Winter weather pattern rolls on into the weekend

A stout clipper system brought a fresh blanket of snow to much of Central and Eastern Kentucky to close out the week on Friday. Snowfall totals were in the 3″-4″ inch range through the heart of the Bluegrass with a few isolated spots reaching 5″ or more. We did see this system overachieve across Southern Kentucky with much of that part of the commonwealth in the 1″ to 3″ range thanks to a heavier band of snow that rolled through late on Thursday evening. Of course travel was impacted Friday morning but the snow moved out early, leaving mostly cloudy skies  with a few peeks of sunshine for the remainder of the day. Temperatures did manage to get at or above freezing in many areas, which allowed a good bit of melting and improvement on the roadways.

Heading into Saturday another clipper system will dive into the Ohio Valley bringing another round of light snow potential, especially across the northern half of the state. Right now it appears the best chances for another 1″-2″ snow will be along and north of the I-64 corridor as this clipper’s track looks to be a little farther north but it could easily trend farther south and have some impact. Much of Saturday should be mostly cloudy with highs in the mid-30s here in Central Kentucky with a few low 40s possible down south. The additional light snow chances begin to ramp up late day and into the evening hours so those in the Bluegrass Region and points northward may be impacted the most. Given the snow potential, A Winter Weather Advisory is out from the Bluegrass Region and into Eastern Kentucky from 1 pm Saturday afternoon into Sunday.

A quick blast of Arctic air is forecast to come crashing into the region behind the departing wave of low pressure, bringing the coldest air of the season so far. Temperatures will fall all the way into the single digits by Sunday more, and with a moderate northwest wind at 10 to 15 miles per hour, wind chills will dip below zero at times so look for a Cold Weather Advisory is on the table for parts of the area from 1 am to 1pm Sunday when wind chills could drop in the -5 to -10 degree range.. Even with some sunshine expected on Sunday, afternoon highs will struggle to reach the mid-teens so this will be the coldest air we’ve seen since last winter. With the Arctic high pressure sitting right over into Monday morning and a decent snowpack adding to the cold air at the surface, temperatures could make a run at 0 degrees with a few spots even going below zero for morning lows so look for a frigid start to next week.

The good news is that the Arctic high will give way to the east pretty quickly on Monday so afternoon highs should recover all the way back into the mid to upper 20s. That’s still cold but at least we’ll be heading the right direction. With more of a southwest flow kicking in, look for a 10 degree jump day to day from Monday through Wednesday as highs reach the mid to upper 30s on Tuesday before surging into the mid to upper 40s on Wednesday. This will feel great considering the bitter cold on tap late this weekend. A few rain showers look possible late next week as the next system slides into the area. Stay safe and warm this weekend.