A summer-like Friday before the strong storm potential ramps up

We’ve enjoyed an incredible stretch of weather this week here in Central and Eastern Kentucky with record highs temperatures across the region through the mid-week. Even with a weak wave of energy producing a few isolated showers and storms late Thursday we managed to enjoy another mild day as afternoon highs jumped back  into the low to mid-70s. It appears you’ll have one more chance to soak up the nice weather before things get active heading into the weekend.

With a strong area of low pressure to our west, much of the Missouri River Valley is in line for a widespread severe weather outbreak on Friday including a few strong tornadoes. Here at home though, it will be another warm and windy day with the combination of sunshine and gusty southwest winds 30 to 40 miles per hour at times helping to push afternoon highs into the upper 70s and possibly a few low-80s. This would approach record high territory again like we have a few times earlier this week.

The much advertised strong storm system to our west will bring a line of showers and storms into Central Kentucky during the early hours of Saturday. While the overnight arrival and the line pushing farther away from the front may weaken it slightly, there is still the potential of a few strong to severe storms with the morning round, especially for some larger hail. This is why the Storm Prediction Center has the I-75 corridor in the Level 1 severe weather risk into the early hours of Saturday. This will be the first of two rounds, with the one later on Saturday potentially creating more issues in our area.

A secondary wave of low pressure will develop along the cold front as it slides through the area late Saturday afternoon and into Saturday evening providing our best window for organized severe weather. All modes of severe weather including a few spin-up tornadoes will be possible along with some very heavy rain which may cause some localized flooding issues. There are a few “X” factors that will impact the set-up and how things eventually play out. If the morning round of storms lingers longer and doesn’t allow the atmosphere to recover, that could help reduce the threat slightly. More importantly much of the storm energy may be used up by the expected severe weather/tornado outbreak across the Deep South Saturday which typically has an impact on how things shake out. The Storm Prediction Center has our entire area in the Level 2 severe risk (out of 5) for Saturday so keep that in mind. Any way you slice it up, Saturday is a “Weather Impact Day” and you’ll want to stay up to date on the latest weather conditions, especially with it being a weekend day and folks distracted with other activities.

Expect a few lingering showers and cooler temperatures on Sunday with afternoon highs closer to average in the mid-50s. St. Patrick’s Day looks good with plenty of sunshine and highs back into the upper 50s so it should be a nice start to the week. With a midweek system approaching quickly next week, temperatures will rebound in a hurry with highs back into the low-70s on Tuesday before a few showers and storms work back into the area late on Wednesday.