Delightful August weather continues to close out the week

For the 3rd straight day it was a record setting morning across Central and Eastern Kentucky as the unseasonably cool air helped drop early morning lows into record territory for many locations. The mercury dropped to 48 degrees in Lexington, besting the old record of 50 set back in 1986. Once the sun came up things warmed up quickly with afternoon highs climbing back into the upper 70s to around 80 degrees so it was another fantastic late August day with the lack of humidity helping add to the comfort level.

Finishing out the week on Friday, a weak cold front will drop in from the north adding a few more scattered clouds to the mix along with more sunshine. With such a dry air-mass in place, most locations look rain-free although there may be enough lift to squeeze out an isolated shower so don’t be surprised if that happens. Afternoon highs look closer to average into the low-80s so it should be a nice day overall and a good night for high school football across the commonwealth.

Heading into Labor Day weekend, the aforementioned front will wash out but not before ushering in a reinforcing shot of drier and milder air on Saturday. This will set us up for a nearly perfect day for any outdoor holiday activities, including Kentucky’s home opener against Toledo at Kroger Field Saturday afternoon. Afternoon highs look to reach the upper 70s with plenty of sunshine so make sure and take the sunscreen along if you’ll be in direct sunlight for any length of time. Look for more of the same on Sunday with very nice conditions for the final day of August as highs remain right around 80 degrees. Very low humidity levels will add to the comfort factor so it should really feel nice to be out and about.

Kicking off September on Labor Day we are still looking at mainly dry conditions although the data is starting to sync up relative to a bit of moisture slowly returning to the area. Monday should remain dry for the holiday with highs into the low 80s before we finally see an isolated storm chance return into the day on Tuesday. Temperatures will continue to increase into the middle of next week as highs reach the mid-80s. A cold front looks to make a run for the Ohio Valley by next Wednesday bringing our first legitimate rain chances in quite awhile, which is actually good news considering much of the commonwealth is now in the “abnormally dry” category per the latest Drought Monitor so we could use a little bit of rain for sure.