LEX 18 StormTracker Weather Blog

They are delicate, beautiful and not a common sight- thin, white ribbons resembling a flower but comprised entirely of ice.  LEX 18 viewer Rebecca Bates shared pictures of "frost flowers" taken in Lawrenceburg. Frost flowers are icy extrusions- water drawn through plant stems that freezes, splits the stem and as it continues to expand furls into flower like formations. Watch for them on cold fall mornings with the air temperature below freezing but ground that is still unfrozen and retaining moisture- especially from recent rain. They don't last long- once the sun comes up and the mercury rises above freezing they either sublimate or melt away.

Saturday's severe weather was nothing to play around with. Strong winds outside of the line of thunderstorms were already causing damage to property, well before the line arrived. When the line arrived, thunderstorm wind gusts, combined with surface wind made for dangerous conditions. The NWS has several confirmed tornadoes across the state. An EF-1 was confirmed in Ohio County, in Beaver Dam. A second was confirmed in Meade County, west of Ekron. Both resulted in one injury each. A third EF-1 tornado was confirmed today in Taylor County . The funnel dropped down for about a minute a few miles north of Campbellsville around 6:00pm Saturday. Estimated winds reach 90-95 mph during the event and left a path 1.4 miles long and 50 yards wide. Damage was primarily to roofs and tree branches in it's path. No injuries were reported. Information on the other touchdowns...

The next couple of days are some of the busiest travel days of the year. Coincidentally, this is also one of the times of the year where travel weather can be at its worst. Heavy snow storms or strong cold fronts are prevalent during the temperature transition between summer and winter. The good news this year...More than 75% of the country will have dry roads this week! Areas to focus on: Pacific Northwest: When the country is under meridional flow (think up and down like a roller coaster) with the jet stream, the storm door opens in the Northern Pacific Ocean. This sends wave after wave of low pressure systems onshore in the Pacific Northwest. With a large ridge in the desert southwest, all rain and snow activity will be confined north. Snow in the Western Rockies and High Cascades is expected, but rain and fog will make passes and valley travel difficult as well. Northern Plains/Northern Midwest A weak low will bring in a mid-week chill for the eastern half ...

Between the wind gradient and strong storms, Saturday was quiet a windy day. Some of the strongest gusts occurred outside of thunderstorms and out ahead of the strong cold front. For some the gusts were as high as the speed limit. The strongest gust around of the area was recorded in Morehead. Many were rocked by frequent 30 to 40 mph gusts during the afternoon and early evening hours. These strong gusts produced sporadic damage across the area, including down trees and limb, and power outages. In Lexington, a tree fell on several cars on North Limestone. Other trees and power line blocked other roads around town. A number of residents in Nicholasville and Wilmore were without power Saturday night following the severe storm that tracked through southern Jessamine County.                     While the Bluegrass dealt with straight-line winds, the National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes in western Kentucky. An EF-1 t...

We haven't had many "Severe Threat" days since the unveiling of our new set. Considering when it debuted we were entering the dry part of the season, which sees fewer big scale storms, and more small-scale showers. Most people are unaware that we get a special color accent on the news set. Today, we get that cool effect. When you watch the news tonight and if Meteorologist Jill Szwed breaks in, you'll see what I'm talking about.  While this is cool to talk about and see, it unfortunately means we have serious things to talk about. After all, more colors means more threats. This is true in many facets of meteorology. Take into account any doppler radar. Light rain is colored blue, but heavy rain is usually red. The higher the threat, the more the inflection in color. Forecast: We are at a 1 or “Slight” for our Severe Weather Index today. Showers and thunderstorms will arrive in a line later this evening. Before we even get to the line ...

Spring is the main severe season across the continental United States. However, fall, the other transitional month, features another spike in severe outbreaks. Both season can feature sharp contrasts in temperature, deep upper-level troughs, strong cold front, and a jet that dives southward across the lower 48. Looking at Kentucky's monthly tornado records, you will notice two spikes in confirmed reports. The spring totals stick out first. Then there is another bump, not quite as high, during the fall. There is a difference in the modes of severe weather during these two seasons. It all comes down to how you make the "recipe" for severe thunderstorms. The ingredients are lift, shear - changes in the wind with speed and direction, and instability - fuel to build tall clouds and develop intense storms. The available amounts of each will determine the threats that thunderstorms will be capable of producing. Spring storms feature higher amounts of instability an...

