Good Monday everyone. We are kicking off a wild week of weather across the bluegrass state and for much of the country. Nothing like thunderstorms and snow sandwiched into the week before Christmas to get things fired up around here. Speaking of… looks like I missed some fireworks in the comments section over the weekend. You guys are too funny… I love it. 🙂

The overall pattern across the country is kicking it into overdrive this week. Things are getting very active and there is going to be a lot of winter before the week is out and we will get in on some of that. The trend is for more and more winter to overwhelm the country between now and the new year.

The action gets started today with an area of low pressure crossing the state from southwest to northeast. This system will have enough dynamics to produce scattered thunderstorms. Some of these storms could contain hail and high winds. The Storm Prediction Center has placed much of the state in the Slight Risk today…

Current Risk

Latest Day 1 convective outlook

Current Watches
Current Watches

 Wind will be rather gusty today, with or without thunderstorms. We could see gusts around 30mph as this low works through. Colder air moves in tonight and there could be a rain or snow shower Tuesday morning in the north and east.

The big dog of the week will be the storm system moving in Wednesday night and Thursday. A strong area of low pressure will work into the northern Ohio Valley and Great Lakes during this time. That will drag a powerful cold front through here and means a few things:

– Temps will start in the 50s Thursday before falling into the upper 20s and low 30s from west to east during the afternoon and evening.

– Winds will be a major player. 40-50mph gusts will be possible with this front.

– Showers and thunderstorms will be along and ahead of the front with a period of snow and squalls right behind it. Snow showers and squalls should be common from late Thursday afternoon through Friday. The Canadian continues to be very aggressive with the wraparound snows…

Friday is a frigid day with upper 20s and low 30s for highs. Gusty winds will make it feel like it’s in the teens at times.

That sets us up for a cold weekend with the potential for a system dropping in from the northwest Saturday night and Sunday. That may produce a period of light snow and bring a reinforcing shot of cold.

t’s at that point we watch for a storm to develop in the Rockies and roll eastward by late Christmas or early the following day. Here’s the how the European Model sees it…

That storm looks like a major travel headache for much of the country and it should have a sizeable impact on our weather.

So there ya have it… a wild week of weather. I will have updates as needed throughout the day. I’m not supposed to be on your TV today, so you never know when I will post on a “day off”.

Make it a wonderful Monday and take care.