textproduct: Louisville

KEY MESSAGES

* Cold Weather Advisory has been issued from this evening trough Saturday morning for wind chills dropping to near 0 to -10 degrees.

* Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for Saturday morning through Monday morning for a significant winter storm.

* Significant accumulations of snow and sleet across southern Indiana and northern Kentucky, and significant accumulations of freezing rain, sleet, and snow across southern KY. High probabilities of Major impacts through the weekend.

* Very cold temperatures remain through the workweek.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/

Issued at 419 AM EST Fri Jan 23 2026

Today, a cold front will drop southeast into the CWA. It won't do much to shift wind direction, but it is expected to make winds more gusty with winds around 10 mph and gusts around 20 mph. Cold air advection will limit high temperatures from around 20 in parts of southern Indiana to near 40 in Clinton County, Kentucky. With the wind, wind chill values drop into the single digits over much of the northern CWA. Skies will see a mix of sunshine and high and mid- level clouds streaming overhead.

Tonight, continued cold air advection will drop temperatures into the single digits and teens, so with wind chills in the breezy condition dropping to near 0 to -10 a Cold Weather Advisory has been issued for the whole CWA.

LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 419 AM EST Fri Jan 23 2026

Saturday, the Lower Ohio Valley sits under the right entrance region of an upper jet streak with a surface high to the north, centered near the Great Lakes. This will help forcing across the region as southern flow from a split upper jet carries pooled moisture from in and around Texas towards southern Indiana and central Kentucky, ahead of a surface low near the Gulf Coast.

The Euro and GFS are now in better agreement with the arrival of precipitation Saturday morning, but still think with high pressure already in place, there could be some dry air to overcome. This is splitting hairs, but could delay the heavier snow from moving in by a few hours. Model agreement continues to place the heaviest axis of snowfall along the Ohio River as the GFS continues to keep the axis through central Kentucky.

During the afternoon, 700mb flow turns towards the southwest and slowly begins to increase into the night. This will produce a warm nose that continues to threaten snowfall totals especially over south central Kentucky. If more sleet and/or freezing rain is produced, snow totals will suffer. There remains some uncertainty with precipitation type, mainly over southern Kentucky. The best chance for the mix will begin Saturday night as the low level jet begins to increase, meaning more warm air advection in the warm nose.

On Sunday, several models push mixed p-type to near the Ohio River or even into southern Indiana. If this happens, expect higher snow totals farther north into southern Indiana with lower totals over central Kentucky, and with temperatures well below freezing any rain should be expected to freeze on contact. Southern Kentucky could see significant icing.

Sunday night, as the front of the upper trough pushes the surface low farther to the east, precipitation comes to an end. Cold air advection ahead of an approaching surface high, centered over The Plains will drop Sunday night's temperatures back into the single digits.

Monday, a shortwave embedded in the upper trough will bring an end to the the southwest flow and replace it with northwest flow over the Lower Ohio Valley. For the rest of the week, highs are expected to remain below freezing with nightly lows in the teens and single digits.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 655 AM EST Fri Jan 23 2026

VFR conditions are expected through the TAF period. Currently, a cold front is pushing southeast through southern Indiana and central Kentucky. Winds are becoming more gusty behind the line and can already be seen at HNB. Scattered to broken high to middle level cloud cover will stream east overhead throughout the day.

LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

KY...Cold Weather Advisory from 7 PM EST /6 PM CST/ this evening to noon EST /11 AM CST/ Saturday for KYZ023>043-045>049- 053>057-061>067-070>078-081-082. Winter Storm Warning from 1 AM EST /midnight CST/ Saturday to 7 AM EST /6 AM CST/ Monday for KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057- 061>067-070>078-081-082. IN...Cold Weather Advisory from 7 PM EST /6 PM CST/ this evening to noon EST /11 AM CST/ Saturday for INZ076>079-083-084- 089>092. Winter Storm Warning from 1 AM EST /midnight CST/ Saturday to 7 AM EST /6 AM CST/ Monday for INZ076>079-083-084-089>092.