Warm for Easter weekend with a few storms possible

It was a delightful Good Friday across Central and Eastern Kentucky as high pressure dominated much of the region. The combination of sunshine along with a west to southwest wind help temperatures overachieve in most spots with afternoon highs topping out into the upper 60s and low 70s. The bottom line is that it was an awesome late March day and our unseasonably warm temperatures will hang around for Easter weekend.

A warm front will be stretched out across the central part of the Ohio Valley on Saturday and should be the focal point of a few isolated to scattered storms. Much of Central and Eastern Kentucky will remain south of the boundary in the warmer sector so afternoon highs will continue to be unseasonably warm reaching the low and mid-70s. Another thing that will help with this is a strong southwest wind that should be sustained at 15 to 20 miles per hour with gusts over 30 miles per hour at times. Other than an isolated storm or two, most locations will be dry.

While the boundary may lay across Northern Kentucky late Saturday, it should begin to lift northward into Easter Sunday keeping us in the warm air with highs in the mid-70s. Despite the northern shift of the front there is still the potential of a few isolated storms across the northern half of the state, mainly later in the day. In fact the Storm Prediction Center has area along and north of I-64 in the low end severe threat (Level 1 out of 5) but the more organized storms should be up into Indiana and Ohio as we close out March.

We kick off the month of April on Monday with an increasing storm threat as a stronger area of low pressure approaches from the west with the frontal boundary still stalled out to our north. It’s no April Fools joke that the storm coverage and intensity should begin to increase on Monday. With plenty of warm, moist air streaming up from the southwest the ingredients are coming together for some organized severe weather in the Ohio Valley late Monday and into Tuesday. The Storm Prediction Center is their extended severe weather outlook has the more favored area just to out west on Monday with all of the commonwealth in the risk area for the day on Tuesday as the main surface cold front moves through. This is essentially a heads up for the possibility of severe storms early next week with all storm modes on the table at this point.

Big changes will kick in behind the front into the middle of net week as much cooler air plunges in behind the departing early week system. We should go from the low 70s on Tuesday ahead of the front to afternoon highs struggling to get out of the 40s for highs on Wednesday as a northwest wind brings some chilly air and scattered showers to the area so it should be a bit raw into the middle part of next week.

ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
FRIDAY NIGHT: A few clouds and breezy. Lows in the upper 40s and low 50s.
SATURDAY: Windy and warm, an isolated storm possible. Highs in the low-70s.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Breezy and mild with a few storms. Lows in the mid-50s.