Author Archives: Chris Bailey

Good Tuesday, gang. Summer will throw its first punch of hot weather our way over the next few days. Given that the hot stuff won’t last too long, it may be more like a jab. Temps will surge today into Wednesday before additional thunderstorms come calling to put an end to the steamy conditions.

Highs today will reach the low 80s in the east and near 90 across the far west. The core of the heat will stay well to our west, but the outer edge of it gets into the region on Wednesday. This may be introduced by a storm or two later tonight and a more pronounced band of storms tomorrow. The NAM shows what I’m talking about…

We will have to watch to see exactly where that cluster of storms sets up because it will have a huge impact on temps across central and eastern Kentucky. Areas that get in on mostly sunny skies will make a serious run toward 90 degrees. The western half of the state will likely see some low 90s. Keep in mind… we have a pretty wet ground and lush vegetation and that will likely help keep temps from getting carried away.

Something else that will help… another front moving through with showers and storms…

Much more pleasant temps will work back in later Thursday into Friday.

The heat makes another run at us this weekend and gets cut off at the pass…

Will that be the theme of the summer? Have a great day and take care.

Good Monday and welcome to a rather stormy week here in the bluegrass state. Rounds of showers and thunderstorms will continue to rumble across the land today into this evening. Some of those may be on the strong and severe side and I have all your tracking tools coming up.

I want to also focus on what may be coming down the road for Tuesday night through Thursday. We have a surge of hot air across the southern plains and this will make a run at us during this time. It’s a setup that can produce big clusters of thunderstorms that develop across the midwest that dive our way. Here’s the area I’m highlighting for the potential for these storms…

Some of these storm clusters can develop into damaging wind events and that will be something to watch out for… especially later Wednesday.

Temps during this time may fight close to 90 degrees and that would add some fuel to the fire for those storms to crank.

A cold front will move in on Thursday and knock the temps back down.

Back to today’s weather… rounds of storms may be strong or severe. Heavy rain may cause high water issues for some and these boomers will be loaded with lightning. Damaging wind will be possible with the strongest cells.

Let’s track…

Today’s Risk Area

Current Watches

Possible Watch Areas

I will send out updates and warnings via twitter: Kentuckyweather or follow along in the twitter feed on the right side of the blog. I will also have updates on my Chris Bailey WKYT Facebook page.

Take care.

Good Sunday evening. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH is now out for much of western Kentucky until 9pm CDT. Large hail and damaging winds are the main issues of the evening. Here’s a look at the watch outline and the latest warnings…

Additional rounds of showers and storms continue to develop across the rest of the state. These are putting down a tremendous amount of rain and lightning. This could lead to some localized high water issues.

Your tracking tools…

Have a great evening and take care.

Good Sunday, everyone. We have an increase in temps, humidity and storms chances on our weather menu as we close out the weekend. The storm threat will really ramp up late today and tonight as a cold front works our way. A few of the storms may be strong or severe… especially in the west.

I will get to your tracking toys in a bit. Right now… let’s break down the next several days:

- Temps will hit the 80s today under a partly sunny sky. Scattered showers and storms will develop during the afternoon hours. These will become more widespread this evening and overnight as the front nears.

- Some of the storms may be on the strong side. The greatest threat for severe weather will be across the western half of the state. All storms that blow up through Monday will have heavy rain and frequent lightning.

- The storms will slowly wind down from west to east later Monday into Monday night.

- This will set us up for better weather for Tuesday as a surge of heat tries to make a run at us. A slightly slower movement of the next front means Wednesday has a shot to be hot. 90 for some?

- That next front brings more storms our way by Wednesday night and Thursday and will knock our temps back down by the end of the week into next weekend.

Let’s get to tracking today’s action…

Today’s Risk Area

Current Watches

Possible Watch Areas

Have a good one and take care.

Good Saturday to one and all. Our weekend is off and running on a fairly nice weather note with some sunshine and pleasant temperatures. That good stuff will carry us into early Sunday before things begin to turn active once again. That trend will carry us into much of next week with a few more systems moving in.

Today’s weather will feature a mix of sun and clouds with an isolated shower or thunderstorm. Temps will be in the upper 70s to around 80.

Sunday will be mostly dry with an increase in clouds and winds. This is ahead of a cold front swinging in from the northwest and will arrive by Monday. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will increase during this time and a few could be strong.

The European Model shows a wound up system…

Another system looks to roll in here for the second half of the week…

That will bring another cold front and rounds of storms our way. That pattern may persist for the next few weeks as the hot weather remains to our west and southwest. At the same time, a dip in the jet stream looks semi-permanent across the eastern part of the country. That should mean additional thunderstorm clusters rolling in from the northwest…

Make it a great Saturday and take care.

Good Friday, everyone. We have a couple of cold fronts set to impact our weather over the next few days and that’s leading to some changes for the weekend. Some of the changes are for the good… some for the not so good. Let’s get into it and break it all down.

