T.G. Shuck

It's been quite a stretch of early September heat across Central and Eastern Kentucky the last few days and that was capped off by the hottest day of 2026 on Thursday here in Lexington as the afternoon high reached 97°, besting the 96° mark we saw exactly 2 months ago to the day on July 3rd. Unfortunately it will be another day to sweat it out as additional sunshine pushes afternoon highs Friday back into the mid-90s, with heat indices topping the 100° mark again.

It's been quite a week of heat across Central and Eastern Kentucky with daily highs in the 90s, and we could be set up for our hottest day of 2026 on Thursday. With afternoon highs expected to reach the upper 90s here in the Bluegrass westward, we could best our highest temperature of the year of 96° we saw back on July 3rd, so it will be another blazing hot early September day. With a bit of humidity in the mix, heat indices will top out between 100° and 105° during the hottest part of the day.

We sweated it out to begin September on Tuesday and unfortunately we are looking at a repeat performance over the next few days. The big bubble of heat camped out over the area isn't going anywhere so look for a mostly sunny Wednesday with afternoon highs surging back into the low to mid-90s. Take on a bit of humidity and our "feel-like" temperatures should top the 100 degree mark during the hottest part of the day.