WKU Meteorology

Well as my title says, we are at one month until Christmas Day! After getting full of Thanksgiving goodies I imagine many families cranked up the Christmas tunes, got out the eggnog, and put up the tree. While today won’t exactly feel Christmas like, the rest of the week will as a cold front pushes its way across the area. Right now winds are coming from the south east but will shift to the northern directions. We will experience some heavy later because of this.

GOES 16 satellite imagery

Satellite imagery is showing some upper level clouds as well as that heavy fog that’s been talked about. There is an advisory out at the moment for that fog so please be careful!

We will see some showers later on into tonight so make sure to keep an umbrella with you. As temperatures head towards freezing for Monday morning, it is possible to see a few pop up flurries.

A high pressure system will come through Monday to dry things up for Monday and Tuesday. It will be cold, but uneventful.

SUMMARY:

• Sunday:
  • High: 67
  • Low: 35
  • There is a 40 % chance of rain later today going up to 60% this evening. A potential for flurries in the early hours.
• Monday:
  • High: 39
  • Low: 22
• Tuesday:
  • High: 37
  • Low: 23

Have a fun and safe week everyone!

Greetings!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and if you participate in Black Friday hope you found great deals. The weather yesterday was a perfect November day. Today will not be as great. With the southerly flow there will be an increase in clouds as the day progresses  and gusts up to 20 mph. The high temperature will be similar to Turkey Day, around average for this time of year, this is caused by the warm air advection. As a low pressure from the plains heads into our area, we will see soaking night potential to see half an itch total of rain over tonight.

At midnight, the NAM is showing about .27″ around the area. Increasing till day break on Saturday when it looks to mid .30″.

Saturday temperature are looking to be  around upper 50s and lows to be around low 40s. There is also a chance to see rain showers throughout  Saturday. Sunday could be well above average with temperatures with in the mid to upper 60s in some places and there are some indications to see low 70s in other places. There will be a dramatic drop in temperatures with the rainfall overspreading the area and a low races to the great lakes and will bring cold northwest winds into the area. Monday highs could be in the lower 40s, a good 20-25 degree drop from Sunday.

Summary:

Friday: 55/46 with a great chance to see rain tonight

Saturday:  60/42 with a slight chance to see rain throughout the day

Sunday: 64/32 With a great chance to see rain starting in the afternoon into the evening  clearing at night

Monday: 37/23 with winds at 10-20 mph

Ah… It’s finally that time of year!  Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, casserole, mac and cheese, pies- you name it, I’m certainly about to eat it!  This year’s Thanksgiving should be a great one across much of the US, and Bowling Green is no exception.  Thanksgiving day will be a beautiful one, spend some time outdoors if you can before more unsettled weather returns!

Here’s a run of the 0z NAMNEST, showing that it should be clear across much of our region Thursday.  Outdoor Thanksgiving plans are a go.

Your Thanksgiving Day forecast:

Clear skies!  No chance of rain.  High of 59, Low of 37.  Thankful for the nice weather this Thanksgiving!

Friday: High of 56, Low of 49- Showers likely towards late afternoon/evening

Saturday: High of 62, Low of 44- Showers early, clearing in the morning

As the short school/work week draws to a close, it’s time to focus on drawing near to our loved ones. But before we can do that, we have to get to them first! Whether you’re flying or driving, here are the forecasts for some big cities and interstates that you’ll probably pass through or use.

Driving:

I-65: From Nashville, Tennessee, to Mobile, Alabama, this route will be clear of any weather related problems both Tuesday and Wednesday. But keep a cautious eye out because traffic problems still tend to occur all along this road even without wet weather. From Nashville to Louisville, a couple light showers are possible early Tuesday. Once you cross over the Ohio River, those rain chances will change to light snow especially as you approach the Windy City early Tuesday morning. The second half of Tuesday and all day Wednesday looks clear for the entirety of this interstate.

I-35: Splitting the East from the West, this road through the heartland will be clear from Minneapolis to Dallas both Tuesday and Wednesday.

I-80: From New York to Chicago to San Francisco, this path could experience some problems on the ends closest to each coast. In New York and Pennsylvania, drivers need to watch out for intermittent snow showers for most of the day Wednesday. On the western end, rain showers will increase greatly during the evening hours for the northern half of California.

I-95: The longest interstate along the East coast will experience some midday showers points South of Charleston, SC, and a rain/snow mix points North of New York City for most of the day and night on Tuesday. Wednesday looks clear as can be, but watch out for slick spots caused by leftover snow or frozen puddles from rain the day/night before if you are driving North of Boston especially.

