


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Jackson, KY
Issued by NWS Jackson, KY
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201 FXUS63 KJKL 291944 AFDJKL AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Jackson KY 344 PM EDT Fri Aug 29 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Pleasant and dry weather is expected for the Labor Day weekend with only a small chance of showers or a thunderstorms over southeastern counties on Sunday and Monday. - Look for mild, sunny days and cool nights through Labor Day, with Saturday night likely being the coldest of the period. - The dry spell ends heading into the middle of next week. Scattered showers (30 to 50 percent chance) are possible Tuesday, with higher rain chances following for Wednesday and Thursday. - Rainfall totals through Thursday are expected to remain under an inch for most locations. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Saturday night) Issued at 304 PM EDT FRI AUG 29 2025 Another pleasant late August afternoon is in progress over the Eastern Kentucky Coalfields and surrounding regions. A deep ~558 dam low over Southern Quebec is maintaining troughing and dry northwesterly flow across the Central Appalachians. Temperatures range from the upper 70s to lower 80s for most locations, except in the mid 80s in the warmest spots near Lake Cumberland. A fairly vigorous cumulus field has developed as a weak and poorly defined cold front seeps southward through the area, producing a few isolated sprinkles. However, limited moisture will preclude these clouds from growing much deeper or producing any substantive rainfall. The current weather pattern will remain relatively unchanged over the JKL forecast area through the short-term as the deep upper low drifts ever so slowly toward New Brunswick by daybreak on Sunday. In the meantime, the aforementioned cold front will slowly sag south into the Tennessee Valley overnight. A disturbance, rotating around the trough aloft, will bring an uptick in high cloud cover tonight from the Lower Ohio Valley into the Tennessee Valley and may initiate a weak wave of low pressure along this frontal boundary Saturday morning, which will help push the front more firmly to our southeast during the day. The lack of moisture will once again result in this being a dry system, except for the possibility of a few isolated sprinkles along or adjacent to the KY-TN and KY-VA borders. Surface high pressure behind the front over the Great Lakes will edge in from the north on Saturday night, setting the stage for more efficient radiative cooling than tonight. In sensible terms, look for mostly to partly sunny skies with just a few isolated sprinkles or virga through early evening while temperatures hold near daily maximums. For tonight, the cumulus field will dissipate early and variable high-level clouds will stream in from the northwest. Temperatures are forecast to settle back into the lower and middle 50s, though a few of the coldest hollows could slip into the upper 40s. On Saturday, look for mostly sunny skies once again and temperatures climbing into the mid 70s to lower 80s. The only chances for a sprinkle will be along and adjacent to the Virginia and Tennessee borders. Finally, on Saturday night, mostly clear to partly cloudy skies are in store with low temperatures ranging in the upper 40s to lower 50s for most locations, but down into the mid 40s for those normally coldest hollows. .LONG TERM...(Sunday through Friday) Issued at 239 PM EDT FRI AUG 29 2025 Upper level ridging will push into the Great Lakes Region on Sunday, allowing high pressure to move into eastern Kentucky. Temperatures will warm a degree or two with highs on Sunday in the upper 70s to lower 80s. The aforementioned ridge will remain situated over the region through Monday. The upper level pattern will change on Tuesday as a shortwave forms on the southern periphery of the aforementioned ridge. This disturbance will provide enough forcing to kick off showers and a few thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon. A widespread, wetting rain is not anticipated at this time as forecast rainfall totals remain less than a half of an inch. Elsewhere on Tuesday, a distinct upper level trough will dive south from Manitoba and Ontario. This system will phase with the aforementioned shortwave on Wednesday, placing the majority of CONUS in a troughing pattern. Rain chances maximize Wednesday as precipitable water values climb to the 75th percentile. Showers and thunderstorms will continue into Thursday with rainfall amounts remaining less than an inch. Conditions will change late Thursday into Friday as another strong cold front moves into Eastern Kentucky. Below normal temperatures return by the end of next week && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Saturday afternoon) ISSUED AT 258 PM EDT Fri Aug 29 2025 VFR conditions are expected to continue for the duration of the forecast period at the TAF sites. Prevailing winds remain light and variable in this afternoon`s METAR observations, but occasional gusts between 10 and 15 knots will be possible before sunset as a weak boundary passes through. Winds across the area should generally shift towards the northeast behind this boundary, but will likely diminish to calm conditions at the TAF sites after sunset. Likewise, this afternoon`s scattered cu field will diminish with the loss of daytime heating and give way to a few high clouds streaming in from the northwest. Radiational valley fog is once again expected to bring visibility reductions to the sheltered valleys overnight, but the fog is not currently forecast to impact the TAF sites. Some guidance suggests that a low stratus deck may develop near KSJS as flow shifts towards the northeast overnight, but the dry air visible in the model soundings should suppress this. Confidence is not high enough to explicitly mention this in the 18z TAFs, but trends in upstream moisture obs and the forward progression of the boundary will need to be monitored accordingly. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...GEERTSON LONG TERM...SCHLESSIGER AVIATION...MARCUS