After a spring-like first week of March weather wise across Central and Eastern Kentucky, we finished out the week in style with the warmest air we’ve seen in quite some time across the region. With a few peeks of sunshine, a steady southwest wind, and most importantly less rain/storm covera ge, temperatures surged all the way into the upper 70s and low-80s, marking the warmest day we’ve seen across the area since the first few days of last October! This put us into record territory as we reached 81 degrees for an afternoon high temperature in Lexington (as of this writing), which bested the old record of 77 degrees for Friday set back in 1973. Hopefully you had a chance to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather as some changes are on the way the next couple of days. A cold front will move into the region on Saturday with our rain and storm chances ramping up from west to east as we go through the day. A line and/or area of storms should roll eastward pretty rapidly as we get into the afternoon so that won’t give us a lot of time to warm things up or destabilize the atmosphere, which will help lower the overall severe threat threat. That being said, we are still looking at the potential of a few strong to severe storms as the front moves in and the Storm Prediction Center has much of the commonwealth in a Level 1 severe risk (out of 5) with a small part of Northeastern Kentucky in a Level 2 risk. It appears damaging winds will be the main threat with some hail potential as well. The spin-up tornado threat is very low but it still exists given the set-up although the more favorable areas should be off to our northeast. Afternoon highs should still reach the low-70s before the rain/storms move in and if you have any outdoor plans Saturday, they may need to be adjusted given the potential for wet weather. A secondary round a weaker showers and storms accompany the passage of the cold front late Saturday evening and into the overnight hours before the rain chances come to an end. Don’t forget about the time change as we “spring forward” with Daylight Saving time returning at 2am Eastern on Sunday morning. You’ll need to set your clocks forward 1 hour (if they don’t automatically do so themselves) and it’s always a good time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors. It will be “cooler” on Sunday, especially relative to the consistently mild air we’ve seen the last several days but it shouldn’t be anything significant. Look for some sunshine around and afternoon highs into the low-60s, which is still about 10 degrees above average for this time of the year. A return flow will kick in pretty quickly on Monday so look for a nice rebound with temperatures as afternoon highs jump back into the low-70s with mainly dry conditions, although a shower or two can’t be ruled out. More unsettled weather is on the way heading into the middle part of next week as a southwest flow brings moisture back into the Ohio Valley ahead of an approaching cold front. Look for scattered showers and a few storms on Tuesday with highs in the mid-70s before the cold front rolls through the commonwealth on Wednesday. This should bring more widespread rainfall with some locations picking up some decent totals. We may see a bit of a reality check behind the departing boundary late next week as afternoon highs finally drop back closer to average for mid-March with afternoon highs back into the 50s during that window. ABC 36 Storm Team 3 Day Forecast Friday night: A few clouds, breezy and warm. Lows in the mid-50s. Wind: SW 10-15 mph. Saturday: Breezy with rain and storms. Highs in the mid-70s. Wind: SW 10-20 mph. Saturday night: Scattered showers, ending late. Lows in the upper-40s and low-50s. Wind: W 10-15 mph. Categories: Featured, Local Weather Headlines, Storm Team Weather Blog, Weather, Weather Forecast Tags: a few storms, breezy southwest winds, Chief Meteorologist TG Shuck, Kentucky weather, Lexington, March 2026, record warmth, spring-like air, unsettled weather pattern, Warm Temperatures, weather forecast, Weather Video, weekend storm chances, Weekend Weather Forecast ...read more read less