Flying:

Nashville (BNA): High temps in the mid to upper 40s both days with an overnight low deep down in the lower 30s. Dry

Atlanta (ATL): Temps in the mid to upper 50s both days with an overnight low dipping into the upper 30s.

New York (JFK/LGA): Tuesday could squeeze out a high around 40, but will dip down into the 20s overnight and remain in the 30s all day Wednesday.

Los Angeles (LAX): Mid 60s (near 70 for some) on Tuesday and dropping into the low 50s overnight. Temps will only creep back into the low 60s on Wednesday.

US Road Map- Courtesy of Wallydogwear.com

If you’re staying around Bowling Green, high temps will be in the mid-40s both days and drop to the mid-20s during the night Tuesday in Wednesday. Tuesday will be mostly cloudy while Wednesday will clear out very nicely.

Safe travels and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Good afternoon everyone!

If you haven’t had an opportunity to step outside, please do! It feels like we should in April or May not November. There are some clouds floating about, but there is still plenty of space for the sun to shine through. Here’s a quick picture I grabbed outside my dorm:

There is a stationary front laying horizontally across Kentucky at the moment with a cold front on its backside meaning today’s amazing temperatures will not last into the rest of the week. As the cold front passes through, winds will change from the south and south west to coming from the north.

GOES 16 Satellite Imagery

Radars are showing some showers to the south west that may make their way into the area tonight and tomorrow.

There’s around a 40% for tonight and around 50% chance for rain.

SUMMARY:

• Sunday:
  • High: 63
  • Low: 37
  • Enjoy the warm whether while you can!
• Monday:
  • High: 54
  • Low: 41
  • There is a 50% chance Monday.
• Tuesday:
  • High: 41
  • Low: 32

Have a safe Thanksgiving everyone!

Shortwave IR Satellite (Source: COD)

It looks like a great start to our morning with few clouds and lots of sunshine for our Saturday. Temperatures will be much warmer compared to these last few days, with highs today heading up to the mid 50’s, and lows into the mid-30’s. A short-lived high pressure center moving through will attribute to these sunny skies. Despite this, we are looking into a cloudy weekend.

The above image is a map of projected cloud cover, and Sunday is projected to be a cloudy one, but there will be times that skies are more clear. Highs will be similar to Saturday, with temperatures in the mid-upper 50’s. Lows for Sunday will be in the mid 40’s. As we head overnight and into Monday afternoon, there is a small chance for rain showers. Highs will be cooler than what we’ll see for this weekend with temperatures in the mid-upper 40’s; lows will be in a similar range to the highs for Monday in the mid-lower 40’s.

Forecast:

Saturday: Sunny and warm, High: 58, Low: 33

Sunday: Overall cloudy and similarly warm to Saturday, High: 56, Low: 44

Monday: In the morning, 30% chance of showers, otherwise generally cloudy, High: 47, Low: 44

Greetings!

I do not know about you, but I am ready to see the sun and feel the warm air again. The weekend looks to bring that to us. Friday will start mostly cloudy with chilly temperature in the low to mid 30s. However, in southern Kentucky with clearing skies as the day goes progresses we will see highs in the upper 40s into the lower 50s.

In the over night hours there is an increase in moisture in the lower levels mixed with the cooling could lead to the formation of fog in central Kentucky. There is potential for freezing fog with temperatures with the lows into the lower 30s. This shouldn’t be to   impactful with ground temperatures above freezing.

The dark blue is were the moisture is located.

Saturday looks to be lovely and above average for this time of year. The high around low 60s and the average is in the mid 50s. with the low is in the upper 30s which the average low. As the high pressure moves away there are indications of small rain showers moving in the area in the later afternoon into the evening hours

If the rain can not beat the dry air on Saturday, then there is a better chance Sunday afternoon to see some light rain showers.

Summary:

Friday: 51/30

Saturday: 59/39 very small chance of rain, mostly sunny

Sunday: 54/37 increase in rain chance in the evening hours.

Good afternoon folks!!

Cool and cloudy conditions will stick around for the rest of this afternoon and evening as an area of low pressure at the surface continues to move towards the east. As the area of low pressure moves east, cooler and drier air will filter into the area from the northwest. Cloudy skies throughout south-central Kentucky will begin to clear out during the early morning hours as dry air moves into the lower and middle-levels of the atmosphere.

Might need to put on a extra layer as you head out the door on Friday morning. Temperatures will start off the day on the cool side, hovering right around the freezing mark with mostly clear skies.

