Reality check as January feel returns to close out the week
After high temperatures week above average much of the week, expect more winter-like readings into the weekend.
Once again it felt more like spring on Thursday across Central and Eastern Kentucky with sunshine and very windy conditions, which helped drive our afternoon highs into the low to mid-60s. Wind gusts were 50 to 55 miles per hour in many locations as a strong wave of low pressure moved through the Ohio Valley. That area of low pressure helped fuel a few storms just to our north into Indiana and Ohio but we managed to avoid any issues other than the gradient winds in our area, which did cause some spotty damage reports. Just one example was a sign at the Denny’s in Elizabethtown blown down, damaging a car and injuring 3 people in the process due to those strong wind gusts.
All good things must come to an end and our stretch of mild air ends heading into Friday as much colder air wraps around the departing area of low pressure. Clouds will return and linger through the day on Friday as temperatures struggle to even make it out of the mid-30s! Add a brisk west wind into the mix and our “feel-like” temperatures will be down into the 20s. This will be quite a shock to the system given how mild it has been of late. A few flakes of snow can’t be ruled out from time to time to go away with the winter like feel.
Heading into the weekend, it looks fairly quiet to start as high pressure rolls through on Saturday with a return of some sunshine and afternoon highs in the mid-40s. Our next storm system will move in from the southwest into early Sunday. At this point it appears a few snowflakes will be possible on the front and tail end of the activity but mainly we are looking at a chilly rain with highs struggling to reach the 40 degree mark.
Our active weather pattern will continue into next week as another southern stream system makes at run at Central and Eastern Kentucky. At this point it is a case of watching the “model trends” with the position of the low pressure system being critical to what type of precipitation we see…that’s rain or snow. The farther north and northwest the low tracks, the better chance for rain with a southeastern track favoring more of a snow event. The data will bounce around for several days trying to get a handle on this system so at this point a rain/snow mix is in the forecast for next Wednesday followed by some colder air and snow showers on the backside. Stay tuned!
THURSDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy, windy and colder…a few flurries. Lows in the low-30s.
FRIDAY: Clouds linger, breezy and cold. Highs in the mid to upper 30s.
FRIDAY NIGHT: Scattered clouds, clearing late. Lows in the mid-20s.
