Rain chances return as temperatures stay mild into the late week

After a foggy start to Wednesday with reduced visibility during the early morning hours, some drier air eventually worked into Central and Eastern Kentucky through the day as a weak boundary lingering over the commonwealth moved off to the southeast. With some sunshine back in the picture through the afternoon, temperatures managed to work back into the mid-50s for afternoon highs with a few spots down south seeing low-60s,  which is roughly 10 to nearly 20 degrees above average for early January (depending on location) so it was definitely a pleasant mid-week.

The unseasonably mild air is going to hang around into the late week as our overall weather pattern begins to shift to more active and unsettled, at least for a few days. It should actually be a pretty nice Thursday overall, even with some scattered clouds around as the first of several waves of low pressure draw closer to the commonwealth. Winds will begin to pick up a bit out of the southeast at 10 to 15 miles per hour with gusts 25 to even 30 miles per hour at times. This will help drive afternoon highs all the way into the low and mid-60s. The first wave of rain and storms should arrive Thursday evening and into the early hours of Friday, which will be a prelude of things to come to close out the week.

Heading into Friday, some of the day may be dry as we’ll be in between the departing first wave and the second (and more significant) low pressure wave that should arrive later on Friday. Look for another breezy and mild day despite some clouds around as strong southwest wind at 10 to 20 miles per hour with guts over 30 once more helps to push afternoon highs all the way into the mid to upper 60s, which is around 20 degrees above average for this time of the year. More rain along with thunderstorms will arrive later in the day with the best chance of any strong storms remaining just to our southwest. However with the wind fields being so high and the overall set-up similar to the past few gusty showers/storms events we’ve had that have produced some low end severe weather, we’ll have to keep an eye on things. A third wave with a legitimate cold front will arrive into the weekend with additional showers in play for Saturday. Our “highs” for the day will be in the morning as temperatures drop off through the afternoon as the colder air begins to filter into the region. We could end up with some decent rain over that 2 to 3 day stretch with a solid 1″-2″ rainfall in most spots with locally higher amounts across our far southern counties.

It will definitely feel like January on Sunday as colder air settles back into the region behind the departing front. Afternoon highs should struggle into the low 30s and a mid-level wave could squeeze out a few light snow showers as it rotates through the Ohio Valley, otherwise look for a mix of clouds and sunshine to go along with the chilly temperatures. The good news is that temperatures should slowly moderate into early next week with afternoon highs climbing back into the upper 30s/low-40s on Monday with readings in the mid-40s Tuesday as we settle back into a quiet pattern for a few days as high pressure controls our weather.