In the past 24 hours, the air temperature has dropped 26 degrees. Yesterday we were sitting at a very comfortable 62 degrees; today, we’re sitting at 36. It’s nothing out of the ordinary for temperatures to swing like this during this time of year, but that doesn’t make experiencing the swing any easier. But if you hold on tight for the duration of the current temperature rollercoaster, you’ll be rewarded with a welcomed warm-up later this week. Let’s get started!
Today has been cold and very windy. Temperatures will stay in the 30s for the rest of the afternoon and drop into the mid 20s tonight. Those westerly winds will be calmer tonight that what they were yesterday, but they will continue to add an extra “bite” to the already cold conditions. Dense cloud cover will remain for the evening and nighttime hours.
GOES-16 satellite picture of the heavy cloud cover we had all day. Notice the snow in the upper left-hand corner in portions of Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri. -Courtesy of College of DuPage Weather
Tuesday will be a clone of today until the evening rolls around. Cloud cover will decrease throughout the afternoon resulting in clear skies overnight into Wednesday morning. The removal of that deep cloud layer allows the longwave radiation emitted by the earth’s surface to escape into the upper levels of the atmosphere. Just like removing a blanket during the middle of the night, the loss of clouds will make for a very cold night: temps will reach deep down into the lower 20s for BG and potentially into the upper teens. This will be especially true for areas outside of the city limits.
After a very cold start, Wednesday will be a little warmer than today and Tuesday. Temps will edge right up to 40 for the high as southerly winds and clear sky conditions add some warmth to South Central KY.
And here’s a sneak peak at rising temps late on Thursday:
18Z GFS 2m temps, 10m winds, and pressure Thursday night. -Courtesy College of DuPage Weather
Tonight: Low of 25, but gusty conditions will make it feel like it’s in the teens. Winds from the West at 10 mph, but gusts will be around 16 mph.
Tuesday: High of 36, winds will still be gusting to near 20 mph.
Wednesday: Cool start of 20, but warming up to 40 by mid-afternoon.
Thursday: The first taste of the warming trend. High temps will be in the low 50s throughout the southern half of the Commonwealth.
Continue tuning in to see just how high our temps will go the closer we get to the weekend!