Good Wednesday, folks. It’s the final day of January and we are sending the month out on a very nice weather note. As we roll into month 2 of the year, it’s a rather harsh looking winter pattern taking shape for much of the country, including right here in Kentucky.

Temps out there today will be near 50 in most areas, with a mix of sun and clouds. Gusty southwesterly winds will increase ahead of a cold front shooting in here quickly on Thursday.

Rain will increase on Thursday as this system zips through the state at a brisk pace. Colder air catches the back edge of the rain, switching it over to a period of wet snow.

The newest models are just a touch snowier…

GFS

Canadian

The European Model continues to spit out the light accumulations…

The potential for a couple inches of wet snow is certainly there, especially in the south and southeast. I may do a first call in the next update.

Frigid temps come in behind this on Friday, but the focus is on what is shooting in here for the weekend. A series of light snow makers will work across our region from late Saturday through early next week. The GFS is trying to ramp this up into something more than light…

The GFS Ensembles continue to be a littler excited…

The European Model has a stronger system like the GFS is showing, but is farther north with it, setting up the fence across Kentucky.

In contrast, the Canadian Model is south..

Sunday is “threatable”.

The overall pattern setting up across the Northern Hemisphere is highly anomalous, with massive blocking surrounding North America…

That basically puts the Polar Vortex across Canada, with it taking stabs at us here in the states. The end result is an almost endless supply of cold, with the potential for bitter cold. Watch this animation of the temperature departure through the middle of February…

This isn’t too dissimilar to what we saw take shape from late December through mid January. However, this is centered farther west, potentially putting our region in a much snowier than normal setup.

February has a chance to deliver some memorable winter weather around here, and for much of the country.

I will have updates later today, so check back. Make it a good one and take care.