Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Louisville, KY
Issued by NWS Louisville, KY
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978 FXUS63 KLMK 181025 AFDLMK Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Louisville KY 625 AM EDT Wed Sep 18 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... * Mostly dry with just a few isolated showers, mainly along and east of I-75 later today. * Mainly dry and hot weather Thursday through Sunday with highs each day near 90 degrees. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 251 AM EDT Wed Sep 18 2024 We will remain under the influence of a nearly stationary upper low currently centered over the southeastern US for today. We`ve seen a little more low-level moisture advect in from the Atlantic thanks to the cyclonic circulation associated with this system. Current satellite imagery shows some low stratus across south central KY close to the KY/TN border extending eastward into the Lake Cumberland region. This low-level moisture could result in some lingering clouds this morning and scattered afternoon Cu to develop. We still have a very small chance of a few isolated showers forming later today across our east, with the best chances (10-20%) along and east of the I-75 corridor. Temperatures will remain a challenge for this afternoon due to uncertainty with cloud cover. If we stay mostly to partly sunny highs could warm into the mid 80s but where clouds remain the longest, mainly towards the east, highs may just make it into the low 80s. Overnight the upper low will finally start to slowly work east- northeast towards the Chesapeake Bay as sfc high and upper ridging work in from the west. Skies will clear out and winds will remain light overnight. We could see patchy fog develop towards morning. Lows will generally be in the low 60s with a few upper 50s across our far east and mid 60s for our more urban areas. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Issued at 251 AM EDT Wed Sep 18 2024 Dry and hot weather will take hold for the weekend as an upper high over Texas will be the main feature of interest. Ridge axis will extend NE to Lake Michigan on Thursday, with heights over the Ohio Valley rising slightly as the ridge axis takes a more west-to-east orientation. Unseasonable warmth will prevail through the period, but Fri-Sat will be the hottest days with H8 temps building to 20C, supporting widespread highs in the lower 90s. Lack of deep return flow will keep convection and heat indices in check. In fact, with sfc dewpoints near 60F, heat index values may even be a degree or two lower than the actual air temperature. Min temps will trend a bit warmer through the weekend, but most should be in the 60s each morning. Confidence does start to decrease on Sunday as some of the ensemble members start to drop a sfc cold front into the Ohio Valley, and the operational GFS is even spitting out some precip. Most ensemble members leave us high and dry, so will not include POPs in the forecast at this time. Rain chances do ramp up early next week as consensus increases that a front will be in play at that time. Still some uncertainty in the timing as run-to-run consistency hasn`t been established yet, so we`ll keep precip chances in the 20-30% range, and temps will continue to run above climo, but not by as much as this weekend. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 625 AM EDT Wed Sep 18 2024 Current nighttime microphysics satellite imagery shows a swath of low stratus from BWG to just south of RGA this morning. To the north, there is a narrow swath of mid level clouds with RGA seeing some fog and VIS down to less than a mile. The main impacts for the start of the forecast will be BWG with MVFR CIGs and IFR/LIFR VIS for RGA until just shortly after sunrise. Should see CIGs lift to VFR for BWG by about 16z, and the rest of the TAF sites remaining VFR through the day into the evening. Upper low that increased clouds and low-level moisture will remain stationary through the day but will start to work east-northeast later tonight. This will help to clear skies, but with the clearing and light winds, patchy fog is likely to develop, especially for RGA, BWG, LEX by tomorrow morning. && .LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...None. IN...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...BTN LONG TERM...RAS AVIATION...BTN