A comfortable late July weekend is on the way!

The much advertised shift in our active and unsettled weather pattern kicked in to close out the week across Central and Eastern Kentucky as a cold front dropped south of the area. With a northwest wind bringing in drier air, it felt much more comfortable to be outside as our dew-point temperatures took a tumble through the day. With a mix of clouds and sunshine, afternoon highs reach the mid-80s in most locations and the slightly below average temperatures will be a prelude of things to come for the weekend.

As high pressure builds in at the surface over the Ohio Valley on Saturday, it should be a “double bonus” with afternoon highs reaching the low 80s, which is a bit below the curve for this time of the year but more importantly humidity levels will be low as well! It’s not often that we get that combination creating comfortable conditions on a weekend in late July so you’ll definitely want to get out and enjoy it. The only potential speed bump…and it’s a small one will be some upper level energy that will be rotating through the Ohio Valley. This could be enough to squeeze out a stray shower during the afternoon hours but the surface high pressure should be enough to prevent that in most cases so we’ll be in good shape to kick off the weekend.

The nice late July weather will roll on for Sunday as the area of high pressure begins to drift to the east slightly. This will allow afternoon highs to climb a few degrees into the mid-80s but our humidity levels will remain low so it should be another great summer day for outdoor activities. By Monday, we should see a little more of a return flow out of the south as the high camps out to our east so temperatures will be closer to average with highs in the upper 80s and humidity levels will begin to creep back up as we get back to more late July-like weather.

Much of the data really wants to warm it up and bring the heat back into the Ohio Valley. While I think we’ll dance around the 90 degree mark, we may fall short of the low to mid-90s the data is kicking out. The reason for this is the amount of rain we’ve had lately has put a lot of water in the ground, along with keeping the vegetation very lush and green, which makes it more difficult to “heat” things up. Make not mistake about it, we’ll see some warmer air but hopefully not any overbearing heat into next week. Enjoy the weekend!

ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
FRIDAY NIGHT: Scattered clouds and pleasant. Lows in the low-60s.
SATURDAY: Mostly sunny and nice, a stray shower. Highs in the low-80s.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Fair skies and quiet. Lows in the low-60s.