Now that the severe storms have moved thru the area, we get ready for a prolonged period of rain that will get started tomorrow night. The National Weather Service in St. Louis says an active weather pattern will bring a prolonged period of rain to the region beginning on Christmas night, continuing thru the weekend and into early next week. The latest forecast information suggests the axis of the heaviest rain will be focused across southern Missouri and southern Illinois. 3 to 6 inches of rain is looking more and more likely over this region with locally high amounts expected. The other issue is with soil moisture currently running 1 to 2 inches above normal and local rivers, creeks and streams at or above normal levels, we could run into some flooding issues around the area. The NWS is putting our area in the 4 to 6 inches of rain area. Rain will begin tomorrow night, then continuing thru most of the weekend before finally coming to an end late Monday or early Tuesday.