textproduct: Louisville

KEY MESSAGES

* Remnants of Isaias will bring beneficial rainfall to the area tonight into tomorrow, aiding the ongoing drought. Amounts will vary widely, with most locations (80% chance) seeing between 0.25 and 1.5 inches.

* Winds out of the east will gust over 30 mph at times this afternoon and evening. While the risk is low (20-30%), an isolated gust or two may reach 40 mph, especially over the Bluegrass and across far southern Kentucky. This could blow around unsecured, lightweight outdoor objects.

* Dry and warm weather will return Monday into Tuesday, with highs in the mid to locally upper 80s each day. The next chance (20-40%) for rain will arrive Wednesday into Thursday.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 138 PM EDT Sat Oct 10 2026

*** BREEZY WITH RAIN SHOWERS THROUGH SUNDAY ***

The remnants of Isaias are bringing portions of southern and central Kentucky beneficial rain early Saturday afternoon, while winds steadily increase out of the east-northeast. Thankfully, gusts have generally stayed in the 20-30 mph range so far, though a few have reached 35 mph just to our south in central Tennessee - running on the low end of HREF guidance as is often the case in warm advection regimes characterized by stable low levels. Given a notable LLJ - evident via 50-55 kt winds at just 1kft AGL off of HPX's VAD - lifting north across the area this evening, there remains a low chance that momentum transfer via heavier showers could mix down a rogue 40+ mph gust, but Bufkit soundings from various models suggest this would be brief and localized, with the risk decreasing sharply after 7-8pm EDT as the low level inversion strengthens. Hence, we don't anticipate needing a Wind Advisory at this time, but opted to continue the Special Weather Statement (SPS) through 7pm EDT mentioning the low chance of minor impacts like lightweight, outdoor objects blowing around.

Otherwise, scattered showers will continue overnight, with perhaps a rumble of thunder or two this evening as MUCAPE, just barely poking into the dendritic growth zone (DGZ) for charge separation, reaches 300-500 J/kg - highest over the Bluegrass. We'll keep an extra eye on radar during the evening, but the chance for severe weather is exceptionally low.

The surface low will pivot over eastern Kentucky tomorrow, resulting in lingering showers mainly over the Bluegrass. Though we may see a few peaks of sunshine during the afternoon mainly west of I-65, the low will have "filled" (weakened) considerably by that time so winds will be relatively light. This position of the low to our east should also reduce the risk for cold air funnels and/or a landspout, with the RAP/NAM both showing highest (>1) non-supercell tornado parameters (NSTs) in far eastern Kentucky and parts of West Virginia, though our risk remains nonzero. Any showers will be slow- moving, so there could be some localized pockets of moderate-heavy rainfall (again, most likely over the Bluegrass) exceeding 1.5 inches, but this is not anticipated to cause any hydrological impacts given 6 hour Flash Flood Guidance (FFG), or the minimum amount of rainfall required to cause flooding, is running 3-4 inches due to the dry antecedent conditions. Due to the showery nature of the precipitation this evening and again tomorrow afternoon, rainfall totals will vary considerably from one location to another. HREF/NBM 10th-90th percentile ranges for storm totals span less than a quarter inch to more than 2 in spots, with high end amounts running highest over the Bluegrass. Rain should finally taper off tomorrow evening as dry air works in from the northwest behind the low. High temperatures tomorrow will, like today, struggle to surpass 70, which is near normal for mid October.

*** DRY MONDAY-TUESDAY, RAIN CHANCES RETURN MIDWEEK ***

We may kick off the work week with some fog early Monday morning if clouds break up, since surface high pressure will be over the area resulting in light winds. The 12z HRRR is certainly advertising the potential with sub quarter-mile visibilities near/east of the I-75 corridor. We'll monitor trends in cloud cover and winds to reassess that potential, but for now we'll hold off on a key message about the fog, which has been added to the gridded forecast east of roughly I-65. Global models and their ensembles are in agreement that ridging will build back over the Ohio Valley on Monday, with southwest surface winds and deep mixing bringing temperatures back into the mid 80s during the afternoon - about 15 degrees warmer than Sunday. Tuesday will be similarly warm, though becoming less dry as Gulf moisture, lifted into the Plains on Monday, slowly spills into our area from the west. The GFS and ECMWF then each depict a southern stream shortwave ejecting out of the Southern/Central Plains and into the Illinois/Indiana sometime Wednesday into Thursday, which forecast soundings suggest will result in some elevated instability and (conditional on a trigger) some chance for showers and thunderstorms. At this time, the National Blend of Models (NBM) gives the area a 20-40% chance for rain Wednesday into Thursday. The jury's out on how things will evolve at the end of the week, with EOF patterns (specifically PC1 for EOF1) for 500mb height suggesting model spread in the depth of troughing over the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes is the primary driver of uncertainty during the Friday-Saturday timeframe. This may be related to the deterministic models, which have portrayed various outcomes with potential interaction between a cutoff low over the Four Corners and a series of systems rippling through the northern stream jet.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z MONDAY/

Issued at 138 PM EDT Sat Oct 10 2026

An area of rain associated with post-tropical storm Isaias will continue lifting northward across the region, then break up into scattered showers during the late afternoon and evening. Meanwhile, MVFR ceilings will shift north into Kentucky over the next several hours, perhaps briefly breaking up during the evening before filling back in at the IFR level overnight. There remains a low (20%) chance for a few lightning strikes this evening into the early overnight as some weak instability develops near the low pressure center, however confidence was too low to add to the TAFs at this juncture. HREF guidance suggests a high probability (70-90%) IFR stratus sticks around until nearly the end of the forecast period (18z Sunday), perhaps longer over the Bluegrass. East-northeast winds around 13-18 kt with gusts to 25 (locally 30) kt are expected mid afternoon through early evening, easing overnight. Winds will be stronger just 1-2 kft AGL due to a 45-55 kt LLJ, however, the stiff surface winds from the same direction kept us from adding LLWS to the TAFs.

LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

KY...None. IN...None.