LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) – Happy Christmas Eve Eve! It’s a cold start to the day but temperatures will be improving by the afternoon. Afternoon highs will be ranging from the mid-to-upper 40s across the region. Cloud cover will be increasing late today into the overnight. This is ahead of some light rain returning to the forecast by early in the day on Christmas Eve. These showers won’t be heavy and will be moving in out of the north late tonight before exiting throughout the morning tomorrow. Cloud cover will remain in place and there will be a noticeable temperature difference between northern KY (low 40s) and south-central KY (low 50s). Christmas Day will start off dry but there will be some light rain in the forecast. There is still some uncertainty around the rain chance, but it does look like central Kentucky will have a slightly better chance of sneaking in some rain than eastern Kentucky. Don’t expect a washout for Christmas Day. Temperatures will be a touch warmer than Christmas Eve as well, reaching the upper 40s and low 50s. This is not quite as warm as last Christmas where we hit the mid-to-upper 50s, but still above average. Temperatures spike late this week and into the start of the weekend. Friday and Saturday will be two of the warmer days, with afternoon highs climbing into the upper 50s and possibly low 60s. This will be ahead of rain chances that increase throughout the weekend ahead of a cold front. This cold front passing through will eventually lead to some colder air arriving by the start of the New Year. Speaking of colder air… The long term data suggests we could be in for a very cold middle of the month of January. Expect a pattern change back to below average temperatures starting from around the first weekend of January through at least the middle of the month. This would be a favorable pattern for more wintry weather as well… So stay tuned! Stay with the ABC 36 Storm Team for more updates.  ABC 36 HOUR FORECAST MONDAY: Cold start with clouds increasing. Highs in the mid-to-upper 40s. MONDAY NIGHT: Rain chances increase from the north. Lows in the upper 30s. CHRISTMAS EVE: Light rain to start the day with lingering clouds. Highs in the low-to-mid 40s. Categories: Featured, Local Weather Headlines, Storm Team Weather Blog, Weather, Weather Forecast Tags: ABC 36 Hour Forecast, ABC 36 Second Forecast, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Cold Temperatures, December, Kentucky, Lexington, Meteorologist Dillon Gaudet, rain, weather forecast, Weather Video, Weekend Forecast