Good Monday, everyone. A wintry mess is working across Kentucky as we begin another work week. Freezing rain, sleet, snow and rain are all blanketing the bluegrass state, combining with a frozen ground to produce icy travel conditions for many.
Even if temps are above freezing where you live, the precipitation is falling on a ground that is below freezing. Roads, sidewalks and parking lots can all feature quite a bit of ice. The greatest threat for this is across central and eastern parts of the state. Remember, just a small amount of ice can cause big problems.
I will have your tracking tools in a bit.
Things can get absolutely wild around here later this week into the weekend. It’s a setup that can go from thunderstorms and 60s to cold and snow in just a few hours. The blog has been talking about this since last week and the signal grows stronger as we get closer.
A modified arctic front slides into town on Thursday and early Friday, with a potent low pressure developing along the front. Areas along and west of the track of the low may get smacked around by a winter storm.
Here’s the GFS…
The Canadian…
Here are your expanded weather trackers to start the day…
Hamburg Area from WKYT Studio
Lexington
I-64 at KY-801
Near Morehead
I-275 approaching KY 20/Airport
Near Covington
I-71/I-75 at Buttermilk Pike
Near Covington
I-71/I-75 at 12th St.
Covington
US 60 @ US 127
Frankfort
Winchester
Georgetown
Downtown Louisville @ 2nd & Broadway
Louisville
I-64 at KY-801
Near Morehead
Maysville
Jenkins
London
Pine Mountain
Bardstown
I-65 MP 92.4
Elizabethtown
Louie B Nunn MP 3
Near Glasgow
Natcher Parkway MP 5
Near Bowling Green
I-24 MP 7 @ US 62
Paducah
I will have updates coming later today, so check back. Stay safe out there and take care.
This system is a bust for the most part.
I have to agree. I am in Covington and it is 34 degrees up here with plain rain and no ice on the roads or sidewalks. If anything were going to happen it would need to be down to at least 32 up here by now. The dewpoint is already up to 30, so now there isn’t really much room for dynamic cooling to drop the temp much. I could still be proven wrong, but looks like mostly rain up here. It’s been above freezing for 15 hours up here now, so the ground really isn’t frozen anymore, and I am 3 miles from Ohio, so I think it is mostly a bust for everyone in KY, but far eastern KY.
I am happy it is a bust.
I hope this weekend storm plays out.
I’ll have to drive in it, so I am sure it will snow ten feet.
Safe Travels there AC; but I would like to see ten feet of snow!
Not being negative in any way! But looks to be like a cold rain event here in Pulaski! Thanks for all you do Chris!
My driveway and street here in Union are a sheet of ice. Just took the dog out thinking it was just rain and almost fell.
I do not see anyone other than CB saying this weekend is going to be a big deal. Other than snow showers. We shall see.
NWS in Louisville says the Friday night timeframe needs to be watched very closed for accumulating snows.
06 gfs shifted way east with the weekend system…just one run, no other model support right now btw
Shifted East a little..That”s what we want..Still a good hit..Believe western Ky will get clobbered before all is said and done..
http://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/gfs/2018010806/gfs_asnow_seus_22.png
Yeah there is support the Canadian is all over the Friday night snow along with the GFS
i was referring to the more eastern solution, ecmwf west – cmc splits them both.
Yeah I was wondering after I responded if that was what your were meaning
Rain and ice at my place, with a temperature of thirty five degrees. I’m not going any where. This coming weekend could end our snow drought.
Placing bets on festive flakes.
I’m going with super shakened snowglobe.
Btw, I always pictured festive flakes as the kind of light snow that is falling on ground already covered in snow; otherwise, it’s a nuisance snow.
Schroeder, you let me down 2 days you told us if we all just stop for a minute and actually study the water vapor loop that this storm system would have no or very little impact and if it does develop would stay south??? Now I’m wondering what exactly happen and why this precipitation made it this far north?
Prelude, thank you for bringing what I said the other day to my attention. I study the twelve hour water vapor loop about four times a day to see if a pattern change has taken place. Saturday, I saw that the surface low was getting caught up in a persistent northwest flow aloft, and I called it, that this storm was not going to move towards our area but stay south and go towards the Gulf. Well, that was obviously wrong what I said, but what cause the storm to move north was the high pressure to our east push the storm east and north and it is still raining here at a temperature thirty four degrees. What’s interesting is if we had an upper level low with this surface low we would be talking snowstorm.
My residential street in SE Lex has a light glaze, Fayette Count schools closed. Local reporters out all over the city and on main roads traffic flowing as normal. The warmer than forecast temperatures yesterday certainly seemed to have minimized the effect at least here in central KY and I’m OK with that.
Yes, let’s hope this weekend system pans out a little better although waiting for “cold air to rush in behind” is like fool’s gold more often than not, right? ; )
Nope that was supposed to make it Icier! 😉
I’m glad school here is on a delay and not called off. Things are
Pretty slick on my end of town, but main roads should be ok…once you get out to them.
Bustolla! Mets, good luck the rest of winter. Folks might not listen, since if a system like this is a busy… Jeepers. Epic model fail.
is a bust.
