408 FXUS63 KJKL 172000 AFDJKLAREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Jackson KY 400 PM EDT Wed Sep 17 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Mainly dry weather looks to persist through the weekend.
- Temperatures will continue to be above normal through this weekend and into next week.
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.SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday night) Issued at 241 PM EDT WED SEP 17 2025
A weakening upper low currently centered over the Chesapeake Bay region will become absorbed into the mid-latitude westerlies over the next 24 hours through Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, weak upper ridging gradually moves overhead from the west through the remainder of the short-term period through Thursday night.
Warm and dry conditions will continue, with relatively little in the way of cloud cover. Mid and high clouds will diminish this evening, with valley fog developing tonight. Fog lifts and burns off Thursday morning, with a few shallow cumulus in the afternoon, with river valley fog developing again Thursday night.
With rising heights and clearing skies, highs will jump a few degrees higher Thursday compared to this afternoon, with temperatures well into the 80s, warmest in the Bluegrass region. Lows will remain generally the same or trend slightly warmer Thursday night compared to tonight, with lows both nights in the mid 50s to lower 60s.
.LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday) Issued at 350 PM EDT WED SEP 17 2025
Highly amplified flow across North America continues into next week. An energetic system arrives on the West Coast on Sunday and continues progressing east through the week, absorbing a cutoff low in the central US into a larger troughing pattern by Tuesday, according to this morning`s model suites. When this trough eventually gets kicked and begins moving, it would be the source of the next set of widespread precip chances.
The biggest question of the forecast is whether to trust guidance that the pattern will actually be in motion by Tuesday. Overall ensemble guidance is in very good agreement, both with other ensembles as well as in run-to-run consistency, about the progression (or lack thereof) of the upstream pattern through Sunday, though run-to-run indicates a continued slowing bias.
Sunday, or the Day 5 and beyond timeframe, is when uncertainty becomes readily apparent regarding how/whether the upstream cutoff low will actually begin moving. For the last 4-5 days, models have struggled to capture the evolution of the ongoing pattern and this shortwave beyond FH96, pushing PoP increases in eastern Kentucky back by another day for each day that passes, consistently keeping "rain chances" at the periphery of the extended forecast. This trend will continue with each subsequent forecast until global models regain skill with the upstream waves impacting the West Coast. Thus, NBM PoPs have not been changed, with chances
NWS JKL Office Area Forecast Discussion