WKU Meteorology

Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday! After a brief period of cooler weather, the heat has come back with a vengeance. Thankfully, the air will remain fairly dry with intense afternoon mixing. Today will be a sunny day with a high temperature of 91°F around 3 pm. The low temperature will stay around 70°F overnight into Wednesday morning. No precipitation is expected. Surface winds will veer from the southwest and promote gusts up to 15 miles per hour through the morning.

An interesting surface and synoptic pattern is present across the United States. The main driver for the continuous warm temperatures is a ~1002 millibar low pressure system moving through Michigan and Ontario, funneling warm air from the Midwest and Plains into Kentucky. However, a ~1018 millibar high pressure is stationed across the southeast United States, preventing the gulf moisture from reaching into Kentucky. Looking aloft near the tropopause, a strong ridge extends from the Southern United States to the northeast through Kentucky. This will prevent the flow from the cutoff system from moving due east. The adiabatic process from this high pressure results in dry, sinking air moving into Kentucky, allowing for pleasant conditions on Tuesday into Wednesday.

However, the pattern will start to change across our region going into Wednesday with strong moisture advection reaching into Kentucky. That’s the forecast for today, have a nice day!

Good morning everyone! After a dreary, rainy weekend due to the remnants of Hurricane Isaias, we will begin to dry out starting today and heat up those temperatures as well. Some areas, especially near Elizabethtown, were able to pick upwards of 1-3″ of rain, while most areas received less than an inch, including Bowling Green. Still, any rainfall that was received was beneficial to the ongoing dry conditions across south central Kentucky.

This morning, there are some areas of fog, especially along and east of I-65, so, if commuting in that direction, be sure to allow extra time and use those low-beam headlights! Any fog found across the area will lift within a few hours after sunrise. Looking at today, a 1020mb ridge of high pressure will continue to build and strengthen over the southeast. This will allow for temperatures to rise to a high of around 85 degrees for today and overnight lows to fall to around 60 degrees. It will also be slightly humid with 60 degree dewpoints.

The heat unfortunately looks to stick around for the first half of the week with temperatures possibly nearing 90 degrees by Wednesday but luckily a cold front will continue to work its way slowly to the southeast by the latter half of the week, giving us more consistent fall-like temperatures.

As always, be sure to stay tuned for the latest forecast updates!

Happy Friday y’all, we have one last day of good feeling weather before the rain arrives tomorrow. High of 86 and a low of 61, which is typical compared to these past few days. With tropical storm Isaias about to make landfall this afternoon, we are eager to see what direction it decides to follow. Utilizing a 300mb map of wind speeds, we can see a ridge downstream of the tropical storm where we will likely use the southeast winds to guide this storm into the southern US and shift eastward. It will take till the afternoon for Isaias to reach to Bowling green, and when it does it will have already been slowing down in intensity and cooling down since hurricanes are warm cored. But that doesn’t mean we won’t get any rain, we will, and some parts of Kentucky can see more than 0.75″ of rain. In addition, the rain will persist until Sunday afternoon. Rainwater can easily flood this time of year due to how dry the ground is, which can sound counterintuitive; this is because when high amounts for rainfall reach the ground it will take time for the ground to soak up the water, and this could obviously lead to flooding in some areas. We are not in a current flood warning, but it will take time for this event to reach us, so be mindful to check watches and warnings within the next two days.

Stay safe and stay dry.

Wednesday (10/7)

Good morning! I hope all WKU students had a great fall break. Our stretch of beautiful weather looks to continue for a few more days. In Bowling Green for today, highs today will reach 84°F, and lows tonight will be 65°F. Across the rest of the midsouth, general highs will reach the upper 70s, and low to mid 80s as you look farther west. Lows across the Midsouth will be in the mid to upper 60s.

For precipitation on your Wednesday, there is not much to see. Synoptically, there is not a whole lot happening across the US. The main synoptic feature across the country is a trough digging into the northern plains, and the Midwest. This will not affect the Midsouth in terms of precipitation or could cover. So tomorrow looks like another wonderful day.

Thursday (10/8)

For our Thursday in Bowling Green, the high will be 83°F, and the low will be 62°F. For the rest of the region, highs will range from the upper 70s to low 80s in the east, and as you make your way west, highs will be in the mid to upper 80s, with some local areas making a run to 90. Lows will reach the mid 60s across the central and eastern parts of the region, and mid to upper 70s farther west.

Precipitation on Thursday also looks nonexistent. The 500 mb jet streak associated with our trough will clip some of our region, but will not have any effect on the temperature, cloud cover, or precipitation, as the strongest upper-level winds will move to our north.

National Weather Headlines

After a record-breaking hurricane season across the Atlantic and the Gulf, it looks like our time without a hurricane is about to come to an end. Tropical Storm Isaias has formed in the Gulf and is expected to be a hurricane at landfall along the Gulf coast of the United States. This could have an effect on our weather later this week and throughout our weekend.

That is all for today and tomorrow. Have a great few days everyone and enjoy this wonderful weather!

Good morning and happy Fall Break! The sunshine will continue to dominate this week of weather; today will be a sunny day with a high temperature around 81°F in the afternoon. The low temperature is expected to reach around 52°F during Wednesday morning. No precipitation is expected. Northeasterly surface winds will remain throughout the day while sustaining below 5 miles per hour.

At the surface, a ~1020 millibar Northeastern high will amount to stable conditions and early morning cold air advection across Kentucky with subtle ridging aloft. In the afternoon, the relative humidity is expected to stay around 30%, making for a comfortable day. The atmosphere will remain warm and dry until low pressure and its associated cold front moves into the region later this week.

That’s the forecast for today. Enjoy the end of Fall Break!

