


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Louisville, KY
Issued by NWS Louisville, KY
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829 FXUS63 KLMK 180134 AFDLMK Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Louisville KY 934 PM EDT Tue Jun 17 2025 ...Forecast Update... .KEY MESSAGES... * Showers and thunderstorms through this evening could produce localized heavy rainfall and flooding. * Strong to severe storms are possible on Wednesday, mainly during the evening. All severe weather hazards are on the table, but damaging winds will be the primary threat. * Hot and dry weather arrives Friday and will continue well into next week. && .UPDATE... Issued at 933 PM EDT Tue Jun 17 2025 Things are quieting down across the area at this hour, although will still hang onto some isolated coverage of showers through the evening. Other than the one Flash Flood Warning earlier, it appears the threat for heavy rain is ending given the rapidly warming cloud tops on satellite imagery. There is some signal for some redevelopment of isolated to widely scattered showers (or a storm) through the overnight mainly east of I-65 but this is low confidence. Will keep pop mention in for that time period to account for the possibility. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... Issued at 334 PM EDT Tue Jun 17 2025 Scattered showers are developing in a warm and humid air mass this afternoon, with some embedded thunder and lightning but no real organization due to a lack of shear. Storm intensity is limited due to weak lapse rates, but PWATs are near 2 inches so heavy rainfall and flooding remain in play. Expect disorganized convection to continue for the rest of the afternoon and into this evening, with enough coverage to bring at least measureable precip to the majority of the area. Showers and storms die out mid to late evening, with some stratus build-down potential overnight. With clouds and oppressive humidity limiting diurnal temp ranges, lows will run around 70 with the exception of urban Louisville, which could stay in the mid 70s if it doesn`t rain. A better warm advection regime Wednesday morning will kick winds up out of the SW and spark a new round of showers and storms. Will keep coverage scattered in this time frame, with minimal impacts. The most impactful weather is expected Wednesday night ahead of the main cold front. Convection will break out over southern Missouri, and then it`s a race between approaching storms and the setting sun to determine the level of impacts here in the Ohio Valley. Stronger wind fields will provide more storm organization, likely allowing for a QLCS that will push toward central Kentucky and southern Indiana as we get to around sunset. The overall trend will be for storms to weaken once heating is lost, but the question is how far east the line advances before that happens. Main severe wx hazard will be damaging winds, but large hail or even a tornado can`t be ruled out. Best chances are NW of a line from roughly Bowling Green to Lexington. Confidence remains low due to uncertainty regarding available instability. Later in the night, we could still see another line of convection move through the area. Confidence in that batch of storms is even lower as much of the atmosphere is likely to be worked over. The more likely scenario could involve storms training along an east- west boundary, which would lay out across southern Kentucky. If this pans out, weather could remain active overnight into Thursday morning, with an emerging flash flood threat. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Issued at 334 PM EDT Tue Jun 17 2025 By Thursday morning, the cold front, embedded in an upper trough, that brought storms on Wednesday night is expected to be somewhere in the Lower Ohio Valley as it pushes off to the east. Timing is slightly different on exactly when the front and wind shift will occur. This is less significant as all the severe potential is expected to be ahead of the front, east of the CWA. Behind the front, upper ridging and surface high pressure moving east of the Ozarks will usher in lower precipitable water values. Initially values will fall below 1.5" behind the front, but they keep falling to around an inch later in the day. This will be noticed at the surface as dew points fall from the low 70s to the mid 60s over much of the CWA, but values to the southwest (Bowling Green area) will likely remain in the upper 60s. This drying trend will help to clear skies from the northwest to southeast during the afternoon and evening hours. Cold air advection behind the front will help drop highs from the mid to upper 80s on Wednesday to the low to mid 80s on thursday. Early Friday, upper ridging pushes the surface high east of southern Indiana and central Kentucky, returning warm air advection to the Lower Ohio Valley. Highs climb into the mid to upper 80s Friday before the low to mid 90s by the weekend. The upper ridge and surface high stall over the region, keeping mostly sunny skies and warm temperatures in the area into early next week, but as the high over the Southeast usher more moisture northward, chances for afternoon/evening convection will begin increasing early next week. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 752 PM EDT Tue Jun 17 2025 Scattered showers and storms will continue to slowly push NE this evening, however with a moist and somewhat unstable atmosphere lingering into the night, can`t rule out a few stray showers through the overnight as well. Tough to have too much confidence in any given time or place with those, so no plans to mention at this time. There is a stronger signal for some MVFR or even brief IFR ceilings across most of our TAF sites (exclude BWG) through the overnight into the first part of the morning. By mid to late morning, expect steady improvement back to VFR with SSW surface winds gusting up around 20 to 25 mph through the afternoon. More showers and thunderstorms are possible through the day on Wednesday, but most confidence would be in the afternoon to evening where some strong to severe storms can`t be ruled out. && .LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...None. IN...None. && $$ UPDATE...BJS SHORT TERM...RAS LONG TERM...KDW AVIATION...BJS