A brief break late week as a winter storm looms this weekend

Significant and impactful snow is expected Saturday into Sunday

4 hours ago

T.G. Shuck,

Mother Nature threw a nice curveball into the morning commute across Central Kentucky on Wednesday with a batch of light snow/wintry mix moving into the area just as folks hit the roadways around daybreak. Much of the activity was snow here in the Lexington area with more freezing rain/icing back toward Louisville. This created some tricky travel to say the least with a number of accidents and slow going in general early in the day. Milder air eventually won out with a southwest wind in place so everything changed over to rain showers into the afternoon hours with temperatures topping out in the low to mid-40s.

Thursday looks quiet across the area, which is exactly what we need given what appears to be on the way for the upcoming weekend. A quick area of high pressure will build in bringing sunshine and afternoon highs into the upper 30s and low 40s. This will be our best day for a while, so enjoy the tranquil weather while it lasts.

An arctic front will move through the region early Friday with very little fanfare but it will usher in much colder air, which will be part of the equation for the looming winter storm this weekend. Skies should be mostly cloudy but Friday looks dry overall as a north wind helps push the cold air into the commonwealth. Afternoon highs should only reach the mid to upper 20s as the stage will be set for the main event this weekend. With the Arctic high sitting to our northwest, a southern stream system will throw plenty of moisture northward into Saturday bringing a legitimate winter storm to Central and Eastern Kentucky.

While snow is expected to be the predominant precipitation type, some of the recent data runs have started to edge that elevated warmer air a bit farther to the north (which is a pretty typical thing in these winter setups) which would introduce the wintry mix/icing possibility into the fold for parts of Southern Kentucky if that scenario were to play out. That’s what makes the overall forecast and specifically possible snowfall totals so challenging to forecast and another reason why it’s best to wait until Thursday before we start kicking out actual numbers. Most folks have a tendency to latch onto the first numbers they see and any adjustment to those doesn’t resonate so that’s something we’ll zero in on into the late week.

However, confidence is high that a significant and impactful winter storm will affect Central and Eastern Kentucky over the weekend with several inches of snow on the table, which will have negative impacts on any plans you may have Saturday and into Sunday. A Winter Storm Watch is out for all of Central and Eastern Kentucky from Saturday morning through Monday morning in anticipation of what’s to come. Just plan accordingly and make adjustments as needed since travel looks to be hazardous/challenging no matter what type of precipitation falls where you live.

The other part of it that can’t be overlooked is the associated Arctic cold with this system. Temperatures will struggle to get out of the teens and into the low 20s for highs on Saturday and early morning lows could dip down into the single digits both Saturday morning and again on Monday morning. If we do see the expected snowfall and skies clear out, the fresh snowpack will add to the cold at the surface, keeping those low end single digits lows around in the mornings into early next week. Even with light to moderate winds, our “feel-like” temperatures would drop below zero at times during the morning hours so that’s going to be a brutal aspect of it that is easily forgotten with all the snow/ice potential. The bottom line is that a wintry stretch of weather is on the way so be prepared for it and we’ll keep you posted on-air and on-line.