After experiencing an unseasonably warm Christmas Day, Owensboro Times checked in with the National Weather Service in Paducah to see what weather patterns could be expected over the next several weeks. According to NWS Paducah Meteorologist and Weather Forecaster Kevin Smith, the warm weather will continue for the next few days.
Smith said the warm streak experienced across much of Kentucky has resulted in temperatures 10-25 degrees higher than normal for late December. Even after a warm weekend, daytime temperatures aren’t likely to fall below 45 degrees over the next week or longer.
“We’ve been seeing temperatures in the low-to-mid 60s in Owensboro, and we’re looking for those temperatures to persist through this Saturday,” Smith said on Thursday. “On Sunday and Monday, we’ve got a weather system coming in that’ll drop the temps to the high 40s, which is normal for this time of year.”
Even temperatures in the mid-60s aren’t considered terribly “abnormal” for December in western Kentucky, Smith said, because the really cold weather doesn’t usually hit until January. Even with that being said, the warm temperatures that have occurred over the last week have certainly been higher than normal.
New Year’s Day will see temperatures in the mid-to-upper 40s, while temps could hit a high of 50 by Jan. 2.
Smith said those in Owensboro can expect some rain this weekend, but that the clouds will dry back up by Monday or Tuesday. NWS doesn’t expect any rainfall on New Year’s Eve.
Owensboro’s 65-degree Christmas Day was caused by some warm weather systems that went through a range of high pressure that persisted throughout the week.
So did Owensboro see any break any temperature records during the holiday season this year? According to Smith, stats needed to answer that question had to be based off Evansville’s numbers, but he said Christmas Day temperatures would’ve had to be in the low 70s in order to break a record set in Evansville in 1942.
Early January should see temperatures fall back into normal range, falling around the mid-40s during the days with dips into the 20s most nights.
“The 30-day outlook shows equal chances of temps being about or below normal,” he said. “The average January precipitation, right now, is right on the edge of normal to slightly above normal.”
With slightly above average precipitation expected in January, there’s some chances for snowfall during the nights. The expected precipitation over the next month is expected to be around seven-tenths of an inch, with a daily precipitation average of one-tenth of an inch.
