WKU Meteorology

Wednesday Forecast

Good morning, everyone! After a cloudy, yet cool Tuesday, this pattern is expected to continue through our Wednesday and somewhat for our Thursday. For our Wednesday in Bowling Green, we will have a high of 69 F, and a low of 64 F later tonight. For the rest of the midsouth, the farther southwest that you go, temperatures will be warmer than they will in parts of eastern Tennessee, and northeastern Kentucky. General highs across the midsouth will range from 65 F – 75 F. This is due to NNW winds being driven by a large high-pressure center spinning across portions of Ontario, and Quebec, Canada bringing cooler, dryer air out of the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. In terms of precipitation, eastern portions of Kentucky and Tennessee do have a chance to see some showers and thunderstorms today. These storms are being driven by an upper-level trough that is moving over the Midsouth. For the western halves of the states, we can expect mostly dry conditions. Cloud cover will also persist through most of the day today.

When talking about that trough, something to watch is going to be how this system evolves throughout the rest of the day today. As this trough moves through the split flow pattern across the eastern US, it is going to collide with the higher pressure across the central and southern plains. This is going to create a wind response that will amplify winds upstream of the trough axis and cause this trough to dig even farther south.

Thursday Forecast

For our Thursday, we will have a high of 78 F, and a low of 65 F. Temperatures are expected to rise following the passage of our amplifying trough. Temperatures across the western portions of Kentucky and Tennessee could even make a run for 80 F. Any precipitation chances would come from the leftover remnants of the trough as it moves on past our region. Even this, it would not be a lot and would affect mostly the eastern half of the region.

Weather Headlines

Spinning off the western coast of Mexico, Hurricane Polo became one of the strongest Pacific hurricanes on record in terms of pressure. Today, Polo reached a central pressure of 892 mb. For reference, the strongest Pacific hurricane on record is Hurricane Patricia in 2015, as its lowest pressure was 872 mb.

Fall lovers can rejoice, because even if it heats back up again, we have proof that fall still exists in our region. Have a great couple of days everyone!

Good morning everyone and happy Astronomical Fall! After a long period of heat, it has finally cooled off. While cloudy early, today will be a partly cloudy with a high temperature around 79°F in the afternoon. The low temperature will dip to 62°F over Wednesday morning. No precipitation is expected. Surface winds will remain northerly throughout the day, moving towards the advancing cold front, while sustaining between 5–10 miles per hour.

Unlike the last few weeks, the intense ridge sitting across the southeast United States has decayed, allowing for subtle flow to overspread our region. Not only do these shortwaves provide colder air aloft, but they also modulate the surface pattern. Through the day, the cold front will continue advancing south through Tennessee.

A Rex block will form in the Northeast United States, further stunting the transport of warm air from the Gulf. If you didn’t know, a Rex block is the terminology for a high pressure system sitting over a low pressure system. However, the aforementioned shortwave over Western Kentucky will provide divergence, allowing for the maintenance of a weak surface low over the next couple days to counteract this blocking pattern.

That’s the forecast for today. Have a beautiful Tuesday!

Good morning, Hilltoppers! While it will be hot for one more day, we finally have some relief on the horizon. This will come in the form of a cold front that may trigger some showers and thunderstorms for today, but they will be rather isolated in nature. The better chance of showers and thunderstorms will be over in Eastern KY where the timing of the cold front looks to be more towards evening, since storms will be driven by daytime heating. High temperatures for today will be around 92 degrees, with lows generally in the in the upper 60s to right around 70 degrees. It will still be slightly humid, making those heat indices reach the upper 90s today.

Tomorrow will be a transition day as high temperatures will struggle just to reach 80 degrees, but another difference that will be felt is the humidity levels. Humidity levels will drop as the day progresses as a cooler, drier airmass moves into the region from north to south. However, that drop in humidity will probably not be noticed until later in the evening hours.

Beyond that, the cooler, drier airmass will continue to be locked into place heading into next weekend, before temperatures begin to slowly creep back up thereafter. Rain chances will be limited as well as the region will be dominated by surface high pressure.

