Milder air works back into the region this weekend

It felt like the heart of the winter season to kick off Friday across Central and Eastern Kentucky with temperatures well into the teens for early morning lows. High pressure in place provided plenty of sunshine but it did little to warm things up significantly as afternoon highs struggled to get to the freezing mark in most locations. Ironically this is where we should be for our average early morning lows so we have definitely been below the curve the last few days. Luckily temperatures should quickly moderate over the weekend to get us out of this early deep freeze.

High pressure will continue to dominate our weekend as we kick off the weekend providing more sunshine and tranquil conditions across the area. Winds will begin to shift to the southwest and it will be a little breezy, which will help bring more moderate air back into the commonwealth. This should give us a nice bump in temperatures with afternoon highs back into the low and mid 40s. This should set things up for a pleasantly cool day by early December standards and it should feel much better if you are outdoors for any length of time with the milder air in place.

The upward trend of temperatures will continue on Sunday as southwest winds crank up a bit more allowing even milder air to move into the Ohio Valley. After some early sunshine, clouds should increase ahead of a wave of low pressure which will increase our rain chances by Sunday night. Even with some clouds around late, afternoon highs should reach the low 50s pushing us slightly above average for this time of the year. There will be a good amount of gulf moisture with this wave so our rain chances look legitimate Sunday night and into Monday morning. We could see a good solid 1″ plus of rain across the area with some lingering showers possible into Monday afternoon with highs remaining mild into the mid to upper 50s.

Another wave of energy may slide into the area along with a cold front moving in from the west so additional shower chances may be possible on Tuesday. Colder air is expected to drop in behind this front for the mid to late week but the data isn’t lined up with the exact timing and placement of the moisture and the colder air arriving. At this point looks like rain showers could end as a few scattered snow showers on Wednesday with another round of cold air as afternoon highs back down into the mid-30s. The colder air may not stick around long with some moderation in temperatures heading toward next weekend.

ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
FRIDAY NIGHT: Clear skies, another cold night. Lows around 20 degrees.
SATURDAY: More sunshine, breezy and milder. Highs in the mid-40s.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Fair skies, not as cold. Lows in the low-30s.