Good Thursday, folks. It’s a busy day of weather across the Commonwealth as another massive storm system impacts the region. High winds, heavy rain and a few thunderstorms show up later today through early Friday morning.

Watch how the NAM brings a December version of a squall line across the state…

Here’s a breakdown of how things look to play out:

  • High winds are the main threat through early Friday. Gusts may reach 50mph or greater in a few spots.
  • Some wind damage is possible, especially with uprooted trees because of such a wet ground.
  • Showers and a few storms increase from west to east this afternoon through the evening. I can’t rule out a strong storm or two.
  • Heavy rains show up for some areas, with the potential for local high water issues. The greatest threat is across the southeast.
  • Rains end from west to east on Friday as cold air surges back in during the evening.

Let’s look ahead to the closing days of 2018 because we have even more action on the way. A weak system throws some light rain or a mix at us Saturday night and Sunday, with a much bigger system quickly moving in for New Year’s Eve.

That system keeps trending stronger and stronger and that’s bad news for our region. I said a few days ago we had better hope this system gives us some winter weather because we don’t need it to bundle into a big storm that brings more heavy rain. In true 2018 fashion, this system is poised to send the wettest year on record out with a bang with a potential flood event.

Cold air will then crash in behind that system with a third storm likely to make a comeback to the west on the models by Wednesday or Thursday.

Canadian

GFS 

That’s a lot of cold air pouring in as that Wednesday system likely shows up farther west as we get closer.

Let’s get back to the New Year’s Eve flood threat. You can see both models above showing a lot of rain in our region and that’s backed up by the European Model…

It is very possible for some parts of the state to pick up more than 4″ of rain between now and the time the ball drops for 2019.

The parallels to late December 1977/early January 1978 and December 1978/early January 1979 are pretty striking.

I have you all set to track this massive storm across the country and here in the bluegrass state. I’ll start with the exclusive interactive radar. This allows you to go to street level in any part of the country and includes real time weather information, watches and warnings, storm tracks and live feeds from storm chasers. You can watch the live streams from the snowstorm in the plains or the severe weather in the south… Or both…

Current watches
Current Watches

Possible watch areas
Current MDs

I will drop by for updates later today. Make it a good one and take care.