Good Tuesday, everyone! It’s a windy, wet, and mild day across Kentucky as our much-advertised big storm system starts to impact the region. This is set to bring our first taste of true winter weather with light snow and cold temps later in the week.

Before we break the winter threat down, let’s talk about today’s weather.

Showers and some rumbles of thunder are pressing across the state today. This will taper from west to east as the day wears on with sunshine taking control in the west and parts of central Kentucky later in the day. Here are your tracking tools for the day…

Winds are very gusty with temps in the 60s with a few low 70s possible in the west.

Ok, let’s get into what to expect in terms of winter weather later this week. Here’s a breakdown:

WEDNESDAY

  • A powerful front sweeps across the state, bringing gusty showers along and ahead it. Skies become sunny behind the front.
  • Winds are going to crank to 35mph at times.
  • Temps are the big story with this front. Temps ahead of this may hit 70 in the east. At the same time, temps in the west are around 40. Temps drop into the 40s statewide through the afternoon.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

  • Cold winds knock wind chills down into the low and middle 20s.
  • Clouds will increase with the chance for some flakes in the north and east late.

THURSDAY

  • A few periods of light snow and flurries show up.
  • The greatest chance is in the north and east.
  • Highs are in the 30s with gusty winds making it feel like the 20s.

THURSDAY NIGHT

  • Low pressure drops in from the north bringing light snow with it.
  • The greatest concentration will be across central and eastern Kentucky.
  • Light accumulations will be possible in some areas.
  • Temps drop to a bit below freezing with a wind chill that may reach the upper teens.
  • Winds gusting to 30mph will be possible.

FRIDAY

  • Light snow and flurries will be around early in the day across the central and east.
  • The light snows taper from northwest to southeast.
  • There’s the chance for a few drops to mix in with this stuff, especially in the afternoon.
  • Highs are in the 30s with wind chills in the 20s.

Here’s the area I’m highlighting for the greatest chance to see like snow from this whole scenario…

The models have all pretty much settled into a similar forecast as that system pinwheels at us from the north and northwest late Thursday into Friday…

That’s certainly a fascinating track for a system to bring snow in here, but this isn’t an ordinary setup.

The forecast models all have a similar look in terms of snowfall. Once again, I have to remind you this is for snowfall and the actual snow depth as a lot of what falls will be melting on contact except for Thursday night.

Here’s a look at the current model snowfall maps…

 

In terms of the crashing temps and wind chills, Wednesday is our first temp plunge of the season. This animation shows wind chill numbers from 7am Wednesday through 7am Thursday…

The numbers get much colder on Thursday. Check out the digits that may end in the teens by Thursday night. This wind chill animation goes from 7am Thursday through 7am Friday…

This is a healthy blast of winter for this time of year. If you’re a winter weather lover, soak it up!

Temps are more seasonable over the weekend as we head into what looks like a super active Thanksgiving week. The pattern next week through the first few days of December will feature an active southern storm track with arctic air getting into the United States. Given those two are into the mix, expect the models to oscillate quite a bit on storm tracks.

This is a busy setup…

With arctic air getting into the mix, one has to wonder if that forces the storm track a bit farther south in time.

Speaking of arctic air, the forecast for the final 4 days of November into the first 3 days of December shows the coldest air relative to normal in the entire Northern Hemisphere is firmly across Canada and the United States…

That’s a look we have not seen much of in recent years and that goes for any season or month. This may be the first sign the winter ahead looks to buck the trend we have seen over the past several winters.

Speaking of… my annual Winter Forecast is this Thursday at 6pm on WKYT-TV. Y’all ready for it??!

Another update or two comes your way later today. Have a great Tuesday and take care.