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Heat Persists in the South Central U.S. and California; Heavy Rain in the Ohio Valley

Sweltering heat remains across the South-Central Plains and Lower/Middle Mississippi Valley, as well as in the Southwest and California this week with limited nighttime relief. Heavy rainfall will lead to localized areas of flash flooding in parts of the Ohio Valley/Central Appalachians. Dry and breezy conditions will enhance fire weather concerns across the northern Rockies and High Plains. Read More >

 
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Read the Hazardous Weather Outlook (click to read)

673
FLUS43 KJKL 100021
HWOJKL

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Jackson KY
821 PM EDT Wed Sep 9 2026

KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-104-106>112-114-119-110030-
Fleming-Montgomery-Bath-Rowan-Estill-Powell-Menifee-Rockcastle-
Jackson-Pulaski-Laurel-Elliott-Morgan-Johnson-Wolfe-Magoffin-Floyd-
Lee-Breathitt-Owsley-Martin-
821 PM EDT Wed Sep 9 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for a portion of eastern Kentucky.

.DAY ONE...Tonight.

Thunderstorms are possible tonight.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday.

Thunderstorms are possible at times Thursday through Sunday, and
again on Tuesday, mainly in the afternoon and evening hours. Locally
heavy rainfall is possible Thursday through Saturday which could
lead to isolated instances of flash flooding.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

$$

KYZ083>088-113-115>118-120-110030-
Wayne-McCreary-Whitley-Knox-Bell-Harlan-Knott-Perry-Clay-Leslie-
Letcher-Pike-
821 PM EDT Wed Sep 9 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for a portion of eastern Kentucky.

.DAY ONE...Tonight.

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday.

Thunderstorms are possible at times Thursday through Sunday, and
again on Tuesday, mainly in the afternoon and evening hours. Locally
heavy rainfall is possible Thursday through Saturday which could
lead to isolated instances of flash flooding.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

$$

JKL/CMC


 

Read the Area Forecast Discussion (click to read)

084
FXUS63 KJKL 100024
AFDJKL

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
National Weather Service Jackson KY
824 PM EDT Wed Sep 9 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Showers and thunderstorms ahead of a cold front will arrive after
midnight tonight, and continue at times through Thursday night.

- Heavy rainfall could lead to isolated instances of flash
flooding northeast of I-75.

- Unsettled weather will continue through early this weekend, as the
front stalls in the vicinity of eastern Kentucky.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 824 PM EDT WED SEP 9 2026

Trimmed low-end PoPs and Sky cover from the far north counties
for the next few hours and delayed arrival of PoPs from the
northwest a few hours, all based on latest observed and model
trends. Otherwise, the hourly temperature forecast was updated
with the latest hourly observations used as the initialization.


&&

.SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday night)
Issued at 345 PM EDT WED SEP 9 2026

As of 1930Z, some mid- and high-level clouds can be seen across the
area, with even a few showers dotting portions of eastern Kentucky.
Southwest winds around 8-12 mph with gusts up to 25 mph will begin
to subside heading into this evening, along with the current shower
activity. Fair skies prior to midnight should allow valleys to
decouple somewhat, yielding ridge-valley temperature splits prior to
active weather. Valley lows are expected to fall into the upper 60s,
while ridge tops remain in the low 70s. Some patchy river valley fog
will be possible, mainly in southern valleys, furthest from the
approaching system.

A slow-moving cold front will progress southeast, out of the Upper
Midwest and into the Ohio Valley Thursday. Showers and storms
preceding the front will begin across eastern Kentucky overnight and
continue through Thursday night. Model soundings show an environment
with precipitable water exceeding 2 standard deviations above
climatological norms, reaching around or above 2 inches across
northern portions of the CWA. At the suspected time of arrival
(around 3 AM), soundings indicate a strong surface inversion, and a
lack of evaporative cooling. Rather than severe surface winds, the
combination of high moisture content, high relative humidity, and
warm cloud-base processes primarily favors high rainfall efficiency,
making heavy downpours and localized urban or flash flooding the
primary threat. The WPC has noted in their discussion that 850-mb
flow is parallel to the front, also supporting training potential.
They have placed areas mainly northeast of I-75 in a Slight Risk
(level 2 out of 4) for Excessive Rainfall Thursday and Thursday
night. Some areas may see rainfall over an inch, with the 12Z Grand
Ensemble from the HREF indicating a 50-70% chance of occurrence in
areas along and north of the I-64 corridor. During rainfall, low
stratus and patchy fog may develop after 8 PM Thursday.

.LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday)
Issued at 528 PM EDT WED SEP 9 2026

General model agreement remains regarding the long wave pattern
through the middle of next week. Amplified and progressive flow
will modulate across the northern half of the CONUS, while ridging
gradually consolidates and expands west over the southeastern
portion of the U.S. A positively tilted trough will be aligned
from New England through the Ohio Valley and into the southern
Plains beginning on Friday. At the surface, a weak cold front
will be positioned near the Tennessee border back towards the
lower Mississippi Valley. Eastern Kentucky will find itself in an
unsettled pattern continuing into early this weekend, as
troughing is maintained aloft, and the surface boundary lingers in
the vicinity of the region. Model guidance has favored a slower
transition to increasing 500 mb heights compared to yesterday.
This will result in higher PoPs across the area through Saturday,
with some locally heavy rainers still possible.

Sunday through Tuesday, more decisive ridging will build in
aloft, which will limit the areal coverage of any convection.
Unfortunately, this will also allow for more above normal heat and
humidity, with highs returning to the mid to upper 80s, and even a
some lower 90s at times. Dew points will also likely exceed 70
degrees for the majority of the period. By Wednesday, the upper
level ridge may broaden and pivot enough to allow for enough
passing short wave energy to drive the next surface cold front
south of the Ohio River. This will bring another uptick in PoPs
by Wednesday, although confidence in timing is pretty low this far
out.

&&

.AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday evening)
ISSUED AT 714 PM EDT WED SEP 9 2026

West to southwest winds will continue to subside through mid-
evening, with light and variable winds through the overnight.
Ceilings will gradually lower overnight and continue to do so
Thursday. Showers and thunderstorms preceding a cold front will
begin to work into the area around and after 06Z. PROB30 and
prevailing groups are in the TAFs to highlight this threat.
Flight categories will drop into MVFR from the northwest between
12z and 18z, with better chances of convection working southeast
through the remainder of the forecast area after 18z. Prevailing
winds will increase primarily out of the west to southwest during
the daytime hours Thursday, generally at ~10 kts or less. However,
gusty and erratic outflow winds will be possible near any
stronger storms.

&&

.JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

$$

UPDATE...CMC
SHORT TERM...GINNICK
LONG TERM...JKL
AVIATION...CMC


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