Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Louisville, KY
Issued by NWS Louisville, KY
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471 FXUS63 KLMK 051917 AFDLMK Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Louisville KY 217 PM EST Fri Dec 5 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... * Mostly dry for Saturday, with a small chance for sprinkles and/or flurries across southern IN and north-central KY. Better chances for light rain come on Sunday, with the chance for initial onset of precip being freezing rain early Sunday before switching over to rain. * A roller coaster of temperatures awaits us over the next several days. We will see highs in the low 30s and highs in the upper 40s on and off each day as cold fronts move through. * These fronts will also bring on and off chances for rain and wintry precip. Though overall snow totals and QPF looks quite light. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY/... Issued at 217 PM EST Fri Dec 5 2025 About half the region has seen clouds break up and sunshine peaking through. We will see a bit more clearing over the eastern areas, but these areas will still see broken skies and not complete clearing. Tonight, surface high pressure to the south will push east, keeping surface winds light out of the SSW. Slight WAA will keep temperatures a few degrees warmer than the previous night. Aloft, troughing will move through the northern Great Lakes, sending a stalling cold front into the Ohio Valley. This cold front will likely stall over central Indiana and Illinois on Saturday. Another shortwave riding along the broader troughing will swing through the lower Ohio Valley in the late morning and early afternoon. Low stratus will return to the region. Very limited moisture in the low levels and troughing providing lift, may allow for some very light snow flurries (far north CWA) or sprinkles for a short time in the afternoon. We will see warmer temperatures on Saturday, with highs in the upper 30s to mid 40s. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... Issued at 217 PM EST Fri Dec 5 2025 ===== Sunday - Monday Morning ===== Another shortwave will swing through the region on Sunday, forcing the stalled front to propagate southeast into the lower Ohio Valley. Ahead of the front, WAA will increase 850mb temperatures, keeping temperatures just above freezing in the low-levels (warm nose) and just at or below freezing at the surface. Precip will increase from west to east in the early morning on Sunday, which will bring a chance for freezing rain for a few hours over southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. Not expecting much accumulation, but a glaze will be possible. Shortly after sunrise, temps will begin to warm and precip will transition to mostly rain. The cold front is forecasted to push through the region Sunday night. Due to cooling temperatures and weak CAA, rain will likely transition to snow. Precip chances will taper off from NW to SE as the front exits the region Monday morning. Low temperatures on Monday will be in the 20s, with wind chills in the teens. Overall, not expecting much in the way of QPF or accumulation with this system. Looking to see very little to a light glaze of ice (mostly over the northern portion of the region), a Trace to a few tenths of an inch of snowfall, and up to 0.1 inches of rainfall. ===== Next Week ===== High pressure will build in behind the cold front on Monday. This will keep temperatures in the 30s for highs, despite clearing skies. On Tuesday, a quickly developing low pressure system over southern Canada will sweep the northern US border, bringing a WAA pattern to the Ohio Valley. We will remain dry on Tuesday with partly cloudy skies and warmer temperatures in the 40s. Shortwave troughing will sweep the Ohio Valley on Wednesday, bringing the cold front of the aforementioned low pressure system though. This will increase rain chances for Wednesday. Due to a strong LLJ and increased pressure gradient, we will also see breezy to windy conditions on Wednesday. Wind gusts up to 30mph will be possible. The parent low pressure will begin to occlude late Wednesday, which will allow for wrapped moisture to lead to lingering precip chances behind the cold front. A cold air chasing moisture scenario may set up for Wednesday night into Thursday, which may bring some snow or wintry mix. Yet another system looks to develop late next week and swing through the Ohio Valley, bring another chance for rain and wintry precip. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SUNDAY/... Issued at 1229 PM EST Fri Dec 5 2025 We have seen a fair amount of scattering low stratus so far today. HNB is clear and SDF will break out very soon. Clearing will continue to push east through the afternoon. Areas over the far east will likely not see clear skies but SCT-BKN. Upper troughing will approach the region on Saturday morning, bringing a small chance for very light flurries to the northern terminals. Confidence and impact is low, therefore, not mentioned in the TAFs at this time. From this, we will see low stratus build back into the region Saturday morning to low-end MVFR. Some sites to the south may be IFR. && .LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...None. IN...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...SRW LONG TERM...SRW AVIATION...SRW