Temperatures continue to surge as rain chances increase

Despite a few scattered clouds early, it was a pretty delightful mid December day on Wednesday across Central and Eastern Kentucky. A persistent southwest wind along with the aforementioned clouds helped temperatures rise a bit during the early hours of the day so most folks enjoyed low to mid-40s heading out this morning. A weak wave of energy moved south of the commonwealth, which kept some clouds around for awhile but we did manage to see sunshine return to the Bluegrass and this made a huge difference with temperatures. As a result, afternoon highs jumped back into the low to mid-50s across the board and it really felt amazing to be out and about. That’s quite a recovery considering we were in the deep freeze just a few days ago.

A stout cold front will drop into the Ohio Valley on Thursday bringing a return of scattered rain and even a few thunderstorms to the area. Winds will increase ahead of the boundary with gusts 30 to 35 miles per hour at times so keep that in mind for any holiday decorations you may have up outside. This strong wind should help push afternoon highs all the way into the upper 50s, which is a good solid 10 degrees plus above average for this time of the year. While the showers will be scattered during the afternoon, the main action looks to be right on the nose of the cold front heading into Thursday evening with gusty showers and thunderstorms on the table. While the overall threat is low, a few storms could potentially be strong given the wind fields being so elevated along the front so keep that in mind.

Once the front moves east of the commonwealth into early Friday, much colder air will follow suit with temperatures dropping all the way into the mid to upper 20s to begin Friday. The majority of the moisture should be gone by the time the cold air arrives and there should be enough wind to dry the roads off however you may have to watch for a few slick spots due to the leftover moisture from the rain freezing up quickly. A few snow showers/flurries will be possible mainly in Eastern Kentucky, otherwise it should be a cold and blustery day with afternoon highs only in the low to mid-30s and it will feel colder than that with the brisk northwest wind. In fact wind chills could dip down into the single digits for a few hours early Friday morning so bundle up! Heading into the weekend to close out the fall season Saturday, a warm front will arc through the area early allowing temperatures to rise quickly so look for a milder day with a bit of sunshine and afternoon highs back into the low-50s.

A weak frontal boundary looks to slide through early Sunday as the Winter Solstice occurs at 10:03 am. Other than a passing shower it looks mainly dry with some clouds and slightly cooler temperatures. Afternoon highs should back down into the mid-40s, which is right around average for the first day of winter. Heading into Christmas week, a few disturbances may slide through the region bringing low end shower chances but nothing major which is good news for any holiday travel. The big story will be a return of milder air as afternoon highs climb back into the 50s as the Christmas holiday rapidly approaches late next week.