Bowling Green, Kentucky 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

655
FXUS63 KLMK 160552
AFDLMK

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Louisville KY
152 AM EDT Sat May 16 2026

...Updated Aviation Discussion...

.KEY MESSAGES...

* Showers and thunderstorms expected Saturday morning, mainly for
  southern IN and north-central KY. Additional scattered storms are
  possible across south-central KY Saturday afternoon. There is a
  Marginal Risk for severe weather, with hail and wind as the main
  threat for any strong to severe storms.

* Temperatures are expected to warm into the mid 80s to low 90s this
  weekend into the beginning of next week. Some daily max
  temperature records could be challenged.

* Tuesday and Wednesday, more showers and thunderstorms ahead of a
  cold front, dropping temperatures back to near normal.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 1039 PM EDT Fri May 15 2026

This evening, moisture is beginning to move into the Ohio Valley
from the west with nighttime microphysics satellite imagery showing
a large mass of mid- and high-level clouds located along and west of
the Mississippi River. A few showers are even being observed across
southeast MO and southern IL. This moisture gradient is also
reflected in regional obs at this hour as sfc dewpoints range from
the mid 40s across east central KY to the upper 50s and low 60s
across far western KY.

For the rest of this evening and overnight, a 40-45 kt 850 mb jet
will begin to nose into the region from the west-southwest,
supporting warm advection and increased moisture around 3-5k ft AGL.
With a couple subtle mid-level shortwaves expected to approach the
area early Saturday morning, the combination of low-level warm
advection and neutral/slight negative upper-level height tendencies
should lead to steepening mid-level lapse rates and increasing
elevated instability. By around sunrise Saturday, hi-res progs show
up to 2000-2500 J/kg MUCAPE moving into northwest KY and southwest
IN. Initially, the increasing moisture should just support scattered
light showers; however, 0Z HRRR continues to support the idea that
combined lifting effects from the mid-level vort lobes and
approaching outflow from overnight convection to our NW should
support convective initiation across southern IN between 10-12Z
Saturday. With cooler and drier air remaining near the sfc, this
convection should remain elevated through much of the morning,
pushing east later during the day on Saturday.

Otherwise, light southeast winds and increasing clouds are expected
tonight, with lows ranging from the mid 50s east of I-75 to the mid
60s west of I-65. Most areas, especially south of the Ohio River,
should remain dry through sunrise Saturday.

&&

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/...
Issued at 318 PM EDT Fri May 15 2026

Dry weather across the region this afternoon is expected to continue
into tonight as mid-level ridging slides to the east. However,
clouds will be on the increase through the overnight ahead of an
upper shortwave moving across the region. A broad area of moisture
transport will advect into the area overnight along an advancing
warm front, with mid-level vorticity pivoting across and adding
support for scattered to numerous showers by tomorrow morning. Model
soundings continue indicate a healthy low level inversion, which
will keep any storms elevated through the morning. However, there
should be a large amount of CAPE, though the profile is rather
saturated. Morning showers and storms will mostly be unorganized as
shear will be marginal, though definitely could see some lightning
strikes. PWAT values will also be quite high around 1.5", which is
around the 90th percentile of sounding climatology.

The warm front will lift north of the area by the middle of the day,
along with the mid-level vorticity, taking away the better forcing.
We could end up with a lull of activity during the middle of the
day, with outflow boundaries from the morning convection shifting
south. This outflow boundary will be the focus area for additional
convection development across south-central KY in a better
destabilized environment. Model soundings across the south support
steeper low level lapse rates and a slightly drier mid-level layer.
Combined with strong instability up to 2000 J/kg, higher DCAPEs may
result if we see drier mid-levels. As so, SPC has expanded the
marginal risk in the D2 slightly more south for wind and hail risk
for any convection that fires along remnant outflow boundaries.
Most convection activity will decrease by tomorrow evening, but hold
on to a chance for the I-64 corridor and north.

For Sunday, dry weather is expected again as ridging moves into the
area. Sfc high pressure will be centered over the southeastern US,
which will ramp up the WAA flow for the region. This will result in
temperatures Sunday afternoon peaking in the upper 80s to low 90s.
These high temps will be 10-15 degrees above normal, and could
challenge some daily maxT records.

&&

.LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/...
Issued at 318 PM EDT Fri May 15 2026

Sunday Night through Wednesday Night...

This period is expected to start dry across the region with
overnight lows Sunday night in the upper 60s, though the urban areas
will remain around 70 for lows.

Moving into Monday, the region will be in a southwest flow aloft and
at the surface.  A consistent signal of warm air advection will keep
temperatures above normal here with afternoon readings warming into
the upper 80s to the lower 90s.  The warmest conditions will be down
south of the Cumberland Parkway region.  Looking at soundings across
the region, shear profiles look to remain quite weak here and we`ll
likely see some afternoon mixing which will lower dewpoints into the
mid-upper 50s in the east with lower 60 dewpoints out west of I-65.
This could produce enough instability produce a few isolated-
scattered storms across our far western areas that may linger into
the evening hours.  Overnight lows Monday night and Tuesday morning
will be in the upper 60s to the lower 70s.

For Tuesday, the broad southwest flow will continue across the
region with moisture pooling out ahead of an approaching upper
trough and a surface boundary.  Looking at soundings, with the ridge
shifting off to the east, soundings do show a bit of higher level
moisture moving into the region aloft, which suggests that we`ll
have a bit more cloud cover across the region.  Insolation will not
be as strong as Monday, but the overall synoptic pattern will
support afternoon temperatures in the mid-upper 80s with a few 90s
down across southern Kentucky.  Shear profiles remain rather weak
across the region.  However, with temperatures in the mid-upper 80s
and dewpoints in the 60s will yield enough instability for scattered
showers/storms in the afternoon.   Scattered showers/storms are
likely to continue into Tuesday night as the front drifts closer to
the region from the west with lows in the upper 60s.

Frontal boundary looks to bisect the region Wednesday morning and
will push off to east during the day and into the evening. Plentiful
cloud cover and scattered showers and perhaps a few storms will be
possible as this boundary moves through.  Temperatures swill cool
off a bit as the front heads through, with highs in the upper 70s to
the lower 80s.  A drying trend will take place Wednesday night as
temperatures cool back into the upper 50s/lower 60s.

Thursday and Friday...

Looking into the later week period, frontal boundary looks to slowly
sag southward into the TN Valley on Thursday with the upper level
flow taking more of a zonal flow aloft while an area of high
pressure works across the Great Lakes states.  Blended PoPs here
look a bit too high and probably will trend downward in future
forecasts.  In the post frontal airmass, temperatures will be back
to seasonal normals with highs in the mid-upper 70s with overnight
lows in the mid 50s.

Zonal flow looks to hold into Friday with slightly drier air
continuing to work into the region from the west/northwest.  A
slight moderation in temperatures is expected with highs warming
into the upper 70s to the lower 80s.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY/...
Issued at 152 AM EDT Sat May 16 2026

VFR conditions are expected through most of the period, but the
period is expected to be more active as showers and thunderstorms
are expected to move in from the west later this morning. This
activity is expected to be most active to the north over southern
Indiana and north central Kentucky. Believe ceilings and
visibilities will remain mostly in the VFR range, but a heavy
downpour could reduce visibilities for a very short time. Winds
could get gusty with the morning activity, but with stable low
levels chances become better for gusts from afternoon/evening
thunderstorms that are expected to develop.

&&

.LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KY...None.
IN...None.

&&

$$

UPDATE...CSG
SHORT TERM...CJP
LONG TERM...MJ
AVIATION...KDW