Good Monday, everybody. Smokey and the Bandit seems like a good movie to work into this update as smokey skies increase across the region as our temps start to decrease. This decrease kicks it into high gear by Wednesday as a much cooler than normal pattern settles into our part of the world.

If you’ve never watched Smokey and The Bandit, you’re missing out…

Let’s talk about the smoke right out of the gate. The huge wildfires in Canada have been burning for weeks now and we’ve occasionally been seeing some of the smoke drifting across our skies. The setup out there today and into Tuesday is likely to be among the smokiest we’ve seen. Watch this computer forecast showing the smoke thickening as it moves in from the north and northeast…

This current satellite image is picking up on the smoke as it drifts into the state…

With the increase in smoke and more of a northeast flow getting established, temps are down today compared to what we had over the weekend. There’s also the continuing chance for a shower or thunderstorm to go up. Here are your friendly radars for the day…

A cold front then drops in from the north and northeast late Tuesday into early Wednesday. This is in response to that deep trough digging into the eastern part of the country and it’s likly to be a band or two of showers and storms with it. The models are spitting out some light totals…

The temps behind this front are the main story as we hit well below normal for a nice stretch. Highs for Wednesday and Thursday may not get out of the 70s for many. Lows by Thursday morning may reach the 40s in central and eastern Kentucky…

Another system drops in here later this weekend and early next week. That one has a better chance for some showers and storms as it does so…

That should bring another round of below normal temps to the region.

From here, watch for a much more active pattern to set up for the second half of June. Don’t be surprised if we are tracking a tropical system in the Caribbean or Gulf at some point, too.

Have a great Monday and take care.