Nice weather stays put to finish out July

We’ve enjoyed a delightful stretch of weather the last few days here in Central and Eastern Kentucky and Thursday was no exception. With high pressure continuing to dominate our weather, it was a very pleasant day across the area especially by late July standards. With plenty of sunshine around along with a breezy northeast wind pushing dry air into the commonwealth, afternoon highs reached the low-80s and it felt fantastic to be outdoors given the lower humidity levels once again.

The tranquil conditions will hang around as we wrap up the month of July on Friday as the area of high pressure stays in control for one more day. With abundant sunshine on tap for the area once again, afternoon highs will climb back into the mid to upper 80s. Fortunately humidity levels will stay low, which is unusual for the final day of July so once again it should be a good day for any outdoor plans. You’ll definitely want to soak up the sunshine while you can as changes are on the way for the weekend.

Our weather pattern will flip pretty quickly as we welcome August this weekend as a slow moving wave of low pressure slides through the Ohio Valley. With moisture returning from the south, scattered showers and storms are a good bet to kick off the weekend on Saturday with some pockets of heavy rain possible along with an isolated strong storm or two. The timing isn’t great with it falling on a summer weekend as outdoor plans will likely be impacted so keep that in mind. Afternoon highs will be held in check into the upper 70s to around 80 degrees. With the low overhead on Sunday, the shower and storm chances will lessen slightly but there will still be a few around as the overall unsettled conditions remain in place.

Heading into the first full week of August, the area of low pressure should weaken a bit as it drifts to the south, but much of the data is showing that it may get cut off from the upper level flow, allowing it to hang just to our south for a few days. The end result will be scattered storms popping up during the afternoon and early evening warmth on a daily basis, which is a pretty typical set-up for this time of the year. Afternoon highs will begin to climb a bit with temperatures topping out into the mid-80s by the middle of next week.