CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – WOWK-TV viewers can look forward to a drier and cooler start to the work week. Later in the week, the remnants of a storm that’s still brewing in the Gulf of Mexico may swing close enough to cause more showers in the region. Last week the high temperatures ran in the mid and upper 80s while the coming work week features highs much closer to the normal high of 79 degrees.
The break in the rain comes at a good time as the western side of the viewing area in Eastern Kentucky saw more than two inches of rain Saturday night and through the day Sunday and there had been flash flood warnings early on Sunday which have since expired.
With saturated ground and cooler air moving in, look for fog to be fairly widespread across the region Monday morning.
The cold front responsible for the rain is moving through and dry air will move in from the north. The main effect will be felt on Monday night when the clear skies and cooler air mass will allow temperatures to fall into the mid 50s for many and even a few spots could drop into the 40s Monday night.
As for Tropical Storm Sally, as of late Sunday evening it was still a tropical storm with winds of 60 mph near the center.
While Sally is anticipated to intensify somewhat and become a hurricane, the heavy amounts of rain are of great concern for many areas even including Florida, Alabama and Mississippi before the storm moves inland with the strongest winds in southeastern Louisiana.
The cone of probability from the National Hurricane Center shows the storm coming inland and weakening somewhat as it nears New Orleans before taking a few more days to move into the Tennessee Valley and possibly the Carolinas on Friday.
Models disagree on timing of arrival of some of the rain in this region. Some models show showers Thursday and some show it arriving on Friday. In either event the impact is currently expected to be LOW with the majority of the rain falling in southern counties and the winds not reaching levels of concern as of Sunday night’s forecast.
Currently the heaviest amount of rainfall appears to fall in the southern counties of West Virginia and Kentucky with a sharp cutoff to the north given the current projection of travel for the left over low pressure center from Sally.
Of course the StormTracker meteorologists will keep an eye on any new trends or changes and we encourage you to check the forecast often through the week as this is still a developing system. Follow the weather forecast any time right here:
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