Monday Afternoon Update

Today 3/24 – Partly Cloudy & Mild – High 48˚ / Tonight – Iso’d Rain & Snow Showers – Low 31˚

3pm 48˚ ~ 6pm 45˚ ~ 9pm 37˚ ~ 12am 33˚ ~ 3am 32˚ ~ 6am 31˚

A pretty decent afternoon has shaped up after a chilly start this morning. Surface high pressure has allowed skies to remain clear with temperatures only reaching the upper 40s this afternoon.

A long wave trough over the eastern half of the US is the reason for the below normal temperatures and this trough will intensify over the next few days as a strong area of low pressure skirts off the eastern seaboard. This will keep temperatures colder than normal and bring a few chances of snow as well.

That’s right….I said snow.

Our first chance of snow showers will come tonight as a shortwave disturbance impacts Kentucky. Clouds will begin moving into our area sometime this evening, and rain and snow showers will form to our west. These showers will be light and will drift east overnight.

Temperatures will be right around freezing so we will most likely see a mix of rain and snow showers. Most areas that see any rain or snow showers will not see any precipitation until after midnight. Any snow that does fall will be very light, and little to no accumulation is expected.

Tue – Sca’t Rain & Snow Showers, BREEZY – High 40˚ / Tue Night – Clear – Low 20˚

Tuesday will be even colder than today as high temperatures run about 20 degrees below normal. Northwesterly winds of 15-25 mph by tomorrow afternoon will be the reason for the cold, and another shortwave disturbance during the day will bring a chance for rain and snow showers. Temperatures will top out around 40 degrees, so any snow that falls tomorrow afternoon will have trouble sticking and once again little or no accumulation is expected.

We will see some peaks of sunshine in between showers tomorrow afternoon, and by Tuesday night skies will become clear. Temperatures will dip down to around 20 degrees overnight and some rural locations could see temperatures in the teens.

Wed – Sunny & Chilly – High 45˚ / Wed Night – Partly Cloudy – Low 33˚

Surface high pressure will move in on Wednesday, resulting in another day with mostly clear skies. Temperatures will still be cold as high temperatures will only reach the 40s. By Wednesday night, winds will turn to the southwest as an upper-level ridge builds over the area. This will help to move in warmer temperatures for Thursday and Friday. Here is a look at the latest NAM 850mb temperature chart showing warm air being pushed into Kentucky by Wednesday night:

This warm air advection will help to push temperatures back to near normal by the end of the week. We can look forward to Spring’s return by this weekend, but for the next few days it is going to be chilly. That’s all I have for this afternoon, as always you can check out @WxOrNotBG and @WarrenCountyWX on Twitter for more frequent updates. Have a great day.