Strong storm threat now on the table for Saturday
With a cold front moving in, storms are possible with damaging winds and even an isolated tornado spin-up possible
You could really feel a return of the humid summer air on Friday across Central and Eastern Kentucky. With all that moisture around scattered showers and storms rolled through the area during the course of the day producing some localized heavy downpours. The majority of the activity was in Central Kentucky early before shifting into the southern part of the state through the afternoon. Of course temperatures varied depending on the placement of the storms and the ability for skies to clear out and warm up through the day but most locations saw upper 70s and low 80s for highs. The muggy air made it feel much more uncomfortable to be outside and it now appears the stormy and unsettled weather will stay in place to kick off the weekend.
With a frontal boundary slowly dropping through the commonwealth on Saturday, the chances for scattered showers and storms will be with us but the biggest change is the latest data is now indicating we could see a little higher chance for some strong to severe storms in our area. It appears we’ll start the day dry and this will allow temperatures to heat up to around 90 degrees during the early afternoon. With the front pushing into the hot and humid air, thunderstorms should fire and if we see clusters of storms develop which is likely, the risk for strong storms will be in play. The Storm Prediction Center has upped the severe threat to a Level 2 risk (out of 5) for basically all of Central and Eastern Kentucky. While damaging winds will be the primary threat, there is the potential for an isolated spin-up tornado so definitely keep that in mind since it is a weekend day and lots of folks will be out and about. It’s a great time to download our new ABC 36 Storm Team weather app to stay informed this weekend and every day!
Once the front clears into Sunday the severe threat will go away and we’ll see some “cooler” air drop in with a northwest flow ushering it in. There will be some energy rotating on the back side of the departing low pressure center over the Eastern Great Lakes so a few scattered showers will be possible but afternoon highs will only reach the upper 70s! As that system continues to work eastward on Monday, far Eastern Kentucky could see a leftover shower but we should continue to dry out as temperatures remain nice for late August, which will be a prelude of things to come into the middle of next week.
As we’ve talked about the last several days, it looks like another “fall-like” air-mass will settle into the Ohio Valley beginning on Tuesday with our humidity levels tumbling into the “comfy” range as dry air moves in along with unseasonably mild air to go along with it. Add plenty of sunshine into the mix and next Tuesday and Wednesday should be nearly perfect with afternoon highs barely sneaking into the low 80s as we stay quite comfortable. Of course we’ll see a slow warm-up toward things end of next week but nothing off the charts as afternoon highs work back into the mid-80s, just in time for high school football to kick off next Friday.
ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
FRIDAY NIGHT: A few clouds, mainly dry. Lows in the low 70s.
SATURDAY: Hot and humid with P.M. storms, some strong. Highs in the upper-80s to around 90 degrees.
SATURDAY NIGHT: More showers and storms. Lows in the upper-60s.
