Summer heat cranks up across the area over the next few days
With afternoon highs in the mid-90s by Friday, heat indices could be above the 100 degree mark in a few spots
It was another warm and muggy day across Central and Eastern Kentucky Tuesday with some hazy sunshine and afternoon highs reaching the upper 80s to right around 90 degrees. We managed to avoid much if any thunderstorm development, which was a far cry from the light show Mother Nature out on Monday evening as big storms created lots of lightning, heavy rain and gusty winds as they moved through Central and Eastern Kentucky.
High pressure should stay in control enough on Wednesday to keep things dry across the area, which will allow for more sunshine and heat to slowly move into Kentucky. Afternoon highs should make a run into the low 90s in most locations but fortunately heat index values shouldn’t be off the charts but it won’t take much for things to be pretty uncomfortable if you are out for any length of time during the hottest part of the day.
Our forecast looks a little more tricky for Thursday as a wave of energy passes by to our north late Wednesday night and into early Thursday. A thunderstorm complex could be on-going across the central part of the Ohio Valley and some of the data is indicating the rain cooled air from the diminishing storms to our north, which would help fuel a few isolated to scattered storms across Central and Eastern Kentucky. This may hold temperatures down into the low 90s Thursday, but we’ll crank up the heat on Friday with highs surging into the mid-90s!
While humidity levels will be up a bit, luckily we won’t see overly oppressive conditions because given the expected heat, that could have a negative impact on heat index values and create some heat related issues. No matter how you slice it up, heat indices should be just above the 100 degree mark in a few locations both Thursday and Friday so you’ll want to keep that in mind.
Our overall weather pattern with unseasonably hot temperatures will continue into the weekend as the jet stream is pushed all the way up along the U.S/Canadian border thanks to the bubble of high pressure over much of the eastern part of the country. The favored area for active weather will stay to our north, although a few storms will be possible as a weak frontal boundary drops into the area late Saturday and into Sunday.
ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
TUESDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear and warm. Lows in the upper-60s to around 70 degrees.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny, breezy and hot. Highs in the low-90s.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Warm and muggy with isolated storms. Lows in the low-70s.
