This morning started off with dry, nice weather, but we had a lot of smoke to deal with from the fires in Estill county. Lexington was inundated with smoke through at least noon, but we began to see it lift in the early afternoon. The worst should be behind us, but keep an eye out for lower air quality for the next couple of days. It was a warm midweek day. We must soak up the 70s because everything is about to change as we near the weekend.
Tropical Storm Nicole is about to ramp up to hurricane status as we head into the overnight and as it nears Florida's east coast. The storm is apt to bring a lot of rain over much of the state tonight and tomorrow, then turn north and set it's sights on the Deep South then eventually up to Virginia as a low pressure. Rain totals in the coming 4 or so days look to be decent even for Kentucky. We could get a couple of inches of rain out of the tropical system combined with a sharp cold front.
The two will meet and travel east carrying the rain out of here by late Saturday, then the cold air follows. Temperatures will go from low 70s Thursday to low 60s Friday then hit the 30s and 40s over the weekend. And we don't warm up much at all into next work week. Prepare the heavy winter coats!
