Drying out with milder air returning into the mid-week

Highs should be back in the 50s by Wednesday

1 hour ago

T.G. Shuck,

We got a reminder from Mother Nature that winter isn’t over yet to end the weekend and kick off the week across Central and Eastern Kentucky with cold temperatures and some light snow across the area. With some upper level energy combining with a strong northwest flow, scattered snow showers persisted through Monday with a light coating here in the Bluegrass while the mountains of Eastern Kentucky saw a few inches of snow pile up. Temperatures felt more like the heart of winter with upper teens to begin the day and a brisk northwest wind knocking wind chills down into the single digits. Afternoon highs only managed to recover into the upper-20s and low 30s with the light snow tapering off from northwest to southeast through the day as drier air worked in from the west and the powerhouse low over the New England, which brought blizzard conditions to New York City and Boston moved off to the northeast.

You’ll need the heavy coats to begin the day Tuesday with morning lows expected to dip down into the upper teens and low 20s so be prepared for that. With high pressure to our south, look for a return of some sunshine across the area along with improving temperatures as we progress through the day. With winds shifting more to the southwest, a return flow will kick in so temperatures should respond nicely as afternoon highs work back into the low 40s for afternoon highs. Of course this is still below average even for the end of February but we’ll be heading the right direction for sure.

It should feel much better rolling into the mid-week as the steady south wind helps hold temperatures in check into the early hours of Wednesday, which will help give us a jump on warming things up even more through the day. Even with a weak wave of energy sliding by to our northeast, things look dry and milder through the day as the breezy west to southwest wind helps push afternoon highs all the way back into the low-50s across Central and Eastern Kentucky. A stronger wave of low pressure will move in from the west on Thursday increasing our chances for steady rain showers across the area. You’ll definitely need the rain gear with showers and even a rumble of thunder or two possible. We could see a solid 1″-2″ rainfall in some locations, especially those areas south of I-64 before the showers come to an end by Thursday night.

High pressure will follow the departing system as we end the week on Friday so expect a return of sunshine and fortunately we aren’t looking at any big push of colder air behind Thursday’s rainmaker. This should make for a pleasant finish to the week as afternoon highs remain in the low 50s to go along with the sunshine. As the high works off to the east on Saturday, winds should shift to the south once again bringing even milder air back to the commonwealth for the final day of February. Look for afternoon highs to surge all the way back into the low-60s so it should be a delightful day to get out and enjoy anything outdoors! A weak frontal system should slide through the area as we kick off March on Sunday, ushering in some slightly cooler air and a low end shower chance so afternoon highs will back off a bit into the low-50s. A little better chance of rain showers (and maybe a few snow showers mixed in during the early morning hours) may be possible into next week but the model data isn’t synced up with timing and placement just yet so we’ll keep an eye on it.