A few strong storms possible into the early hours of Tuesday

It was a breezy and mild start to this final week of April across Central and Eastern Kentucky as a strong cold front approached the Ohio Valley from the west. With a mix of clouds and sunshine, afternoon highs climbed into the upper-70s and low-80s as a persistent south wind pushed warm air into the region. The aforementioned cold front will slide toward the commonwealth into the early hours of Tuesday with the potential of strong storms during the overnight hours so you’ll definitely want to stay weather aware and have a way to get alerts/warnings.

The greatest risk for organized severe weather should remain across far Western Kentucky where a Level 3 risk (out of 5) is in place with areas between Louisville and Lexington in the Level 2 threat. Points east of the I-75 corridor are in a Level 1 risk. Based on the latest data it appears the timing of the expected storms will work to our advantage as the storms should begin to weaken as they progress eastward thanks to the loss of the daytime heating and outrunning the front just a bit. That being said, the potential exists for damaging winds and large hail as the storms move through, especially here in the Bluegrass region. Fortunately the tornado threat should be dropping off a good bit this far east but you’ll definitely want to stay weather aware during the overnight hours and have a way to get warnings/alerts given the overall storm threat. We should see some beneficial rain on the plus side of things as the drought conditions persist across the commonwealth.

Much of Tuesday should be dry as the overnight storms moved off to our east and we are left with a mix of clouds and sunshine along with an isolated showers/storm chance. Afternoon highs will remain on the mild side as the cold stalls out over the commonwealth as temperatures reach the mid to upper 70s. A wave of low pressure will slide out of Arkansas along the front late in the day, bringing another round of rain and storms to the area. There is the potential for more strong to severe storms, with the most favorable area down around Lake Cumberland as we head into Tuesday evening. Damaging winds will be the primary threat with any severe storm, although the large hail threat looks to be a bit more legitimate with this round so keep that in mind.

Showers and storms will stick around into Wednesday bringing more beneficial rain to the area, which will hopefully help to knock down the on-going drought conditions slightly. With clouds and showers around afternoon highs will back off into the upper 60s and this cooling trend will be a prelude of things to come as we close out April and head toward Derby weekend.

We should dry things out for the final day of April on Thursday but the big story will be the below average temperatures that are set to settle in as we roll into oaks Day on Friday and Derby Day on Saturday. Look for plenty of sunshine around Thursday but afternoon highs will only reach the low-60s. A weak wave of energy will slide by to our north so a few stray showers can’t be ruled out on oaks Day but it shouldn’t be a wash-out by any means. Afternoon highs will continue to hang into the low-60s to kick off May on Friday. At this point, Derby Day looks mostly sunny and pleasantly cool despite a southern system sliding by to our south with afternoon highs in the low to mid-60s, which is about 8 to 10 degrees below average for the beginning of May. We will see some chilly mornings with temperatures dropping into the 30s this weekend. Look for slowly moderating temperatures into early next week with highs back in the 70s.

ABC 36 Storm Team 3 Day Forecast

Monday night: Scattered rain and storms, some strong/severe. Lows in the low-60s. Wind: SW 10-15 mph.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy and mainly dry, additional storms possible late. Highs in the upper-70s. Wind: SW 10-15 mph.

Tuesday night: More rain and storms. Lows in the upper 50s and low-60s. Wind: SW 5-10 mph.