Another round of Arctic air on tap for the weekend

It’s been quite the week of weather with consistent cold across Central and Eastern Kentucky and we saw more of the same to close things out on Friday. With an Arctic boundary dropping into the commonwealth, a band of dry, fluffy snow set up just south of the I-64 corridor and expanded south and eastward, bringing some light accumulations to the roads and elevated surfaces in several spots. Winds picked up out of the north and northeast, surging another round of very cold air our way so afternoon highs only managed to sneak into the upper teens and low 20s early in the afternoon before slowly backing off. This will be a prelude of things to come over the weekend as we’ll be back in the deep freeze to finish out the month.

It will be a fitting end to January with the latest round of Arctic air in place over the Ohio Valley on Saturday. Temperatures should be in the low to mid range single digits to begin the day and brisk north wind will push wind chills between -5 to -10 as a result. Make sure to dress accordingly, cover any exposed skin and minimize your time outdoors. A Cold Weather Advisory is out for much of Central and Southern Kentucky until 1pm Eastern. The rest of the day should feature clouds, a few scattered flurries/snow showers, and afternoon highs struggling to reach the mid-teens. Factor in the wind and our “feel-like” temps will hover around the 0 degree mark much of the day. The bottom line is that it won’t be much fun to be out and about, even as many folks suffer from cabin fever from being stuck indoors most of the week after the recent winter storm. With an area of low pressure to the east, the far eastern mountains could pick up some additional light snow accumulations through Saturday morning so a Winter Weather Advisory is out for that area along with a Winter Storm Warning for Harlan, Letcher and Pike Counties until 4pm Saturday and areas above 1500 feet could see up to 4″-6″ snow totals.

February will arrive with more frigid temperatures to begin the day with readings down in the mid to upper single digits along with wind chills below zero, even with a lighter breeze. As the east coast storm system moves out to sea, we should get a bit of sunshine back in play through Sunday, which will help push afternoon highs back into the low to mid-20s. Any sunshine is good sunshine as this helps the melting process for the snow/ice even though we stay below the freezing mark. Clouds should roll back in on Groundhog Day Monday as a fast moving clipper system dives through the Great Lakes. We may see a few light snow showers out of it but it looks mainly dry with temperatures pushing back toward that elusive freezing mark thanks to a southwest wind. So look for afternoon highs to finally be back into the low 30s.

Heading into the middle part of next week, yet another storm system will develop out to our west and bring additional rain and snow chances to the area. Tuesday looks dry and relatively “mild”, especially considering the prolonged cold spell we’ve seen the last week or so as afternoon highs get back into the mid to upper 30s. As a wave of low pressure moves eastward into the early hours of Wednesday, we could see a wintry mix and some snow depending on timing and placement before we warm up enough for a rain/snow mix. While this isn’t a major storm system, we’ll have to watch it closely given that temperatures will be right around freezing. Do expect some snow showers on the backside of it and slightly cooler air for Thursday. The “Clipper Express” will stay cranked up with another one just to our north next Friday, which could bring a few additional snow showers to the area as the winter weather pattern stays locked in.

ABC 36 Storm Team 3 Day Forecast

Friday night: Cloudy with flurries, below zero wind chills. Lows between 5° to 10°. Wind: N 5-10 mph.

Saturday: Very cold with a few flakes. Highs in the mid to upper teens. Wind: N 5-10 mph.

Saturday night: A few clouds, another frigid night. Lows between 3° and 8°. Wind: NW 5-10 mph.