Good morning everyone, I hope WKU students are having a good Fall break. Today we will see full sunshine with temperatures reaching the upper 70s. Combined with low humidity, this will make for a rather pleasant day with light northerly winds around 5-10 mph dominated by high pressure. Overnight lows will generally be in the middle 50s throughout most of the week.

As we progress throughout the week, a dominant ridge will slowly begin to shift towards the east, and that will continue to increase our temperatures. However, with the dry airmass in place, overnight temperatures will continue to cool off to the 50s rather efficiently. By late week, winds will finally begin to shift from the gulf bringing in more moisture into the region.

Rain chances will remain zero until we head into the latter half of next weekend where we could be looking at the remnants of a tropical disturbance depending on how much it develops and where it tracks, which is currently located over the Gulf. However, stay tuned for updates as we progress throughout the week.

Good morning and happy Friday, today here in Bowling Green temperatures will reach up to 80 and fall down to 59 overnight. The stationary front has us in anticipation for the rain we will receive today, with the start of the rainfall happening early or mid-afternoon. We are currently sandwiched in between two high pressure systems, where the one to our Northwest wants to move further downstream but the Bermuda high is slowing down that process. Thus, we have a slow-moving track of storms that will stay over our area for a long time; rain is likely to persist for most of the day and will stop at 9pm central. With the Bermuda high supplying the area with moisture and the other high over the pains is bringing cold temperatures and instability in the atmosphere. There is little threat however for severe thunderstorms and we will likely have showers with scattered thunderstorms. Total QPF has amounts of rainfall to be over five inches in central Tennessee, but that is stretched over a multiple day period.

As for the weekend, on Saturday those showers will finally be past our region, skies should clear up giving us a high of 74 and low of 59. Sunday will likely have less clouds in the sky which will get the high up to 76, and low down to 51.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the rest of your day.

Wednesday (9/30)

Good morning, everyone! Today, Bowling Green will reach a high of 88°. Across the rest of the Midsouth, highs will reach a general high in the mid to upper 80s, which some areas may even reach for the low 90s. Lows tonight will dip back to what we have been used to with our nights. For Bowling Green, the low will be 69°, while the rest of the Midsouth will vary based on location. Areas farther south, like Memphis, will likely only get as low as the mid 70s, while some local areas could hit 80° for a low. Other areas towards the Appalachian Mountains will likely see a much cooler low, which them dipping into the mid to upper 60s, with some low spots, and valleys possibly getting into the 50s.

While tomorrow will be much warmer temperature wise than it has been, the hot, muggy dewpoints look like they be cooler than what we have seen in the last month with this kind of heat, with them only reaching around 50°-55°. So, compared to what we have had, this won’t be near as hot and muggy. In terms of precipitation for today, we will stay on the dry side as well, at least for today.

Thursday (10/1)

It is hard to think that it is already October 1st, but here we are, as much as no one wants to admit it, it will be winter before we know it. For our Thursday, we will see much of the same in terms of a forecast. Tomorrow’s highs across the Midsouth will reach the mid to upper 80s, with some areas flirting with 90, and the lows will dip to the mid 70s across the region, with some areas locally cooler.

Dewpoints on Thursday could be higher for many of you than they will be today, while dewpoints farther east will likely remain around the same that they will be today. The increasing of dewpoints is likely due to a system that we could see move through on our Friday, bringing rain to many parts of the region. However, for your Thursday, precipitation will stay at bay while it is riding what was a trough on the southwestern US that has strung out across the central, and soon northern parts of the country.

National Weather Headlines

For all of you tropical weather enthusiasts have had a hay day with the Pacific’s hurricane season this year, and it is not over yet. As I am writing this at 9:36 pm on Tuesday night, Tropical Storm Rachel has now formed near the same spot of Hurricane Polo. The current National Hurricane Center outlook is predicting Rachel to be a hurricane by tomorrow at noon, and a major hurricane by midnight on Thursday. It is expected to remain offshore. The El Nino, for lack of better words, has created a nuclear hurricane environment in the Pacific this year, and unfortunately does not seem to show any sign of slowing down at the moment.

That is all for today and tomorrow. For all the summer lovers, enjoy the warmer weather. Have a great day!

Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday! After a long period of heat, it has finally cooled off. While cloudy early, today will be a sunny day with a high temperature around 80°F in the afternoon. The low temperature will dip to 55°F over Wednesday morning. No precipitation is expected. Surface winds will remain variable throughout the day while sustaining under 5 miles per hour.

A positively-tilted ridge with height rises extends from the Gulf into the Northeast United States, allowing for a warm, dry air mass to meander across the Mid-South. The dewpoint temperature is expected to remain below 50°F, with a relative humidity below 40%. The atmosphere will remain stable until an intense northern surface low begins to advect moisture back into the region.

That’s the forecast. Have a nice day!

Good morning everyone, and happy Monday! I hope you were able to enjoy the Fall like weather we had this past weekend as temperatures will slowly begin to rise heading into the middle of this week. However, for today, we can expect a return to 80 degree temperatures with expected highs around 82 degrees and lows around 50 degrees. The reason for the cooler overnight low temperatures is all thanks to the low dewpoints, meaning dry air, that has made its way into the region from Canada as we have been dominated by an area of high pressure centered over eastern Canada.

By the middle of the week, we will see the heat and humidity slowly return ahead of a cold front that is poised to move through next weekend. Highs will likely be in the low 90s for a couple days, especially on Wednesday and Thursday, before cooler temperatures and chances for rain return to close out the week.

Next weekend, the remnants of Hurricane Polo currently over the Pacific Ocean will impact the United States, however, what that will do to our rain chances over the mid-south remain uncertain at this time as there is significant model disagreement as will highly be dependent on the speed of the cold front and the track of the low. Nonetheless, stay tuned for updates as we progress throughout the week.