Good Friday and Happy Kentucky Oaks Day. As the eyes of the world focus on Churchill Downs for the big weekend, things are starting off on a bumpy note. We have rounds of strong to severe storms rumbling across the state today with a little bit of a gloomy sky hanging around for Derby Day.
Rounds of showers and storms will be spiraling counterclockwise around low pressure today. This will make for a pretty cool looking radar, but some of these storms will be strong or severe with the greatest risk across the eastern half of the state.
This is where the Storm Prediction Center is highlighting the greatest risk for severe weather today…
Damaging winds and large hail are the main players. With a little spin available, a quick tornado spin up can’t be ruled out.
These storms will also be heavy rain makers and this may lead to local high water issues developing.
This is NOT all day rain and you will get extended breaks between the storms. Temps will spike into the 70s before dropping quickly this evening as the low starts to move to the east.
Kentucky Derby Day will feature a chilly northwest wind with lots of clouds and scattered showers. The bulk of the showers are in the east and I do expect a drying trend around Churchill Downs. Still, it’s a chilly Derby Day with many thermometers only in the 50s for highs.
Here are the Derby Day highs from the models…
GFS
NAM
Temps by Sunday morning are deep into the 40s with a partly cloudy sky. The numbers then rise during the afternoon and will take off into next week as we get a little summer preview. Lots of folks are gonna ride the EURO temps for this and they shouldn’t. The model is notoriously too warm with temps, especially in the week away window. Slow your roll heat talkers!
The numbers are likely to come in under even what I have been thinking over the past few days. Why? That cutoff low across the southwest looks to head farther west in time next week…
TUESDAY
THURSDAY
We will actually need to watch to see if that thing can get far enough west to produce some showers and storms.
I have you all set to do some Friday storm tracking…
Current watches
Possible Watch Areas
Have a great Kentucky Oaks Day and take care.
In the last 48 hours we received 0.55 inches of rain showers without the severe weather. Hopefully, we won’t have the predicted severe weather today in the East ?
A cooler, drier Kentucky Derby is better than a rainy one.
Glad next week’s predicted Summer heat will hold off for now.
I think it is safe now to plant.
Yep ! Growing season is here. With a soil temperature at 64 degrees, almost any plant will take root now, but there is one exception, being tomato plants. They seem to like soil temperatures in the 70’s and warmer nights and hot, humid days with lots of Sun. I use to grow one variety of tomato called “Better Boy” had good crop production.
#TeamHeat 😉