This week's weather is about to get a little more active. We have seen a series of cold fronts track through already, but none have been as strong as the one we are tracking to cross on Saturday. Before the first drop of rain falls or the first gust of wind arrives, we are tracking a warming trend. Temperatures are heading for the upper 50s to near 60 degrees on Friday. We will also get to enjoy some late week sunshine. The bigger changes will hold off until Friday night. Fall, like spring (the other transitional season), is not without it's chances for active weather. It's not unusual for a strong November cold front to carry to potential for gusty or strong storms. Saturday's cold front will be no exception. Like other typical  late-season cold fronts, Saturday's front will not have a bunch of instability, or energy, to build tall clouds and intense storms. However, there will be a decent amount of shear and a strong wind field. That being said - wind wil...

It can be expensive to shop for meteorologists during the holiday season. New instruments and techniques to provide a more accurate forecast are always on the top of our list. Those items carry a pretty hefty price tag. This year Christmas will come early for meteorologists with the launch of a new polar-orbiting satellite, JPSS-1. Credit: NOAA You may recall seeing satellite imagery during our forecasts on LEX 18. But did you know data from these satellite are also helping meteorologists provide earlier warnings and more accurate forecasts? Polar-orbiting satellite help us do both. You may be familiar with the term "geostationary weather satellite." Last year the GOES-16 satellite, a geostationary satellite, was launched and it was a game-changer for monitoring hurricanes, wildfires, lightning, and tornadic thunderstorms. These geostationary weather satellites move with the Earth during it's orbit around the sun and look at one location on Earth. Meanwhile, pol...

" What Goes Up, Must Come Down " Whether or not you believe in gravity, the concept of the rise and fall is still the same. In every aspect of life we can apply that there are "ups" and "downs" and they wouldn't be possible without each other. This ties into our forecast in many ways. We're currently in a weather pattern that is known as "meridional." The polar jet stream  which separates the cold, arctic air of the polar latitudes and the warmer, subtropical air in the lower latitudes takes on a high amplitude wave formation. When the jet stream meanders like a snake, the movement of different air masses becomes more apparent and therefore you start getting active weather. Warm air tends to want to move towards the poles, which in turn dislodges cold air to move south. It can do this as the jet stream exhibits troughs and ridges. The clash of these air masses are what causes the "activity." As you've seen wit...

"Hard Freeze" Times that is... First and foremost, I want to offer a special "Thank You" to all of our Veterans! Your service is greatly appreciated. We've successfully accomplished our first hard freeze of the season. A hard freeze is defined (by the National Weather Service) as a temperature of 28 degrees or below. Most plants/crops have already been damaged or killed due to previous freezes, but if not, this puts the kibosh on that. If you want to break down the stats of the hard freeze averages for Lexington, they are as follows. Average First Hard Freeze: November 5th Record Earliest Hard Freeze:  October 3rd (1974) Record Latest Hard Freeze: December 4th (1899) So, within a two month period, early November seems to be the median time frame for a hard freeze. Based on the fact that we accomplished ours, this year, only 5 days after the average first means we're pretty much on schedule. Now, on to some forecast talk... We get a...

 An Arctic front is coming! It's nothing out of the ordinary, especially as we are looking ahead to the start of Meterological Winter in a few short weeks. These types of fronts can bring cold blasts and snow to the Bluegrass. We'll get one of those impacts tonight - plunging temperatures. We are tracking the front to across the Bluegrass the evening and continue on into eastern Kentucky tonight. You likely won't notice much across our skies, but the cold you will. We are tracking lows in the mid to upper 20s tonight. Along with being the coldest night since St. Patrick's Day, Lexington has the potential to mark the first hard freeze of the fall. Our first frost and freeze occurred within a few days of each other last month. We won't really shake the chill on Friday. But there will be a good deal sunshine. So think of it as a bright winter day. We'll spend most of the day in the 30s. To put these readings in perspective, January's average high in L...

It may be the first full week of November but we are tracking our first real taste of winter. Temperatures have been steadily cooling down since the near-record warmth on Sunday. Even with the cooling trend, we have remained seasonably cool for early November with highs in the 50s. A sharp drop in temperature will be around for the end of the work week and the start of the weekend. A moisture-starved cold front will zip through the Bluegrass on Thursday. As the name suggests there won't be much rain. In fact, we were tracking nothing more than increasing clouds on Thursday. The big story will be the cold shot that follows the front. This won't be a little cold snap. The Midwest, Great Lakes, and the Ohio Valley will experience the first brush with Arctic air of the season. Friday will be the coldest day for folks around the Ohio Valley, including here in Kentucky. While highs have been seasonable cool for November the last few days; Friday's high temperature will be...