Scattered storms back in the mix to close out the week

It definitely felt like the heart of July across Central and Eastern Kentucky again on Thursday with plenty of heat and humidity in place. Abundant sunshine early along with a few scattered clouds allowed afternoon highs to climb into the low-90s in many locations and with more humidity around, our “feel-like” temperatures crept toward the 100 degree mark during the peak heating of the day. After a couple of dry days across the area, we saw a few pop-up storms here and there, especially to our west and southwest and the upward trend in storm chances will continue over the next few days.

A weak front will drop through the Ohio Valley and  put on the brakes as we close out the week on Friday so look for a return of scattered shower and thunderstorm chances across the commonwealth. With lots of available moisture in place and the expected slow movement given the lack of upper level winds, any storms that fire will have the potential of producing heavy rainfall along with localized flooding issues. Away from the storms look for another warm and humid Friday with afternoon highs into the upper-80s and the heat index values still approaching the 100 degree mark late day so make sure and hydrate properly if you have to be outside for any length of time.

An area of low pressure is expected to pass by to our north to begin the weekend, which will allow another weak front to drop southward toward the commonwealth. With plenty of humidity still hanging around, additional showers and storms will be possible on Saturday. Don’t cancel any outdoor plans given the scattered nature of the rainfall but definitely change things before you head out. Locally heavy downpours will still be possible so keep that in mind. Temperatures will continue to be right around average through the weekend with afternoon highs topping out mainly in the mid to upper-80s. Sunday looks to be a little better day overall with lower storm chances as the front diminishes somewhat so that may be a better day for outdoor activities.

We should start the week on a mainly dry note as we’ll be in between the parade of weak frontal boundaries Monday so look for some sunshine and afternoon highs into the upper 80s. A more legitimate cold front should slide into the area on Tuesday with a few more scattered storms but this front will be the leading edge of drier and “cooler” air that should give us a nice break from the summer heat and humidity into the middle part of next week. Afternoon highs are trending toward the low-80s for a few days along with more comfortable humidity levels so that should be something to look forward to.

Just a quick update on the latest Drought Monitor out on Thursday. Much of the state is now drought free after all the consistent rainfall the last month. However we still have a couple of spots of moderate to severe drought down south, one around the Casey County area, and the other the southeastern mountains. These areas were in extreme drought for a long period of time, so there has been a lot of improvement in those spots but they still need a bit more rain to catch up.