Good Friday evening. The big chill continues to blow across the bluegrass state this evening and it means business. The temp difference at one point this afternoon was nearly 40 degrees from west to east. Temps will continue to drop into the 40s this evening as gusty showers work in.

While this front is impressive, I don’t think that’s why you guys are giving our server a workout today. Everyone wants to know about the big storm next week and what impact it will have on the bluegrass state. Can we get some wintry weather from it? If so, how much?

Let’s break it down:

– Our cold front will slow down across the Appalachian Mountains on Saturday. This will likely keep showers going across eastern Ky through the weekend. It won’t rain all the time, but showers will be dotting the radar on and off. Some of that by late weekend could be in the form of some wet snow in the highest elevations.

– Hurricane Sandy is the big weather story and for good reason. It’s going to continue to work toward the north and northeast before getting picked up by the deep trough in the east. That will whip the storm almost due westward into the Mid Atlantic states with landfall likely from New Jersey into northern Virginia by late Monday or early Tuesday.

– This is a potentially catastrophic storm for areas of the east and northeast. The storm is then likely to work westward toward the Appalachian Mountains as it transforms into a nor’easter. Cold air on the backside of this storm suggests a heavy wet snow for some areas. Exactly where that is will all depend on how the storm tracks.

– What about Kentucky? Very gusty winds will be likely with 30mph+ gusts across central and eastern Kentucky possible by Tuesday and Wednesday. A shield of rain and snow will try to work in from northeast to southwest Tuesday into Wednesday. How much and in what form remains to be seen… but the potential is certainly there to get in on some wintry weather.

Let’s see what the latest models have to say…

The European Model takes a bit of a wider swing as it takes Sandy into the Mid Atlantic…

It continues to produce a swath of accumulating snow across eastern Kentucky…

The leading Hurricane Model continues to showcase the biggest hit for our region…

The latest GFS is farther south and west than it’s earlier run…

All of the models show the chance for wintry weather in parts of Kentucky from this storm. This will be fun to follow and that’s exactly what we will be doing.

Another update later tonight. Enjoy the evening and take care.