Drier day ahead, strong storms possible Thursday

The rain chances go way down today, but if you're looking for a full-on sunny day, you might want to look elsewhere.

We'll start out your Wednesday under mostly cloudy skies and temperatures in the upper 40s to near 50 in most locations. Stray rain chances are possible, especially early, but I think a lot of folks will stay dry today. We could even see some peeks of sunshine at times. Highs will climb into the mid to upper 60s.

Tonight, the clouds will increase again and stray chances for rain return late. We'll drop into the upper 40s for overnight lows.

We're keeping a very close eye on a system that looks to affect our region on Thursday. We'll start off the day fairly dry, but the rain chances will increase the later into the day you get. We could also see some peeks of sunshine, but we definitely don't want those tomorrow, as they could help fuel thunderstorm development.

Parts of the Lake Cumberland region are under a slight risk (2 out of 5) for severe weather and the entire area is under a marginal risk (1 out of 5) from the Storm Prediction Center. We're waiting on a little bit more data to confirm, but it's very likely that Thursday will be a Severe Weather Alert Day. The main threats from this system will be strong wind and heavy rain. Some spots could pick up a quick inch or inch and a half, so we'll need to keep an eye on that.

Daytime highs will soar to near 70 before the front swings through overnight cooling us back off into the mid to upper 50s.

Those rain chances will continue into Friday morning, but we look to go back to mostly cloudy skies by the afternoon. Temps will drop behind the cold front. We should top out around 60 around midnight and fall into the upper 30s by Friday night.

The weekend features more rain chances, especially on Saturday, where it could be a bit soggy at times. I think Sunday looks a little more scattered at this point. Highs both days will be in the mid-50s with lows in the low to mid-40s.

Those rain chances will follow us into the new work and school week, so make sure you keep that rain gear handy.