Heat and humidity peak across the area to close out the week Friday

Thursday started out rather stormy across Central and Eastern Kentucky as complex of thunderstorms held together and dropped through the region from north to south. We saw torrential rain and lots of lightning with rainfall totals up to around a half inch, which feel over a short span of time. The biggest impact this complex had was on our afternoon highs. As we mentioned yesterday, if we saw some morning storms around the area it would have a significant impact on temperatures. As a result, afternoon highs struggled to reach the low 90s although it was still pretty uncomfortable with humidity levels very high. At least we stayed out of the danger zone relative to the high heat so that was a bonus. There were definitely some ominous looking shelf clouds as the leading edge of the storms moved in.

We are looking at a similar scenario on Friday as the big dome of heat holds serve across the area. If we don’t see any thunderstorm activity early in the day, afternoon highs  should reach the mid-90s with heat indices possibly reaching the 105 degree mark. a few of the short term models have a morning round of storms so we’ll keep an eye on that. There is a Heat Advisory for the Bluegrass region and Northern Kentucky through Friday with an Excessive Heat Warning down I-71 and I-65 and points westward.

With a frontal boundary dropping in from the northwest, much of the data develops  some thunderstorm from west to east along the I-64 corridor during the late afternoon and early evening hours. This is problematic with timing given that many Friday night high school football games will be on-going and any storms could create some delays. Many games have already been pushed back to later starts due to the expected heat on Friday. We are in a Level 1 severe risk (out of 5) for all of Central and Eastern Kentucky with damaging winds being the primary threat. Of course any storms will have the potential to produce torrential rain and lots of lightning so keep that in mind.

The cold front will slide through the commonwealth along with a wave of low pressure riding along it so this will keep scattered storms around as we kick off the weekend on Saturday. It still looks a bit on the hot side, especially in those areas that stay dry so afternoon highs could reach the 90 degree mark. High pressure should take over Sunday and into early next week with dry and seasonably warm temperatures into the mid and upper 80s. Looking ahead to the end of August, another cold front may knock highs down into the upper 70s and morning lows in the 50s by next Wednesday.

ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
THURSDAY NIGHT: A few clouds and warm. Lows in the mid-70s.
FRIDAY: Hot and humid, an few storms possible, especially late. Highs in the mid-90s.
FRIDAY NIGHT: A few storms, still warm. Lows in the low-70s.