It was another dandy day of late summer weather on Tuesday across Central and Eastern Kentucky. Early morning temperatures overachieved yet again with most locations falling into the mid to upper 40s to start the day. We saw plenty of bright sunshine around the region thanks to high pressure just to air east providing plenty of dry air at the…
It was another dandy day of late summer weather on Tuesday across Central and Eastern Kentucky. Early morning temperatures overachieved yet again with most locations falling into the mid to upper 40s to start the day. We saw plenty of bright sunshine around the region thanks to high pressure just to air east providing plenty of dry air at the surface. Afternoon highs managed to sneak back into the low to mid-80s despite the mid-level deck of smoke particles hanging over the region from the wildfires out in the Pacific Northwest. These smoke particles have helped provide some beautiful sunrise and sunset shots across the commonwealth trhe last few days with the scattering of light along the horizon.
We are looking at more of the same into the mid-week and the dry and tranquil conditions persist across Kentucky. It will be on the warm to hot side with the early to mid September sunshine helping to push afternoon highs into the mid to upper 80s! One bit of good news is that humidity levels shouldn’t be high at all thanks to the very dry air in place so we aren’t looking at a very muggy day despite it being on the toasty side through the afternoon hours. Out humidity levels should take a decent jump heading into the late week and weekend as some tropical moisture starts to stream in from the southwest.
Tropical Storm Francine continues to hang in the western Gulf of Mexico just to the southeast of the Texas Gulf Coast but is forecast to increase to a Category 1 hurricane and increase its forward speed over the next 24 hours. Based on the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center, Francine should make landfall along the Louisiana Gulf Coast late Wednesday before moving inland and weakening significantly into the late week. However the leftover tropical moisture and remnants of the system should slide to the north and be positioned just to our west by Friday and into the weekend, bring some beneficial rains to parts of the area.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, these tropical systems can be quite tricky once they move inland relating to positioning and how much moisture they squeeze out. The real X factor with Francine’s remnants will be the strength of a high pressure ridge that will essentially block the northward movement of the system after it works into the bootheel of Missouri. This situation is “fluid” (no pun intended) and now much of the model data is indicating the blocking bubble of high pressure may be a bit stronger than originally thought. What does this mean? It could indicate that Francine’s remnants may A) weaken a bit more rapidly, and B) actually be pushed back to the south and southeast into the weekend. The end result would place our best rain chances on Friday here in Central and Eastern Kentucky with lesser chances over the upcoming weekend and warmer temperatures to boot. We’ll trend the forecast that way but keep in mind this could easily flip a few times over the next few days,. Stay tuned.
ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST
TUESDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear and pleasant. Lows in the low to mid-50s.
WEDNESDAY: More sunshine, heating up. Highs in the mid to upper-80s.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Clouds increase, still quiet. Lows in the upper-50s and low-60s.