Happy Friday to everyone, were almost there to the weekend. Yet again, today is going to be very similar to the past few days this week; With high temperatures and humidity that will make sweating easy. The high today will reach 98, and with a heat index up to 103, thus the national weather service has placed Bowling Green as well as the western half of Kentucky in a heat advisory until 7:00pm today. The low tonight will be 72 with partly cloudy skies, in addition we have a slight chance for thunderstorms tonight as the current storms over northern Kentucky could make its way to us, but I find it a bit unlikely. The eastern part of Kentucky has a much higher likelihood of experiencing those thunderstorms.

Looking into the weekend we see not many changes in the weather; Temps again reaching mid to high 90s and lows falling down to the lower 70s. If you have any outdoor plans for this weekend, make sure you are drinking lots of water, staying the shade as much as you can, and wearing protection against the sun. Everyone should plan accordingly due to these anomalous temperatures we are experiencing this month. The normal high temp for the month of September in Kentucky is 82, and low is 57. And to make matters worse, the Climate prediction center has us labeled as leaning above normal temps in the 6–10-day outlook, while also predicted being below normal precipitation.

So, stay cool and stay hydrated!

Wednesday Forecast

Hello all! We are in the midst of another hot stretch the Mid-south. Today, in Bowling Green, high temperatures will reach 94 F, with general low to mid 90s across most of the midsouth region. The low late tonight will reach 80, with a chance to dip into the upper 70s. These high dewpoints are sticking around for a bit longer. As we inch closer to the Autumnal Equinox next Tuesday, the ridge holding this heat dome is not budging. Dewpoints for today and tomorrow will reach as high at the upper 60s, and 70s for many of us. Heat advisories remain in effect for all of western Kentucky until 7:00 pm tomorrow, and for central, and western Tennessee until 8:00 am Saturday. Make sure you have a place to cool off if you are out in this weather, and remember to stay hydrated as much as possible.

For a precipitation outlooks, there is not much to see there either. Our large area of high pressure across the southeast is going to hold precipitation to minimum. A few air mass storms could show up here and there, but they will last about as long as it took them to form.

Thursday Forecast

For your Thursday, we see much of the same. Tomorrow’s high will reach 95, and the low will reach 81 in Bowling Green. For the rest of the midsouth, the highs will reach the low to mid 90s, and lows will dip into the low 80s, and even some areas in the upper 70s. Dewpoints tomorrow are expected to reach into the mid to upper 60s. So, for some areas, they will be slightly lower than they will be today, but it will still be hot and muggy throughout tomorrow, so make sure to take appropriate precautions. Similar to today, the only chance that some of us could see precipitation is from those pop-up showers and storms thanks to the lifting from the sun heating the ground. So, while they cannot be ruled out for the next few days, precipitation across the midsouth will remain on the low end until this high pressure eventually breaks down.

Don’t worry, fall will get here (eventually). Have a great Wednesday, and Thursday everyone!

Good morning everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed the temperatures on Monday because unfortunately, it only gets hotter from there. Today will be another sunny day with a high temperature around 97°F in the early afternoon with a low around 78°F during the early hours on Wednesday. No precipitation is expected. Surface winds will veer from southeasterlies this morning to southwesterlies with the onslaught of warm air advection by the afternoon. Winds should sustain around 5 miles per hour.

This week’s pattern will be analogous to the weather over the last few weeks. Multiple days with intense heat are expected. The National Weather Service office in Louisville has put Bowling Green, KY under a heat advisory. The heat index is expected to reach over 100 degrees with a WBGT over 80 degrees. Stay hydrated!

The cause for the large increase in temperatures is a rapidly advancing warm front fueled by the pressure gradient force and upper level ridging. This gradient is powered by the difference in pressure between a sub-1000 millibar low moving through the Ontario and Quebec provinces and a 1030 millibar high pressure over the northeast United States. The mid-latitude system will continue to ride over the southeast ridge and pull warm air north.

That’s the forecast for today (and probably most of the week). Have a nice Tuesday!

Good morning Hilltoppers! I hope you find a way to stay cool this week as we are looking at another heatwave to impact the region this week. However, for today, there will be a brief respite from the heat, as high temperatures will likely be in the upper 80s to perhaps right around 90 degrees. This is thanks to a brief cool front that came through yesterday evening, mainly switching the wind direction. Lows will be in the lower 70s. Winds will be out of the northeast this morning, becoming more easterly as the day progresses at around 5-10 mph.