Conditions are my house are dry air temp 41 blacktop temp 28
Appears mainly dry in Richmond. Looks like the precip mainly missed. Good miss, but still surprised the models appear to be off on a little event like this.
Alot of freezing rain and sleet/snow here in se.tn. temps. In 20’s and ice accumulating on roads causing a lot of accidents south of Knoxville around Chattanooga
Temp. Here is 28*
I saw that on the radar just now. I think that is due to cold air at the surface damming up. I hope it doesn’t get too bad for you there in southeast Tennessee. Back in 2009 we had a very bad ice storm with a power outage that lasted fifteen days. Hope it warms up soon for you and turns off the ice. Take care.
Cold rain, I live here in Western,ky the Mets here are saying a possibility of accumulated snow event Friday night and Saturday. Only time will tell.
Yea..Still early..Model’s have head faked bad so far this winter..Still believe if system ain’t a mirage lol western parts of ky is in a good spot at the moment..Just don’t want it trending east if you’re in the west for a big snow..I think..lol
Was that meteorologist Wayne Hart in Evansville ? When I was living there ten years ago I would listen to him every evening. He called the major snow on December twenty third of 2004.
0.5″ is accumulating snows, so has a shot 😉
32 degrees in Athens Ohio, and level 2 snow alert meaning only travel if u have too, side roads and driveways a big mess and I’m sure most roads are as well
Nothing so far in my part of Knott County.
32F and freezing rain. It’s already a skating rink after just an hour. Started of breefly as sleet. This is causing wrecks here in East TN. NOT good
Where in east tn?
West knoxville
Knoxville pre-treated main streets and highways but accidents reported all over the city…pretty bad icing conditions north to south between Middlesboro to Chattanooga and west to the Cumberland Plateau.
33 degree air temp but roads are sitting at 19.bad semi crash near me and I believe it was a fatal crash
Back ice stinks.
black
Good thing the temps were higher in a lot of places than expected. This could have been real bad earlier on.
Agrees. My thoughts were that the warmer than expected temps yesterday played a role in our current situation. I did however get rid of my leftover salt last night. I even receieved a phone call at 645 this morning from a client saying there parking lot was ice covered. Asphalt was icy in several areas and steps were real bad. Now to restock for this weekend.
Wow, you mean West KY might actually have a chance at snow for once? I’m blown away!
Roads in Covington are quite icy. However we received zero snow and almost 100% plain rain. Overnight low was around 34-35 most of the night and then dipped to 33 for a few hours. Never made it down to the forecast low of 30. All the snow I had left in my yard from last weekend has melted. Just some frozen rain on the roads as they slowly release the cold they have stored within themselves.
We cant get more than a trace of snow, but we can sure get ice! If you live in the Middlesboro/Harrogate area and south to Knoxville, stay off the roads…they are an ice rink right now even though many roads were pre-treated.
Roads in Nelson County have started to ice up. Joe Prather Highway in Hardin County is closed due to an accident and even wreckers not being able to drive over the ice. Brian Goode is also aboard the snow train for Friday.
Cold rain, no snow, ice was hard to find….
2 hour delay in Louisville today for schools was a good call. Icy early on, now it’s just wet and/or slushy. Temp is 34°. Definetely no snow and very little sleet during onset last night. Mainly rain, that was freezing to surface, but luckily light rain at that. Maybe .05 of ice? Some places possibly 1/10th. (.10)
Here in Raceland we had some early icing around 7:30 – 8:30. Precipitation seemed to mostly be rain/drizzle – it was freezing on contact with sidewalks and roads.
I went out about 9:45 here in Georgetown and the sidewalks were a slushy/ice mix, but not bad at all.
Went out at 11 to get the mail and it’s a sheet of ice now, much worse than when I left at 9:45.
It’s getting worse, not better, in my part of the world.
It’s been nothing but plain rain here temp is up to 41
Remarkable to see the 12z GFS and Canadian screaming significant accumulating snows for Friday night/Saturday morning. Pretty much spot on with agreement on forecasted amounts.
Don’t fall for the football! 😉
BubbaG, no worries not falling for football just yet only admiring the unity within the models lol
How can the models till what the precipitation type will be this far out ?
I didn’t want any freezing rain. But so far in Charleston WV it has been nothing but light rain with a temp of 36. Just as I suspected in my area …..another non-event.
41 and rain here in knott county no icing to speak of
Accuweather for my county has two scenarios for the path of the storm on Friday, January twelve, 2018. Scenario one, takes the path through my county, which would mean no snow for my backyard. Scenario two, takes it up the Appalachians which would give us just a very light snow accumulation. These scenarios will likely change. I just hope this impending snow event is accompanied by a very cold upper level low pressure system so it wont be that dangerous and power knocker outer ice.
Accuweather has my county receiving a whooping 0.2 inches of snow this weekend. WOW can’t wait to make that snowman ! How do these people get away with this buffoonery ?
Let us declare the blog a “no negativity zone” in regard to the upcoming blizzard this weekend. Please only positive comments and true data.