A touch of summer-like weather for the weekend

It was a nice finish to the week across Central and Eastern Kentucky on Friday with more sunshine and warm temperatures even with a weak frontal boundary stalled out just to our north. We saw a few fair weather cumulus clouds pop up during the afternoon hours here in Central Kentucky, but with enough available moisture in the mountains and the air mixed up due to the warmer temperatures there was enough lift to squeeze out a few heavier downpours in the southeastern mountains. Our in-house data did a really good job picking up on the potential scenario for today late on Thursday. Afternoon highs reached the low 80s in most locations, which is a solid 10 degrees above average for this time of the year.

Heading into the weekend our quiet weather pattern will hang on with more tranquil conditions across the area. With more sunshine around, temperatures should warm up nicely although we may knock a degree or two off of afternoon highs compared to Friday with a slight wind shift behind the washed out front. Most spots should run into the upper 70s and low 80s so it should be a great day for any outdoor activities. With plenty of fall festivals gearing up here in early October, Mother Nature should cooperate nicely.

Another frontal boundary will make a run into the Ohio Valley late Sunday with a little better chance of an isolated shower or two. The overall chances look pretty low and most of the shower/storm activity should be Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday. The rainfall isn’t expected to be widespread with mainly spotty showers across Central and Eastern Kentucky. The big story with this front will be a return of more fall-like temperatures into early next week. Afternoon highs should surge into the low to mid-80s on Sunday ahead of the boundary before cooler Canadian air drops in behind it. Afternoon highs will only reach the upper 60s to begin the week and that will be a prelude of things to come.

You’ll need the light jacket a few mornings early next week as temperatures dip into the low to mid-40s so it is definitely going to feel like fall. We should settle back into a fairly typical October pattern with pleasant days and cool nights through much of next week. It does appear we are headed for an extended stretch of dry weather with no rain chances on the horizon beyond this Sunday so we may take a step back after alleviating the drought conditions with the rain we saw from the remnants of Helene.

ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
FRIDAY NIGHT: Clear skies and pleasant. Lows in the mid to upper-50s.
SATURDAY: Mostly sunny and warm. Highs in the upper-70s to low-80s.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Fair skies and quiet. Lows in the upper-50s