Unseasonably mild air kicks in for the holiday late this week

After a nice kick off to the winter season with sunshine and seasonal temperatures to close out the weekend on Sunday, we started out Christmas week with some additional sunshine early before clouds started to build in through the day as a mid-level wave moved toward the Ohio Valley from the southwest. We did manage to squeeze in another unseasonably mild day with afternoon highs back into the low 50s here in the Bluegrass with mid to upper-50s down south. Showers should develop through Monday evening and spread northeastward and this will be a prelude of things to come over the next few days.

A few scattered showers will be possible into the early hours of Tuesday but the bulk of the day should feature low clouds and some patchy drizzle on occasion as the moisture stays in place thanks to a weak frontal boundary stalling out over the commonwealth. Even with the clouds and occasional sprinkles around, afternoon highs should be in the mid to upper 50s here in the Bluegrass with a few low-60s down south. The sprinkles/drizzle will be more of a nuisance for any holiday travel but there could be some wet roadways around the region in places so keep that in mind.

Heading into Christmas Eve the stalled out boundary should begin to lift a little farther north keeping the majority of our area in the unseasonably mild air. It definitely won’t feel like the holidays as afternoon highs remain in the upper 50s in Central Kentucky with more low-60s down south. There shouldn’t be much in the way of sunshine as the clouds win out again but our rain chances will be fairly low on Wednesday. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait another year for the chance of a white Christmas as temperatures surge all the way into the low and mid-60s for Christmas Day with the front to our north and a southwest wind pushing milder air into the region. It looks like a few spotty showers will be possible as a wave of energy slides through the Ohio Valley but it shouldn’t be a wash-out for the big day. Afternoon highs will be some 20 degrees above average for Christmas with readings in the mid-60s, but we should stay a few degrees short of record highs. The big takeaway is that it won’t feel much like the holiday season this go-around.

Post Christmas holiday weather should feature more of the same with scattered clouds and a low end shower chance for Friday and into Saturday as temperatures stay above the curve for late December, Afternoon highs should remain into the 60s so it will feel pretty comfortable for this time of the year. The data is showing a more significant system plowing into the region by Sunday with more widespread rain chances and even a few storms possible of the set-up is right so that is something to monitor in the coming days. It does appear some colder air will return heading into early next week as we hit the home stretch for 2026.