More mild air settles in for the holidays mid-week

It was a cloudy and dreary Tuesday across Central and Eastern Kentucky as the countdown is on for the Christmas holiday arriving as we head into the mid-week. Despite all the clouds around and a few spotty showers and patches of drizzle, temperatures were unseasonably mild with most locations camped out into the mid to upper 50s the majority of the day thanks to a strong south wind at 10 to 15 miles per hour. Much of the day was mainly dry so the weather was decent for any last minute holiday shopping or activities.

Rolling into Christmas Eve on Wednesday, the unseasonably mild stretch of weather is set to continue even with a stalled out frontal boundary over the region. This front will set up a temperature gradient across the area with “cooler” highs in the mid to upper 50s north with milder mid to even upper 60s across our far southern counties. Hopefully we can squeeze a few peeks of sunshine in from time to time but do expect a good bit of cloudiness around. A wave of energy will ride along the front and slide toward our area heading into Christmas Eve night so that will be our best window for a few scattered rain showers as temperatures remain into the 50s. It’s unfortunate the air won’t be cold enough for snow given the moisture around heading into Christmas.

Folks should wake up Christmas morning to wet instead of white as scattered showers are expected for a brief period during the early hours of the day as the wave of energy slides off to the east. This wave will nudge the front farther north, essentially putting everyone in very mild air for the big holiday. Looks for afternoon highs to reach the mid to even upper 60s, which is around 20 degrees above average for Christmas Day but should be short or record highs for most spots. Showers will linger off and on throughout the day so while it won’t be a washout, it will be a good day to be inside with friends and family enjoying the holiday. More mild air is on tap as we close out the week on Friday with a few more rain showers on the table thanks to some additional energy rotating along the stalled out front overhead. The extended stretch of mild air will roll along with another day of mid to upper 60s for highs.

Heading into the final weekend of 2025, we’ll start out with more mild air along with a mainly dry Saturday expected. Even with some scattered clouds around, afternoon highs should climb yet again into the mid to upper 60s, which will pout us just under record high territory for the end of December. Sunday looks to be transition day as a more legitimate wave of low pressure spins in from the northwest, pulling a cold front into the Ohio Valley. Rain chances will ramp up ahead of the front along with a strong southwest wind giving us one final push of milder air just ahead of the front early in the day before temperatures crash as the front moves eastward. At this point it appears Sunday’s high temperatures will be during the early to middle part of the afternoon (upper 50s to low 60s) before steadily falling through the evening with low 30s possible by midnight. Much colder and drier air will settle in for the final days of the year with early next week serving as a reminder that we are heading into the heart of winter with the New Year upon us. Even with sunshine around afternoon highs will struggle into the mid to upper 20s early next week with lows in the teens!