The National Weather Service offices in Louisville and Paducah have issued freeze warnings for tonight and early Thursday. Most of the area affected is bounded by I-65 on the east and south of the Western Kentucky and Blue Grass parkways.Cities and surrounding areas included are Hawesville, Brandenburg, Elizabethtown, Shepherdsville, Louisville, LaGrange, Frankfort, Georgetown, Versailles, Lexington, Paris, Bardstown, Harrodsburg, Winchester, Lebanon, Richmond, Morgantown, Munfordville, Campbellsville, Liberty, Russellville, Bowling Green, Tompkinsville, Columbia, Burkesville, Marion, Eddyville, Cadiz, Princeton, Madisonville, Hopkinsville, Owensboro, Calhoun, Greenville, Morganfield and Elkton.
Temperatures will drop to the lower 30s in the Louisville area but go to the upper 20s across central Kentucky. The mercury will stay near or below freezing for several hours tonight through early Thursday. Sensitive vegetation may be damaged or killed if left uncovered. Crops will probably be killed. A hard freeze is possible in rural areas - particularly west of I-65 and south of the parkways, the weather service said.