Delightful fall weather rolls along

It definitely felt like fall across Central and Eastern Kentucky to begin Tuesday with temperatures in the low to mid 40s to kick off the day. With lots of bright sunshine again, afternoon highs reached the low-70s in most spots which is right around average for this time of year. We are in that pattern where you’ll need the light jacket early in the morning but can shed it into the afternoons as the cool mornings/pleasant afternoons routine continues.

High pressure will hang around into Wednesday so it should be a repeat performance of what we have seen so far this week. Early morning lows will start out in the low to mid-40s before temperatures warm up nicely through the day with plenty of sunshine. We may tack on a few degrees to afternoon highs with highs in the mid-70s.

A weak “back door” cold front will slide in from the northeast on Thursday but with such dry air in place you probably won’t even notice it. The only change for Thursday will be temperatures knocked back a few degrees for afternoon highs thanks to a northeast wind bringing in slightly “cooler” air. Afternoon highs will still be in the low-70s so the super quiet weather pattern will continue to close out the week.

Of course the big weather story is Hurricane Milton, which is a major hurricane churning in the Gulf of Mexico. After surging up to a strong Category 5 storm with winds around 180 miles per hour on Monday, the system has backed off a bit but still remains an extremely dangerous category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of around 155 miles per hour as of mid-afternoon Tuesday. Some fluctuation in strength is expected as it makes a run for the west coast of Florida but it is expected to make landfall as a major hurricane late Wednesday/early Thursday. Tampa down to Fort Myers is front and center for storm surge in the 10 to 15 feet range as hurricane and storm surge warnings are posted for BOTH the west and east coasts of Florida. Unfortunately it appears yet another destructive hurricane will impact the Sunshine State over the next 48 hours.

Heading into the weekend we’ll see more dry and quiet weather here in the Bluegrass with sunshine and highs into the mid to upper 70s. It should be a nice weekend for outdoor activities including Keeneland and the Kentucky/Vanderbilt game Saturday evening at Kroger Field. A cold front will approach on Sunday so expect a breezy day with unseasonably warm temperatures into the upper 70s thanks to a strong southwest wind. We may squeeze out a shower or storm late Sunday night but it should be mainly dry. More importantly there is another shot of cool air early next week behind the departing front with cool temperatures and the possibility of some frost on the table with some chilly/cold mornings.

ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
TUESDAY NIGHT: Clear skies and chilly. Lows in the low to mid-40s.
WEDNESDAY: Lots of sunshine, another beauty. Highs in the mid-70s.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Fair skies, still cool. Lows in the mid to upper-40s