The recent deep freeze eases a bit as we begin February

A storm system Tuesday should bring a mixed bag of rain south and snow north

1 hour ago

T.G. Shuck,

After being locked in the deep freeze for the final 2 weeks of January and to kick off February over the weekend, we finally made some progress temperature-wise to begin the first full week of the new month. Monday was Groundhog Day, and of course Phil did see his shadow so per legend that means 6 more weeks of winter but let’s hope that’s a forecast that actually misses given what we’ve dealt with lately. A fast moving clipper system dropped through the Great Lakes producing some clouds and a few flakes of snow across the area but fortunately it didn’t amount to much. More importantly a southwest flow picked up enough to push afternoon highs back into the mid-30s, allowing much of the area to eclipse the elusive freezing mark, which has been a tall task the last couple of weeks.

Heading into Tuesday a wave of low pressure will slide through the commonwealth, bringing a mixed bag of precipitation with rain, snow, and even both for some folks. The timing and track of the low are key to the equation as always. At this point, a south wind just ahead of the system should help push afternoon highs all the way into the mid to upper 30s so with the bulk of the moisture arriving through the afternoon, it looks to be a chilly rain across the south, a mix of rain/wet snow across the central part of the state, and finally a swath of some light snow somewhere along/north of the I-64 corridor. The system isn’t expected to have major impacts but where it does snow we could see around 1″ (and locally up to 2″) of wet, slushy snow so that could impact travel by Tuesday evening and into Wednesday morning. As a result a “tiered” Winter Weather Advisory is out for the Bluegrass Region and points northward with various start and expiration times through the day on Tuesday. It’s going to be a case where a few miles will make a difference between the snow and rain given the track. Snow showers should wind down into Tuesday night as we dry out. There isn’t any Arctic air that will follow this time so that’s a major plus!

Look for a quiet and colder mid-week as we see a reminder that it is early February again as a north breeze ushers in more cold air but it shouldn’t be as frigid as the Arctic air-mass we dealt with last week. Afternoon highs Wednesday should recover into the upper 20s with a few clouds hanging around but most importantly it will be dry. Look for a cold start to Thursday with low teens on the table before we see a return of a few peeks of sunshine during the afternoon. Unfortunately we’ll stay locked into to the cold for another day as afternoon highs struggle back into the upper 20s thanks to the northwest flow aloft keeping this brief winter pattern in place.

Another clipper system will dive through Great Lakes to close out the week on Friday allowing a southwest wind to kick in, thus pushing afternoon highs back into the mid to upper 30s (with a few low 40s on the table down south). While the majority of the moisture should remain to our north, it’s possible to see a few rain and snow showers through the afternoon hours, especially across Northern and Northeastern Kentucky but once again the timing of the activity will be a big determining factor relative to whether its rain or snow but either way the chances of any impacts look to be very small. Once again expect a reinforcing shot of colder air behind the departing clipper with upper 20s on Saturday before we moderate a bit more as the 30s come back in the picture. Looking at the overall weather pattern, much of the data is now showing at least a slightly warming trend into the mid part of the month, which would put us back into the 40s for afternoon highs so we’ll keep an eye on that.