After a fantastic week of weather across Central and Eastern Kentucky Thursday was transition day from a very dry to a some what wetter pattern in the coming days. With Francine becoming a remnant low pressure system and heading north after making landfall Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane along the Louisiana Gulf Coast with saw an increase in mid…
After a fantastic week of weather across Central and Eastern Kentucky Thursday was transition day from a very dry to a some what wetter pattern in the coming days. With Francine becoming a remnant low pressure system and heading north after making landfall Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane along the Louisiana Gulf Coast with saw an increase in mid to high level cloud cover from south to north. This had an impact on afternoon highs with areas along I-64 northward reaching the low-80s while Southern Kentucky remained in the 70s thanks to the earlier arrival of the overcast skies. The higher clouds at daybreak did make for some beautiful sunrise pictures to say the least.
We’ve mentioned all week how tricky this scenario is with tropical remnants relative to rainfall totals as it is all about the set-up. The remnant low will essentially put on the brakes and camp out over Southeast Missouri and far Western Kentucky on Friday as it encounters a strong ridge of high pressure to the north that is essentially blocking its path. So as the system sits and spins the areas closest to it will receive some decent rainfall totals over the next couple of days with a sharp gradient or cut-off to the steady rain the farther east and northeast you go. It does appear that we’ll see a few rounds of scattered showers and some thunder here in Central and Eastern Kentucky on Friday as afternoon highs reach the low to mid-80s given the lack of widespread rain. Much of the data is still showing 1/4″ to 1/2″ of rainfall west of the I-75 corridor with 2″-3″ potential totals west of I-65 in far Western Kentucky. Any activity into Friday evening could have a few lightning strikes so that bears watching with Friday night high school football.
Heading into the weekend the upper level ridge of high pressure to the north may strengthen a bit more as Francine’s leftovers spin down and drift to the south. This would keep the rain/storm chances in the isolated to scattered category so we aren’t looking at a wash-out for the weekend. Of course Kentucky hosts #1 Georgia on Saturday evening at Kroger Field (7:30pm and you can see it right here on ABC 36) so just plan on taking the rain gear along as we could see a few showers during tailgating and hopefully be mainly dry into Saturday evening. Afternoon highs both weekend days will be mainly in the low 80s with some clouds and a few showers potentially around.
We could really use the rain per the updated Drought Monitor which was issued on Thursday. It doesn’t paint a good picture as much of Northern and Northeastern Kentucky are now in a moderate drought with a few pockets actually dropping into the severe drought range. Parts of Western Kentucky are in that range but the expected rainfall through the weekend should help matters there a lot. We are still looking at the possibility of a coastal low over the Carolinas drifting back to the west and moving inland enough to throw a few showers our way into the early and middle part of next week, which would be beneficial for sure. Even though it won’t rain consistently we do have daily shower chances in the forecast through the middle of next week with highs remaining in the low-80s.
ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
THURSDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with a few showers. Lows in the mid-60s.
FRIDAY: Breezy with scattered showers, some thunder. Highs in the low-80s.
FRIDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy with a few showers. Lows in the mid-60s.