Weekend forecast headed the right direction with a drier and warmer trend
Most of the showers and storms Saturday should now be confined to Southern and Southeastern Kentucky
It was definitely a damp and dreary Friday across Central and Eastern Kentucky thanks to a mid-level wave of energy sliding through the Ohio Valley. Even though we did see some pockets of heavier downpours at times, it ended up being a consistent and fairly light rain through much of the day. Naturally with all the clouds and rain around temperatures underachieve with afternoon highs struggling to sneak into the low 70s with a few spots only seeing upper 60s. This was definitely a bit of a curve ball from Mother Nature but there is another one coming into Saturday but this one may end up being a home run for much of the area!
In a nutshell the forecast for the weekend is now trending drier and warmer as the area of low pressure that was expected to creep by to our south keeping rain and storms around Saturday and into Sunday is now looking like it will be in and out in short order based on the latest data. This low should get caught up in the upper level flow enough to push it to the east coast by the end of the day on Saturday. This will be far enough away to keep the majority of the area mainly dry with the best chance for scattered showers and storms being across our southern and southeastern counties on Saturday. With less rain and drier conditions. temperatures should be better as well with most locations making a run at the 80 degree mark for afternoon highs.
This quicker exit will create a domino effect in that it should cut down on the leftover showers chances on Sunday in the east, essentially giving us a dry finish to the weekend across the board. The much advertised warm-up should be in full swing as early as Sunday now with an upward tick in temperatures carrying into the early part of next week. Afternoon highs should roll into the low and mid-80s through Monday and Tuesday with a good bit of sunshine so you can look forward to an early taste of summer as we roll into the latter part of May.
Looking ahead to the middle of next week, our next storm system will gear up in the Central Plains and head eastward. This one we will have to watch for the potential of some strong to severe storm potentially Wednesday and into Wednesday night. Right now the model data isn’t totally synced up on strength and timing but the signs are there for a few stronger storms given the set-up so we’ll watch that closely in the coming days.
ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
FRIDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy, a few showers. Lows in the upper-50s.
SATURDAY: Partly sunny, showers and storms mainly south. Highs in the upper-70s.
SATURDAY NIGHT: A few clouds, drying out. Lows in the upper 50s to around 60 degrees.
