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ST. LOUIS — Severe storms struck parts of the St. Louis area Wednesday, the first in a series of downpours forecast to saturate the region over the coming days.

“Scattered to numerous� thunderstorms rolled into the region in the later parts of Wednesday, bringing a tornado warning and the potential for baseball-sized hail and damaging winds in excess of 70 mph, said the local forecast office for the National Weather Service.

And in the rain-filled days ahead, St. Louis appears set to dodge more extreme rainfall that will create significant flood risks across multiple states. Regionally, the weather service said, severe weather risks are greatest across southeast Missouri and southwest Illinois.

Successive waves of rainfall are expected from Thursday through Saturday. Around St. Louis, rainfall is expected to be most intense on Friday night, said Jayson Gosselin, a meteorologist for NWS’ local forecast office.

Forecasts call for a wide swath, including Cape Girardeau, to see more than 6 inches of rain across those days, triggering a widespread flood watch.

In comparison, the bulk of the St. Louis metro region is expected to see 3 to 6 inches of rainfall over the same period, and sits just beyond the area designated for the flood watch, according to the weather service.

The storms will be notable for their duration and, in places, their sheer rainfall.

“It’s more of the longevity that’s noteworthy and really gonna help drive up these totals,� said Gosselin. “That’s really gonna set this apart.�

Locally, the Meramec River could be a waterway of “most concern� for flood risks, he added.

As of Wednesday afternoon, projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that the Meramec is expected to rise more than 30 feet in places like Eureka, reaching “major� flood stage by the time it crests early next week.

If those projections pan out, some properties would face flooding, and high water would result in road closures.

If Eureka’s projected crest holds at 35.9 feet overall, impacts would be kept to a minimum around town, where there’s been an exodus of residents from flood-prone stretches along the river.

“There’s been a real good job of buying [properties] out,� in vulnerable areas, said John Boggs, Eureka’s building commissioner and public works director. “There’s not a huge impact at 35.9 [feet].�

Nervousness sets in, he added, when the Meramec reaches closer to 38 feet — a level at which sandbagging and other precautions kick in on a bigger scale.

Boggs said he and others in town would keep monitoring the storms. 

“Me and the weather service and the Weather Channel are gonna be really good friends over the next few days,� he said.

The weather service said that the greatest chance of severe weather will be across southeast Missouri and southwest Illinois. Forecasts call for a wide swath, including Cape Girardeau, to see more than 6 inches of rain across those days, triggering a widespread flood watch.

In comparison, the bulk of the St. Louis metro region is expected to see 3 to 6 inches of rainfall over the same period, and sits just beyond the area designated for the flood watch, according to the weather service.

Still, the city appears set to dodge more extreme rainfall that will create significant flood risks across multiple states.

Areas farther west of St. Louis — including much of the city’s western suburbs — are expected to see “slight� risks from Wednesday’s severe weather, while threats escalate to “moderate� levels to the southeast, in places like Carbondale and Cape Girardeau.

A similar pattern holds in the days to follow, with successive waves of rainfall expected from Thursday through Saturday.

Forecasts call for a wide swath, including Cape Girardeau, to see more than 6 inches of rain across those days, triggering a widespread flood watch.

In comparison, the bulk of the St. Louis metro region is expected to see 3 to 6 inches of rainfall over the same period, and sits just beyond the area designated for the flood watch, according to the weather service.