As we near the Christmas weekend, we continue to watch the winter storm barreling our direction. Things are still quiet now, but overnight we will see clouds increase and eventually light rain showers start to work in. These will produce rain totals of less than 0.25".
Into Thursday, it's the transition of a day as we begin with temperatures in the 30s, warm to the mid/upper 40s, then see the Arctic blast come in late in the day. Temperatures will be in a free-fall Thursday night and into Friday morning. This is also when the rain will change over to snow. It's not a lot in the way of accumulation, but most of our viewing area we should see 1 to 4 inches of snow by Friday morning. Prepare for tricky to dangerous travel Friday and Saturday and make sure you have the necessary items in your vehicle to keep warm.
There will be bare spots on the grass because of blowing snow thanks to winds up to 40-45 mph! This is where it gets dangerous. Wind chills will get down to the -20s! A Wind Chill Watch will be in effect for our viewing area from 10 pm Thursday to 1 pm Friday. A Winter Weather Advisory will be in effect for Central KY from 6 pm Thursday to 1 pm Friday. The timing of the coldest air with strong winds is between 2 am and 10 am on Friday. Also, an interesting fact: the last time Lexington was under a Wind Chill Watch or Warning was 2014 and 2015.
We slowly will climb out of the freezer and see calmer winds as we move into Christmas Day. High temperatures will only reach the upper teens though. Next week, we will get back into the 30s and eventually 40s.
Bill Meck went live on Facebook tonight to give a brief rundown:
