A quick return to winter cold on tap for Friday

We’ve enjoyed some unseasonably mild temperatures the last couple of days across Central and Eastern Kentucky, which has been a great change from the deep freeze earlier in the week and Thursday was no exception. With a cold front dropping into the Ohio Valley, winds picked up out of the south with gusts over 30 miles per hour at times. This helped to drive afternoon highs well into the 50s once again, even with clouds and scattered showers across the region. As the main surface cold front moves through Thursday evening, gusty showers and a few rumbles of thunder will bring some brief heavy downpours along with some big changes to end the week.

A blast of colder air will await those heading out early on Friday! Temperatures should be in the mid to upper 20s and with a brisk west to northwest wind in place, our “feel-like” temps may drop into the upper single digits and low teens for a period of time. Look for a blustery and unseasonably cold remainder of the day with a few flurries/snow showers into Eastern Kentucky as afternoon highs only manage to get back into the low to mid-30s. Make sure and bundle up given the cold air expected.

The good news is that we’ll see a quick recovery in temperatures as we close out the fall season on Saturday. High pressure will nose in and slide by to our east rapidly, allowing for winds to shift around to the southwest. With plenty of sunshine expected combined with the steady breeze, afternoon highs will climb back into the low-50s so it should be a nice day for any last minute holiday shopping or other plans you may have. The Winter Solstice occurs at 10:03 am on Sunday morning and it will be a touch cooler as we close out the weekend thanks to a weak boundary sliding through the commonwealth early in the day. There may be enough moisture to squeeze out a rain and/or snow shower Saturday night but Sunday looks mainly dry and cooler with afternoon highs backing down into the low to mid-40s.

Heading into Christmas week, our upward trend of temperatures will return as we see another round of unseasonably mild air kick in just in time for the holiday. Temperatures should remain a bit cool to begin the week on Monday with highs still in the 40s as a weak system slides in from the west. This should be enough to squeeze out a few showers into Tuesday with additional isolated rain chances on the table into Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but it doesn’t look like a wash-out. More notably will be the upswing in our temperatures as afternoon highs climb back into the mid to upper 50s for Christmas Eve with the potential for readings to reach the 60 degree mark on Christmas Day so obviously it doesn’t appear a White Christmas will happen this year.