Good Friday to one and all and welcome to the final day of 2010. It has been a wild weather year to say the least and it is ending on a fairly mild note with much of the region to push 60 today. 2011 will begin on a very wet and stormy note that may cause some local high water issues with old man winter lurking in a BIG way over the next month.

A warm, southerly flow is established across the region today and this will lead to a warm end to what has been a very cold and snowy month. Readings will flirt with 60 for many areas with clouds and sun doing battle. Any area is fair game for a shower or two… but it appears most areas will see dry weather for most of the day.

Areas of western Kentucky have the chance to see some strong or severe storms this afternoon and evening. The Storm Prediction Center has placed this region under a slight risk for severe weather…

Latest Day 1 convective outlook

Those heading out for New Year’s Eve will find showers and storms beginning to increase from southwest to northeast and temps ranging from the mid 40s east to mid 50s west as the clock strikes 2011. A blizzard is raging across the plains and will force a powerful cold front through the state New Year’s Day. The Gulf of Mexico is wide open for business with a lot of deep moisture streaming northward into the area. Rain and thunderstorms will be widespread across central and eastern Kentucky Saturday and heavy rains will be a good bet. With parts of southeastern Kentucky dealing with a good snow melt in recent days… we will have to be on guard for some local high water issues to kick off the new year. The models are both spitting out better than an inch of rain Saturday with the NAM showing the threat for 2 or more inches…


The NAM is actually showing a good amount of instability across the area leading to a line of healthy thunderstorms late tonight into Saturday. If we do get these storms to develop as the NAM suggests… local flash flooding could be the result. In addition to the heavy rain… I can see a strong storm or two out of this.

Track the rains here…







Temps for New Year’s Day will hit the 50s ahead of the front before falling quickly from west to east once the boundary passes through. Sunday morning temps will be in the 20s with highs reaching the 30s for most areas. There is still the chance for a few flakes of snow early Sunday in the east.

Next week will see a typical brand of early January cold air in place for much of the region. There is a shot for some flurry or light snow action by the middle and end of the week with all eyes on the period of January 6th through 10th for a possible storm to develop across the eastern half of the country. This is not a good pattern for the computer models as there is a ton of things going on across the northern hemisphere that will throw them for a loop with forecasts beyond 4 or 5 days.

The pattern for the middle and end of January continues to look like one that can take a big walk on the wild side!

Before I leave you… If you want a recap of the past year in weather for central Ky… check this out… NWS Louisville 2010 Review .

I will update things as needed so check back. Have a great day and Happy New Year!

Take care.