Feeling a bit more like spring again into the mid-week

Afternoon highs should jump back into the 50s with more rain on the horizon

3 hours ago

T.G. Shuck,

After a quick shot of wintry weather to begin the final week of February, it was a much more tranquil Tuesday across Central and Eastern Kentucky. While temperatures were pretty cold out the door early with readings in the upper teens and low 20s, we saw a decent recovery through the day thanks to winds shifting to the southwest. In fact it ended up being a fairly breezy day with winds gusting 25 to 30 miles per hour at times. The combination of the steady breeze and some filtered sunshine helped afternoon highs climb back into the mid to upper 30s, which actually fell a bit short of anticipated high temperatures. plus the added wind made it feel quite chilly if you were outside for any length of time.

Winds will stay elevated heading into early Wednesday with gusts over 30 miles per hour at times so it should be one of those nights where the windows may rattle on occasion due to the wind. As a result don’t expect much change in temperatures as we may drop a few degrees through Monday evening before we level out and possibly see a small rise in temperatures (low 40s) by day break on Tuesday. This should give us a jump start on a milder day as afternoon highs work back into the low-50s as the gusty southwest wind persists. A weak boundary will be dropping through the area and this may be enough to squeeze out a passing shower but most locations should end up dry from start to finish.

A wave of low pressure looks to rotate through the Ohio Valley on Thursday so this will be the day to take the rain gear along as occasional rain will be on tap. Expect a rather damp day with the best rainfall totals in the corridor south of I-64, where some localized spots may end up with around 1″ totals across our far southern counties. With the clouds and rain around, afternoon highs may back down a few degrees with mainly upper 40s here in the Bluegrass and a few low 50s down south. High pressure will build into the region behind the departing wave and fortunately we aren’t looking at any big push of chilly air so Friday should be a pleasant way to finish out the week. Look for a return of sunshine and afternoon highs in the mid-50s, which is a few degrees above average for this time of the year.

We’ll wrap up the month of February with some pretty nice weather heading into the weekend, which is always great when it times out that way. As the area of high pressure drops to our southeast, we’ll see a return flow kick in on the back side. This will allow even milder air to work northward into the Ohio Valley, setting us up for a very delightful Saturday across Central and Eastern Kentucky. It should be a fantastic day to get out and enjoy anything outdoors with lots of sunshine and afternoon highs in the low-60s across the board. Another weak frontal system should slide through Saturday night and into Sunday as we welcome March but it should have very little moisture with it. This should keep most spots dry for the first day of the new month although temperatures will back down a bit behind this boundary with afternoon highs only in the upper 40s. A couple of mid-level waves may slide through the region into early next week bringing a return of scattered rain showers with temperatures not far off of average for afternoon highs in early March.