Winter officially arrived Wednesday and Mother Nature will follow suit soon.
The wait continues for the Arctic blast to arrive late Thursday and into Friday
It was a nice Wednesday across Central and Eastern Kentucky as we closed out the fall season with afternoon highs into the upper 40s and low 50s. Winter officially arrived at 4:47pm Eastern time and while it will remain “mild” for the first full day of winter Thursday, the much advertised Arctic blast is looming.
The hours are ticking away as we draw closer to the blast of Arctic air that will slide into Central and Eastern Kentucky late Thursday and into Friday. Even though there aren’t major changes in what to expect or our messaging, NOW is the time to prepare for a very impactful and disruptive winter storm. Temperatures are expected to drop drastically as the boundary moves through with a 30 degree drop over a 2-3 hour period. After going to bed with temperatures in the 40s late Thursday, folks will wake up to temperatures below zero and that’s NOT factoring in the wind.
As we’ve said all along, the cold and wind are the major players with this event and this isn’t anything to play around with. It is happening and will be dangerously cold with the wind chills on Friday. Of course this is typically “get away” day for the holiday weekend but the cruel reality is that it is going to be extremely difficult to attempt to travel on Friday. If you can adjust plans by leaving Thursday or waiting until Saturday…I would highly recommend it.
The only thing that’s in question will be snow totals…which are always a challenge around here. At this point a 2-3″ snow with locally higher amounts is possible with higher totals to our northwest. No matter the amount of snow, it’s going to be blowing around like crazy on Friday (whether it’s 1″ or 4″…it doesn’t matter) which will just contribute to the dangerous outdoor conditions. The bottom line is that Friday is going to be a mess. Just try to avoid going out if you can, in addition to traveling. If you do travel…make sure you have your winter preparedness kit in your car as it could be a lifesaver. Wind chills will consistently be -15 to -20 (or worse) through Friday and into early Saturday. That should speak for itself.
A Winter Weather Advisory is out for the entire area through 1pm Friday with a Wind Chill Watch in place as well. This should be upgraded to either a Wind Chill Advisory or a Wind Chill Warning. Just for perspective, the last time a Wind Chill Warning was out for our area was January 2015!
We’ll continue to monitor this system as we roll into Thursday. Look for updates on-air and on-line on ABC 36 with yours truly, Dillon Gaudet Weather and Meteorologist Jordan Smith.
ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Clouds increase, showers late. Lows in the upper-30s.
THURSDAY: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs in the upper-40s.
THURSDAY NIGHT: Temperatures crash, rain to snow, windy and bitterly cold. Lows around 0 degrees with wind chills -10 to -20.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Clouds increase, showers late. Lows in the upper-30s.
THURSDAY: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs in the upper-40s.
THURSDAY NIGHT: Temperatures crash, rain to snow, windy and bitterly cold. Lows around 0 degrees with wind chills -10 to -20.
