Early summer heat rolls along into the weekend

Summer is officially here as of Thursday afternoon but it has felt like the heart of it already all week long across Central and Eastern Kentucky. Friday was no exception as we ended the week with more hot and humid conditions with afternoon highs in the low to mid-90s and some locations flirting with heat index values around 100 degrees. It looks like we’ll have to sweat it out for one more day before we slowly start to break this hot weather pattern, but it will happen in stages over the next week.

Expect more of the same as we kick off the weekend on Saturday as the big dome and high pressure and heat stays centered over the Ohio Valley. With it being a summer weekend day there will be plenty of folks out and about so make sure you hydrate and take the proper precautions by limiting your outdoor activities during the hottest part of the day. Area lakes and pools will be the place to be for some relief and definitely find some air conditioning wherever you can. Afternoon highs should remain in the mid-90s with heat indices still in the upper 90s to around 100 degrees, which will still keep us below the heat advisory range.

Changes begin to kick in on Sunday as a weak frontal boundary breaks through the “bubble” of high pressure and clips us as it slides through from the northwest. With all the heat and moisture around, scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible which is a welcome change given all the hot and dry weather of late. Afternoon highs should still reach the low-90s but those areas that see a few storms will obviously be a bit cooler than that. There is a low end strong storm threat as the Storm Prediction Center has much of the area in a Level 1 severe risk (out of 5) with damaging winds being the main concern with any strong storms.

Don’t expect a big drop in temperatures into early next week as the front moves eastward with low and mkid-90s possible along with more dry weather Monday and Tuesday. One positive is that humidity levels should be a little more manageable as we see a bit of drier air working in. Our second storms system will roll in by Wednesday with another round so showers and storms possible which we’ll take seeing as how we are a good 1″-2″ below our average rain totals over the past month so we could use some water in the ground. The other big news with the mid-week system is that it should usher in a shot of moderate air so we are finally looking at a break from the big heat late next week as afternoon highs drop back to average into the mid-80s!

ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
FRIDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear, warm and muggy. Lows in the low-70s.
SATURDAY: More sunshine, hot and humid. Highs in the mid-90s.
SATURDAY NIGHT: A few clouds and warm. Lows in the mid-70s.