An eventful weekend awaits...will the weather be eventful too?

Serious flooding continues across much of Kentucky.  Many rivers and streams are running VERY high.  The problem is by far the worst across western Kentucky though.  Check out the latest hydrograph for Paducah, KY.  Notice that the Ohio River is projected to crest only 5 feet away from the ALL TIME highest flood ever recorded, which occured in 1937!  It's no wonder that farmland, towns, houses, industrial areas, and schools are flooded and closed down until further notice.  This is going to have a major impact on the lives of the people there, as well as the economy.  They will have a LOT of cleaning up to do when the waters finally receed. 

Sadly, exactly 12 months ago they were dealing with flooding in these same locations and many homes were lost.  These poor people probably feel like giving up at this point.

Here in central Kentucky, we've got Winter-like conditions to deal with today.  Temperatures that started out in the 30s this morning have only rebounded into the 40s as of this afternoon due to stiff northwesterly flow and persistent cloudcover that just won't go away.  FROST ADVISORIES are being posted from Cincinnati to Nashville for tonight...when temperatures could dip low enough to affect crops, flowers, etc.  Keep an eye on your vegetation if you are trying to grow things already.  It's going to be another cold one tonight!

Thursday looks brilliant with high pressure anchored directly on top of Kentucky.  This should allow sunshine and calm winds with temperatures rebounding to normal for this time of year....upper 60s.

So now to the Oaks/Derby/Mother's Day weekend...

We'll see two weather systems affect us over the weekend.  The first one will move into central Kentucky just after sunrise on Friday.  Rain showers and a rumble of thunder or two will be scattered across the area all day from morning until afternoon.  This system doesn't look to exit the area until Friday evening.  Skies may clear out somewhat before sunset on Friday...but most of the day will see rain around the area.  Temperatures will hover in the 60s for highs.  Overall, not the best of days for outdoor plans.

The better part of Saturday looks great.  We'll be between weather systems and conditions should be dry all of Saturday morning and afternoon.  The second weather system will begin to affect central Kentucky by Saturday evening.  At this point, I *think* the running of the KY Derby will be dry.  However, rain will be knocking on the door by this point.  But overall, Saturday looks to be the best day of the bunch with highs in the upper 60s.  Most Derby activities will be great.

As the second weather system moves through, it could have a little more punch with it and thunderstorms could develop Saturday night into Sunday morning.  Mother's Day is looking wet...especially for the first half of the day.  By Sunday evening, this system should finally start pushing out to the east, and temperatures should warm to around 72 degrees or so by late afternoon.  Sunday evening may turn out pretty nice before sunset.

So in a nutshell... rain Friday, dry most of Saturday, rain Saturday evening into Sunday around lunchtime, and then dry again by Sunday night.  Don't let the weather get you down though...  enjoy some time with your mother and let her know what she means to you.

Oh, and Pants On Fire for the win....by several lengths.  :)


Take Care,
Shawn