Unfortunately, another ridge of high pressure will continue to amplify right overhead and contribute to some meaningful heat as we progress throughout the rest of the work and school week. By Tuesday, highs will already be in the upper 90s. A cold front will be approaching from the northwest up in the Midwest, but will be unsuccessful until we approach beyond next weekend and into next week. As a result, we will likely continue with several more days with 90 degree temperatures until next weekend.

Rain chances will likely hold off until next weekend at the earliest until the ridge begins to fully break down.

Happy Friday y’all, hopefully everyone has had a great week and staying dry this morning as the rain is starting to move past our area. The rain will likely stop at around 9am local time, however, it won’t be gone for long. There will be more thunderstorms late tonight as a stationary front is just west of us. Storm Prediction Center has our area highlighted in a thunderstorm risk with a marginal risk just south of Bowling Green. During the day will look like most other days so far this week, just a little bit more wet on the ground. Highs will get up to 88 but will fall down to 72 tonight as the storms cool us down, and dew points to stay in the low 70s, it will still feel wet as you go outside today.

Saturday will also bring more rain to Kentucky and Tennessee, with showers in the morning similar to how it is today. Sunday we will return to drier hotter conditions as a high-pressure system from Canada will move the moist air away from us. Saturday’s high will be around 84 while Sunday’s will rise to 88, and both days are forecasted to have a low of 67 degrees.

Wednesday Forecast

Hello everyone! Today’s high is going to reach 93 here and Bowling Green and hang around the low to mid 90s across the rest of the state and the Mid-South. For our low tonight, in Bowling Green, we expect a low around 75, and the mid to upper 70s for the rest of us. Today is going to be another hot, and muggy day. At the time of writing this, the current dewpoint according to the KYMesonet site in southern Warren County is 70.6 F. The current heat index is 97.4 F. A heat advisory is in effect from Madison, IN, which is northeast of Louisville, all the way to Nashville, and extends west into western Tennessee, and Kentucky. Heat indecis can reach 100+ F today.

A marginal risk for severe weather exists today for northern, and western Kentucky. Wind is the main hazard with this risk. A small line of showers is beginning to fire northwest of Paducah, and they will continue tracking west. Rain chances will increase for the aforementioned region later on today. The large area of high pressure covering the southern half of the United States could break down over our region just enough for a small shortwave to develop, and lift some of the hot, humid air over us, which would be enough to allow for some showers and storms later today.

Thursday Forecast

Thursday is going to be cooler than today, following a frontal passage. Highs tomorrow will stay around the mid to upper 80s, and lows will dig into the mid 70s. So thankfully, for some of us, we will see some relief from the humidity at some point tomorrow. More spotty showers and storm are expected throughout tomorrow across parts of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Unfortunately, this shake up will not keep the heat at bay completely. The heat will likely build back up across the Mid-South late this weekend, and into the beginning of the work week next week.

Have a great Wednesday, and Thursday!

Good morning everyone, and welcome back from the long weekend! Today will be another mostly sunny day with a high temperature around 91°F in the early afternoon and a low around 74°F nearing midnight. A trace of precipitation is possible between 9AM and 6PM. Southerly winds should sustain around 8 miles per hour with gusts reaching up to 20 miles per hour.

Unlike last week’s sustained temperatures, today should be more manageable due to the wind and partial cloud cover. However, the heat index is still expected to reach near 100 degrees with a WBGT over 80 degrees. Compared to how yesterday felt, the significant difference is the moisture quality! A cold front moving south followed by high pressure briefly put Bowling Green under 60 degree dewpoint temperatures.

This morning, the wind flow reversed direction and began advecting moist air back north over Kentucky. Shallow instability with spotty showers will be likely. The main surface driver for this is from a ~1024 millibar high pressure system moving east off the coast of North Carolina governed by a strong (<1000 millibar) low pressure system moving through Ontario, Canada. The resulting pressure gradient force is what we feel as wind near the surface!

That’s your forecast breakdown for today; have a nice Tuesday!