With a wave of low pressure sliding into the Ohio Valley from the west we saw a wet and stormy start to Tuesday and this overall pattern will be a prelude of things to come as the week wears on. The morning round of rain and storms gave way to a brief break in the action before more activity cranked…
With a wave of low pressure sliding into the Ohio Valley from the west we saw a wet and stormy start to Tuesday and this overall pattern will be a prelude of things to come as the week wears on. The morning round of rain and storms gave way to a brief break in the action before more activity cranked up during the afternoon hours. A few of the storms were on the strong to severe side containing localized heavy rain, gusty/damaging winds, and even some small hail. With all the clouds and rain around, afternoon highs were a bit cooler into the 70s and we should see more of the same this week with high temperatures closer to average.
Even though the area of low pressure will slide through the Great Lakes into Wednesday the frontal boundary will stall out right over Central Kentucky keeping the chances of scattered storms around. While the overall coverage should be less than what we saw Tuesday, you’ll need to keep the rain gear handy both Wednesday and Thursday since there will be a few storms to dodge on occasion thanks to the boundary and an upper low to our west. Afternoon highs should reach the mid to upper 70s and it will continue to feel a bit of the moisture side as moisture is fed northward from the Gulf out ahead of Tropical Storm Helene (eventually forecasted to become Hurricane Helene) that will have major impacts on the southeast U.S. and even affect our weather by the end of the week.
The tropical disturbance that’s been lingering south of Cuba the last few days strengthened to become Tropical Storm Helene and should become Hurricane Helene into Wednesday. It should then zigzag into the Southern Gulf of Mexico and make landfall on Thursday as a major hurricane near the Big Bend area of Florida as of the latest forecast track. High pressure off the east coast coupled with the upper low over the mid-south should help steer the hurricane toward that section of Florida for a landfall but also bring the leftovers right into the heart of Central and Eastern Kentucky as a depression into Friday.
While Helene should rapidly weaken once inland, there should be a good bit of tropical moisture with it once it arrives in our area since it typically takes awhile to squeeze all the moisture out. This should put the commonwealth front and center for a soaking rain on Friday (with a few storms mixed in) along with breezy to windy conditions as the remnants spin down over the area.
Even though the best rain chances will be on Friday, the remnant low will be absorbed into the upper low to our west heading into the weekend. This upper low should then slowly drift to the northeast and linger in the region for a few days. The end result will be additional rainfall chances through the upcoming weekend and into early next week so look for the unsettled weather to continue. Rainfall totals should be pretty solid with most locations looking at a good 2″-4″ rain with locally higher amounts. This will go a long way to lessening the persistent dry conditions we’ve dealt with the last several months. Keep in mind things could shift a bit over the next day or two so we’ll keep you posted on any major changes.
ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST TUESDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy with a few storms. Lows in the mid-60s. WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with scattered showers…some thunder. Highs in the mid to upper-70s. WEDNESDAY NIGHT: More clouds, isolated showers. Lows in the low-60s.
