Unsettled and stormy weather continues to kick off July
We could still see a few rounds of storms through the weekend that could produce some damaging winds and heavy rain
It was another mainly overcast day to wrap up the month of June across Central and Eastern Kentucky on Friday. However parts of the Bluegrass including the Lexington metro area saw a cluster of thunderstorms develop during the early morning hours while most folks were sleeping. This cluster produce very heavy downpours and lots of lightning, dropping a solid 2″ of rain in the process. Once that activity diminished, you could really feel the muggy air filling into the area, even though afternoon highs stayed into the low and mid-80s thanks to the cloudiness. While it may not be a wash-out, this pattern will stick around as we kick off July this weekend.
As mentioned the last few days, the model data generally struggles with this type of weather pattern relative to the timing and placement of these clusters of thunderstorms. As a result of that, confidence is high that we’ll see a few rounds of storms over the weekend but exactly when and where is less certain. That being said, another storms have the possibility of producing some damaging winds, very heavy rain and lots of lightning. Based on that potential, The Storm Prediction Center has much of the area in a Level 2 severe risk (out of 5) BOTH Saturday and Sunday with the waves of storms expected. Keep in mind the primary threats are damaging winds, heavy rain and some hail. Luckily the tornado threat is very low with any storms around.
Looking ahead to early next week and heading toward Independence Day, we should see a little bit of improvement as the frontal boundary to our west finally works through the area. Even though it should stall to the south, high pressure to our west should provide enough dry air to keep our storm chances mainly isolated with the warmth of the afternoon as highs reach the mid to upper 80s, which is right around average for the early part of July. Have a safe weekend and enjoy the holiday if you are starting your celebration over the next few days.
ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
FRIDAY NIGHT: Warm with scattered storms. Lows in the low-70s.
SATURDAY: Hot and humid with more storms. Highs in the mid to upper-80s to low-90s.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Warm and muggy with a few storms. Lows in the low 70s.
