Dangerous wind chills heading into early Tuesday
An Extreme Cold Warning is out for much of the area
The impactful winter storm that left snow and ice across all of Central and Eastern Kentucky has moved along but unfortunately the January winter cold has not. Clouds early Monday kept temperatures in the low teens to start the day but a brisk northwest wind dropped wind chills below zero at times, not only in the morning but throughout the day. With all the snow and ice on the ground and the Arctic air camped out over the Ohio Valley, temperatures didn’t move much at all with afternoon highs struggling to reach the low to mid-teens! Road crews (and power crews) are working hard to get the roads cleared and the power restored but it’s still a mess out there for travel and it will be the next few days given all the cold around.
Tuesday morning is going to feel brutally cold for those outside and will definitely be one of the coldest mornings we’ve seen around here in quite some time. With skies clearing a bit into the early hours, a fresh snow/ice pack in place and a brisk southwest wind…temperatures should tumble to below zero here in the Bluegrass with low end single digits across our Southern counties. Factor in winds at 10 to 15 miles per hour and our “feel-like” temperatures have the potential to drop to -10 to -20 degrees at times! This is dangerous and literally life threatening cold for anyone outside and not prepared for it. If you have to be out early Tuesday, make sure and cover all exposed skin, dress in layers, and minimize your time outdoors. Temperatures should recover a bit during the afternoon with highs back into the low 20s, however the stout southwest wind will keep wind chills down into the single digits best case scenario through the afternoon hours. With a cold front heading into the area, we could see a few clouds and snowflakes squeezed out with all the Arctic air in place. An Extreme Cold Warning is out for much of Central and Eastern Kentucky through Tuesday morning due to the expected bitter wind chills so keep that in mind.
Heading into the mid-week, a fast moving clipper system will dive in from the northwest bringing a few light snow showers to the area, but it shouldn’t be anything major especially given all the snow and ice that will be hanging around. More importantly we’ll see a reinforcing shot of cold Arctic air as it departs so our “rebound” of temperatures will be short lived as readings drop back into the upper teens for highs later this week. The bigger issue will be frigid morning lows as temperatures dance around the 0 degree mark daily depending on location.
Another weak wave of energy looks to roll through to end the week on Friday, which should support some clouds and a few flurries but more importantly keep us locked into the “deep freeze” here in late January. Some of the data is indicating an east coast low developing and riding into the northeast to begin the weekend, which would push a straight north flow into the Ohio Valley and give us more Arctic air for another day or two. Right now it appears we could see below zero morning lows by Saturday and afternoon highs only recovering into the teens. The good news is that it does look mainly dry for now and there is some indication that we may break out of this unseasonably cold pattern and get back toward the freezing mark as we begin February!
ABC 36 Storm Team 3 Day Forecast
Monday night: Breezy and frigid. Lows from 4 above to 3 below zero. Dangerous wind chills at -10 to -20 degrees late. Wind: SW 10-15 mph.
Tuesday: Scattered clouds and breezy, a few flakes from time to time. Dangerous wind chills early at -10 to -20 degrees. Highs in the low-20s. Wind: SW 10-15 mph.
Tuesday night: A few clouds, still bitterly cold. Lows around 0 degrees. Wind: W 5-10 mph.
