Good Friday, gang. The often overlooked second day of the year is off and running with a light wintry mix pushing across parts of the bluegrass state. This is all part of a pretty wild weekend of weather that will lead us into a very cold setup for the first full week of the year.
Today’s light mix still does not look to be terrible widespread. Still, a few spots can get in on some frozen precipitation that can produce a few slick spots if everything comes together.
Current temperatures
The real system rolls into town later tonight into Saturday as low pressure cranks up. This will bring rounds of rain in here from south to north as milder air pushes in. Temps by Saturday afternoon will surge toward 60 on a STRONG southwesterly wind. Those winds are looking to be a bigger player as we get closer. Check out these gusts from the NAM…
Those winds Saturday night might be showing up along a squall line of showers and thunderstorms racing eastward along the cold front. That front will then usher in much colder temps from west to east on Sunday. Temps will start the day in the 40s and 50s and then fall through the 30s and into the 20s during the evening. Snow showers and flurries will likely fly during the afternoon and evening.
Monday is a cold and windy day as we await the arrival of a clipper system on Tuesday. That may bring a swath of light snow into the region as it zips in from the northwest. The true arctic air then sweeps in on Wednesday and could be accompanied by snow showers and flurries.
The big news with that will be the arctic cold air. Watch how the temps drop on Wednesday…
That is some serous cold and it’s going to be accompanied by some strong winds which would make it feel MUCH colder…
If those numbers verify… it would be similar to a few of the brutal days we had last winter.
Systems will then be lining up to drop in from the northwest after that shot of cold. The pattern unfolding can spawn some healthy winter systems in our part of the world. Moral of the story… winter is just beginning.
I will update things later today. Have a great day and take care.
A squall line in the dead of winter…. Only in Kentucky.
Thank you Mr Bailey for all you do and Happy New Year brother. Here’s to hoping we can get some good snows for everyone before winter is over.
WOW!!! The weather must be real boring do to the fact that it is 9 o’clock and I am the the first person to comment. A couple years ago there would have been someone here with at least a comment of “First”.
This could be a yappy dog winter: All bark and no snow-bite!
While it’s true that the “Just wait until next week folks!” ® phenomenon continues unabated, the wind and then temperature possibilities coming down the path deserve everyone’s attention and efforts toward preparation.
Man I wish you would stop with the winter hype. So far you are busting big time. To say that winter is just beginning and the pattern is going to get interesting or that it can spawn some healthy systems is nuts. Yeah it’s winter and ANY TIME in winter could spawn a healthy system. Whew boy! History says otherwise. ..we will get cold and dry then moderate to rain then back to cold and dry. I think that polar vortex junk that got the weather world so much attention last year was too much…..this is all hype imo.
I’m letting very uninformed persons post go through so I can respond. Busting on what? The record cold and snow for November not many were forecasting? Telling people the pattern would let up for much of December and then return in January? History says otherwise? You mean the record setting winter last year didn’t really happen? Btw… if you really feel that way about this site… why are you here? Oh and thanks for all the hits you give me from Louisville.
Thanks Chris.
Talking to a guy at work this A.M. and he said the winter of ’78 had a warm stretch and then the bottom fell out.
Does anybody know if the blizzard of ’78 was a southern storm?
Could be a fun January/February!
Mmmm … yes, Rodger remembers the Blizzard of ’78 as a “southern storm.” It was actually the result of two systems, one from the northwest and another from the south, that “merged” over Ohio. It was also very poorly forecasted with very little expected from it until it all came together on a Wednesday.
It and the 22″ in Rodger’s backyard on Dec 22, 2004 are the most awesome storms he’s seen.
I think they are all that from the south 😉 You have to have the cold front form the north to mix with the southern fed moisture. The catch is for a lot of us southern feds are on big lame mix of a fence. That, or big ice. Not big snow since the 90s.
Basically what happen in 78 is something that rarely happens around here and that’s phasing two systems together.
Thanks Rodger/Bubba/Prelude. Great info. So maybe something like ’78 is a 50 year storm? And the southern storms haven’t been good for snow. We gotta break these streaks! Think snow!
We have had big southern fed snow (double digit snows) in the 78 (flood too), 81, 82, 84 (flood too) 89/90, 93, 96, 98
Then nuttin’ but clippers. At least for us fence residing folks closer to the KY river.
Post 1998, the only big from southern feds is ice.
1977/1978 are on a few mets analog year. Had a cold November warmer December into the first half of Jan. after that winter weather became the norm for the next 27 or so days. All below freezing with snow and Louisville’s only Blizzard ever recorded. Not saying that we will see that again, but it is weather and changes are about to happen. Get the cold air entrenched over the southern half of the country and a active southern branch spells wintery precip for most of KY. Could be ice could be snow could be……..COLD RAIN….
The Winter Storm of 1994 had and I do mean had all the ingredients for a blizzard just missing one key ingredient and that was wind. If the wind was a player in that storm that would of been without a shadow of a doubt blizzard number 2. Winter Storm of 1994 was a complete beast. Folks in the upper Midwest and New England they were pretty impressed with what happen in the Ohio Valley.
Worth noting that winter storm of 94 was the only game intown that season snow wise. It just so happen to give most people there seasonal average snowfall and then some, all at one time along with record breaking cold. Only takes one storm.