Dodging a few showers over Mother’s Day weekend

It was a delightful finish to the first full week of May across Central and Eastern Kentucky as high pressure continued to dominate our weather. With plenty of sunshine around and winds shifting around to the southwest, we saw a nice jump in temperatures compared to the mid to late week. Most locations topped out into the low-70s for afternoon highs so it was a delightful day to be outdoors for any length of time.

A fast moving wave of energy will slide through the Ohio Valley into the early hours of Saturday with a few scattered showers along with a rumble of thunder or two mainly across the northern half of the commonwealth. This system will be in and out in pretty short order so much of the shower activity should happen during the pre-dawn hours. While we could see a lingering shower or two after sunrise, look for mostly cloudy skies to start Saturday before drier air works in as the day wears on. Skies will clear during the afternoon with sunshine returning so it should be a nice day overall for any outdoor weekend plans. Afternoon highs should be right around average with highs into the mid-70s.

Heading into Mother’s Day we should start the day dry with some sunshine and pleasant conditions as we celebrate moms everywhere. A frontal boundary will be dropping through the Ohio Valley as the day progresses so heading into the afternoon there is a chance of a few scattered showers and storms popping up. It shouldn’t be a washout at this point but definitely check things closely if you have any outdoor Mother’s Day plans, especially late Sunday. Temperatures will continue to be nice for early to mid-May with afternoon highs in the mid-70s. The bulk of the shower and storm chances will be during the overnight hours into Monday morning so hopefully we’ll pick up some beneficial rain given the on-going drought. We should dry out through Monday with slightly cooler air returning as afternoon highs drop back into the mid-60s.

High pressure will briefly take over on Tuesday with sunshine and afternoon highs back in the upper 60s before another fast moving wave of low pressure and frontal system dives through the Ohio Valley into the middle of next week. This will increase our rain chances for Wednesday and provide another opportunity to get some water in the ground as the spring drought wears on. Temperatures will continue to hang in the low-70s for highs which is just a few degrees below average as we see another dry stretch late next week.