Today’s cold front will have some isolated showers and storms along and ahead of it. Highs today will hit the upper 70s and low 80s with another taste of muggy air.

The air behind this front is cooler and less humid and will set the stage for a fairly nice Saturday. Highs will be in the mid and upper 70s with a partly sunny sky. There is still a small threat for a shower.

The changes begin to work int here by later Saturday as another system works toward the state. This will bring an increase in showers and thunderstorms by Sunday evening…

The shower and storm risk will carry us into Monday.

Another system may be right behind it for the middle of the week…

The setup continues to suggest rounds of showers and thunderstorms working around the northern and eastern edge of the core of heat across the southwestern part of the country. The two week rainfall forecast from the GFS shows the pattern well…

Have a great Friday and take care.

Good Thursday and welcome to a thundering day across the commonwealth. Rounds of showers and thunderstorms will continue to roll across the state and put down some very heavy rainfall. The good news is that we look to clean things out for the upcoming weekend.

The boomers today will put down a lot of rain in a short amount of time. That may cause some local high water issues for areas that get in on repeat action. These storms will also have a lot of lightning with them. That’s the weather version of LOL to the younger generation. 

Here’s regional radar to track the boomers…

For the past few weeks, we’ve talked about the potential for early June tropical development in the Gulf of Mexico. Say hello to Tropical Storm Andrea…

That system will roll up the east coast as the week wears on and the European Model has been all over it. It continues to be a little to the left of the other models with the track…

Cooler and drier air will sweep in here as that system pulls away from the region. That should set us up for a nice second half to Saturday into early Sunday. There are indications we could get a few storms to return by late Sunday into Monday.

The pattern next week will feature the heat staying to our west with another big shot of cool to our northeast…

Could that set us up for some northwest to southeast moving clusters of storms? We shall see,

Have a great day and take care.

Good Wednesday, everybody. Showers and thunderstorms will slowly increase today as a moisture rich setup gets started. These storms will tap some juice from a system down in the Gulf of Mexico and that means we will have to watch the heavy rain threat over the next few days.

Showers and storms will ramp up this afternoon and evening as muggy air returns. The setup means locally heavy rainfall will be possible with any boomer that blossoms. Here’s the regional radar to show the storm increase from south to north…

An area of low pressure across the plains will roll eastward into the Ohio Valley Thursday and Friday. That will combine with the moisture coming from the gulf to increase the storm and heavy rain threat. The heavy rain potential may be heightened by the possibility of a tropical system getting going in the eastern Gulf…

The models continue to forecast a rather late summer or early fall setup with this system and the one across our region hooking up…

That’s a nice shot of cooler air blowing in behind that east coast merger. That should set the stage for a nice ending to the weekend before another system moves in for early next week…

Summer is overrated, anyway.

Have a good day and take care.

Good Tuesday to one and all. I’m all out of nice words to use in describing the weather here in the bluegrass state. Temps continue to run on the mild side with low humidity levels. That is about to change. Showers and storms will ramp up for the rest of the week and these may tap some tropical juice.

Today is about as good as the weather can get this time of year. Sunny skies with highs in the 70s and low humidity levels is perfecto to your friendly weather dude.

Moisture begins to return on Wednesday and that’s when the shower and storm threat rolls back into the bluegrass state. Temps will warm back into the low 80s and you will notice the muggy air making a comeback. That’s because the flow from the Gulf of Mexico kicks back in.

And look what is going on down in the Gulf…

That system has the potential to develop into a tropical depression or storm as it works into the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Whatever forms down there is forecast to work toward the Florida Panhandle and then up the east coast where it meets up with an area of low pressure rolling through here…

That’s something that is more likely to happen in September or October than it is right now. The setup would throw tropical moisture in here with showers and storms likely for Thursday and Friday. Many of those will contain very heavy rain.

Cooler air will push in behind that departing storm as we await the next low pressure by early the following week.

Looking for heat? Keep looking…Have a great day and take care.

Good Monday, everyone. We have a gorgeous air mass taking over our weather for the next few days. This means pleasant temps, lower humidity and mainly sunny skies. Don’t get too used to it because showers and storms will return for the second part of the week.

Our cold front finally worked across the state last night and is delivering the good stuff. There may be just enough low level moisture to bring a stray shower to the south and east today. Temps will be in the 70s with a comfy brand of air.

Readings tonight will drop to around 50 degrees under clear skies. That makes for a great start to a gorgeous day taking shape for tomorrow. Highs will be back in the 70s with even more sunshine.

Moisture will filter back in on Wednesday and that’s when a few showers or storms develop. The supply of moisture for Thursday and Friday will be very high and that’s when heavy rain producing thunderstorms take shape…

Will there be some kind of connection to a tropical system trying to develop in the Gulf of Mexico? That’s a possibility and the European is most enthusiastic of that potential…

You can see how the model takes something from the gulf right up the east coast. That would bring a touch more tropical moisture into Kentucky and is an odd look for this time of year.

What about the temps? There is still no sign of heat this week…

Have a good day and take care.