickenham final on April 2.
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