WKU Homecoming Forecast

It’s going to be a big weekend on the Hill, as it is Homecoming for WKU this Saturday. This year’s Homecoming football game features the WKU Hilltoppers (3-5, 1-4) vs. UTEP (5-3, 3-1) at L.T. Smith Stadium. The game will kick off at 3:00 P.M. CST, but tailgating and Homecoming festivities will be taking place throughout the day. Let’s take a look at the game day forecast.

It’s a tricky forecast for Saturday as a trough moves through the jetstream during the day. As a result, an area of surface low pressure over the Hudson Bay will trigger a weak cold front to move across southern Kentucky during afternoon. Check out this loop showing 850mb temperature advections on Saturday, areas shaded in red signal warm air moving in and areas shaded in blue signal cold air moving in.

850mb temperature advections valid from 9am to 9pm CST Saturday (Courtesy: College of Dupage) — 12Z NAM 850mb temperature advections valid from 9am – 9pm CST Saturday (Courtesy: College of Dupage)

Ahead of the front, we will see a mix of clouds and sun by daybreak Saturday morning. Temperatures will start off in the lower to middle 30s and quickly rise to near 50º by noon thanks to southwesterly surface winds ahead of the cold front.

Cloud cover will increase as the cold front crosses through southern Kentucky Saturday afternoon. Temperatures will reach the middle 50s before the cold front passes, and a stray rain shower can’t be ruled out along the front. Most of the precipitation will stay off to our northeast, but we could see a quick shower move through during the afternoon. Check out what the latest run of the 4km NAM model thinks the radar will look like on Saturday:

output_gXW8Dc — 12Z 4km NAM simulated reflectivity valid from 6am – 6pm CST Saturday

Winds will turn to the west behind the cold front, and temperatures will begin to fall into the 40s by the time the sun sets Saturday evening. Skies will become partly cloudy overnight and low temperatures will dip into the middle 30s.

In summary, expect decent weather for the game this weekend. The chance for a few showers is low, and if we do see any rainfall on Saturday it will be short-lived. You may want to bring a jacket to tailgate as temperatures will be on the cool side.

Tailgate Forecast

9AM ~ 46º, Partly Cloudy, Winds SSW at 5-10mph

11AM ~53º, Mostly Cloudy, Stray Shower Possible, Winds SW at 7-12 mph

1PM ~ 54º, Mostly Cloudy, Stray Shower Possible, Winds WSW at 5-15 mph

3PM ~ 55º, Mostly Cloudy, Stray Shower Possible, Winds W at 7-12 mph

Any rain showers around the area will move off to the east by Saturday evening, so expect no troubles heading home from the game. Go Tops!!!