Unsettled and stormy weather pattern kicks back in for the late week

It was another warm and muggy day across Central and Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday but with a frontal system moving in from the west scattered showers and storms developed through the day. Some of these produced some torrential rain and small hail and there is a chance for could see some additional strong to even severe storms through Wednesday evening as the boundary draws closer to the commonwealth. The main threat is for damaging winds and some hail and luckily the tornado threat is very low given the dynamics in place so that shouldn’t be a big concern. With all the clouds and storms around, afternoon highs mainly stayed in the upper 70s across the region. We did enough a pretty sunrise across parts of the commonwealth before the storms moved in.

You’ll want to keep the rain gear handy as we close out the week as occasional rain and storms will be likely both Thursday and Friday. The issue is that the front will stall out as it run parallel to the upper level flow so there will be nothing to push it out of the way initially. This will keep plenty of moisture around so any show2ers or storms could produce some additional heavy rain which may lead to some localized flooding concerns. The Storm Prediction Center does have the southern half of the common wealth under a Level 1 severe risk (out of 5) for Thursday with damaging winds again being the main threat with any stronger storm, although right now the chances of this doesn’t appear to be widespread. Afternoon highs will stay warm with readings in the upper 70s to around 80 degrees.

This weekend is the “unofficial start of summer” as we roll into the Memorial Day weekend and unfortunately it doesn’t look like Mother Nature will cooperate fully with a dry forecast. To kick things off on Saturday, it is looking a bit drier with just a few isolated to scattered storms in the forecast. It shouldn’t be a wash-out and it may end up turning into a pretty nice day, especially with some much going on outdoors for the holiday weekend. Temperatures look very summer-like with highs in the low-80s.

A stronger wave of low pressure will slide eastward and through the heart of the region on Sunday, not only increasing the chances for more rain and storms but also ramping up the chances we could see some organized severe weather. Right now the Storm Prediction Center has much of our area and points westward in the elevated risk for severe storms in the “Extended Outlook”. This just gives us an early heads-up on the possibility and with some many people being outside and out on the water at many of the fantastic lakes across the commonwealth so you’ll definitely want to keep an eye on things. Some of the data is showing there could be multiple waves of storms coming through so that’s a concern as well. Rolling into Memorial Day, the models are trying to increase the rain and storm chances again so at the very least will be dealing with more unsettled weather. Stay tuned.

ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy with scattered storms. Lows in the mid-60s.
THURSDAY: Occasional rain and storms. Highs in the upper-70s.
THURSDAY NIGHT: More clouds and scattered storms. Lows in the mid-60s.