Chilly air sticks around with quiet weather into the mid-week

It was a bit of a winter wonderland early Tuesday for parts of Central and Northern Kentucky as a blanket of light snow greeted morning commuters, making for a slow drive into work for many. The sweet spot for the highest snow totals (3″-4″) was along the Ohio River from Louisville to Cincinnati with the Bluegrass Region seeing around 1″ to 1.5″ of snow with little to nothing on the ground the farther south and southeast you travel. With the fast moving system moving out, the snow showers ended early, leaving an overcast day with temperatures struggling to recover into the mid-30s for afternoon highs.

The cloud cover may be stubborn to exit the area into Wednesday however those spots that have a little snow on the ground and catch a bit of clearing could be dealing with some patchy freezing fog during the early morning so watch out for some slick spots, especially on the bridges and overpasses given that temperatures will drop all the way into the upper teens and low 20s. High pressure will briefly move in through the day so look for the return of some sunshine as afternoon highs recover slightly into the upper 30s to around 40 degrees, but stay well below average even for early December.

Another cold front will make a run through the Ohio Valley into early Thursday bringing a reinforcing shot of colder air to the commonwealth. There won’t be much moisture with this system so expect a few scattered clouds and mainly dry conditions. Temperatures will continue to be pretty cold as afternoon highs once again back down into the mid-30s for highs on Thursday. The model data has been struggling with another wave of low pressure sliding along the Gulf Coast for Friday but the trend is now to throw enough moisture our way on Friday for a few rain and snow showers depending on how temperatures are able to recover. Right now it appears Southern Kentucky will be the most favorable area for raindrops and/or snow flakes as afternoon highs head back into the upper 30s to end the week.

The weekend should begin quiet and chilly with partly sunny skies on Saturday and afternoon highs staying put in the upper 30s and low 40s. The data is suggesting a fast moving “clipper system” diving in from the northwest by Sunday afternoon and evening, which would mean another round of rain and snow showers so that is something to monitor in the coming days. The bottom line is that there isn’t anything to get overly excited about relative to our temperatures as it appears we’ll stay locked into an early December chill with below average readings on tap consistently into the early part of next week at least.