Below: HRRR 13z, 11-16-18, Surface Temperature

Temperatures on Friday rebound back up into the upper 40s, with mostly clear skies as high pressure moves in from the west. Temperatures dip back down into the upper 20s during the overnight hours on Friday.

Saturday is going to be gorgeous, as zonal pattern sets up across much of the contiguous United States. Temperatures around the Bowling Green area will rise into the middle-to-upper 50s during the afternoon hours.

Forecast

Tonight: Cloudy skies clear out during the early evening hours, with a low of 28°. Calm winds out of the west.

Friday: Mostly sunny skies, with a high of 47°. NW wind at 5-10 mph.

Friday night: Partly cloudy skies, with a low of 27°. Winds will be calm.

Saturday: Mostly sunny skies, with a high of 57°. Winds will be calm.

Bowling Green received 0.2″ of snow today which is only the 2nd time measurable snow has occurred on this date. The previous measurable snow on 11/15 occurred in 1906 when 4.5″ fell. The max temperature of 36°F is the 4th coldest since 1893 and is the coldest max temperature for the date since 1940. Receiving measurable snowfall prior to mid-November is rare in Bowling Green and has only happened 9 times, most recently on Halloween of 1993.

Good evening WKU!

There is much to discuss in this weeks forecast. Firstly, I’ll discuss tonight’s bitterly cold air that will seemingly be here to stay for the meantime trend. Why Wednesday’s rain chances are highly valid and how tomorrow night will induce possible Thursday’s snow chances. Lastly, all this “hoopla” about snow that you might’ve heard is supposed to occur on Thursday, could actually happen. I’ll talk about that and just what you should expect to encounter for the next couple of days.

Hold up, wait a minute… did it snow at all for Tuesday? Many rumors have circulated about Tuesday’s AM snow and if you were up early enough (around 6am-ish) you might’ve saw a few flakes falling from the sky. However, it didn’t accumulate to “zilch” because Tuesday’s minimum temperature had not quite reached freezing this morning. We did however mange to get two tenths of an inch of rain, that makes nearly 3 inches in the first two weeks of November! It’s going to get a little wetter for Wednesday and Thursday!

Climatological Report (Daily) for Tuesday in Bowling Green, Ky

Wednesday partakes of mostly cloudy skies with inclined rain chances due to the gradual lifting of saturated (very humid) air Wednesday evening. That upstream trough aloft will make its way through the Mid-South by Thursday afternoon with winds up to 20 mph at the surface. Majority of this returning air flow will be induced from the southern moisture out of the Gulf of Mexico and into the south/southeast U.S.. Giving the Mid-South more rain! Humid air moves into the region by Wednesday afternoon making room for a mixing scenario as dew points will be favorably 35°F by Wednesday evening. So what?! The high temperature for Wednesday is only supposed to get to reach 37°F. So, we could possibly see some freezing light rain by Wednesday after 8pm.

NAM surface relative humidity (courtesy Pivotal Weather)

Thursday continues to start out with messy conditions for this week’s trend. That circulating low associated with that fast moving trough will sqeeeeze it’s way in between the shortwave ridge of high pressure off the east coast. This keeps the mid-latitude cyclone alive and as this system rotates counterclockwise it will build up fast paced winds with it. The tighter gradient of pressure signifies faster winds and a change of wind speeds on the backside of the trough. On the back-end of the trough is a developing arctic jet stream of winds from the northwest that will invade the enclosed low Thursday to produce a phase change for your rainfall. Freezing rain will end early Thursday morning before 2am and will proceed as rain until noon. A slight risk for snow Thursday after 4pm will be slim chances but valid to contain importance because of the sporadic moisture return. Not nearly enough to cancel school though. We’ll be lucky to get 0.03″ of snow.

Composite reflectivity of the precipitation type with the 1000-500 mb thickness (courtesy Pivotal Weather).

TUES PM: Overnight Low of 31°F with mostly clear and dry skies. Winds from the north at roughly 5 mph.

WEDN: 37°F/31°F; Cloudy skies into overcast in the morning with humid conditions on the rise from southern moisture. Rain chances are medium after 10am (~40%) but increase to (100%) after 4pm. Freezing rain to begin between 8-10:00pm. Precip: (0.5″-0.75″).

THURS: 39°F/32°F; Overcast skies with freezing rain ending a couple hours at the top of the day. Nippy winds and light rain proceeds until about 7:00am accumulating to about 0.01″. A 30% chance of rain as those winds pick up speed throughout the day.  Snow chance of 30% as well that will most likely occur after 4pm and won’t accumulate to much.