Good Wednesday, everyone. It’s a full-blown Winter Storm ALERT for Thursday and Thursday night for much of Kentucky. This is for the likelihood of a swath of 4″+ snows showing up for a lot of folks out there.
As you know, Kentucky Weather Center is experiencing unprecedented traffic in recent days (and that’s saying something). This has caused some issues that are being worked on as we speak and this site could return to normal at any moment. I’m still operating under the assumption it’s not normal as of this post, so don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for updates: Kentuckyweather
Ok, let’s get into the winter storm moving our way.
Here are some thoughts:
- Snow develops across western Kentucky very early Thursday and quickly overspreads the state from southwest to northeast.
- With cold air in place, this will be high snow ratio setup. Instead of the normal 10-1, we may be looking at 15-1 or so.
- Several inches of snow are LIKELY for much of the state. Totals will be lower in the north than the south.
- I expect Winter Storm Watches to go up quickly this morning.
- Roads will quickly become snow covered Thursday and we may have some major travel issues develop.
- We will see lots of early dismissals on Thursday with most kids enjoying a snow day Friday.
- Temps drop quickly into the teens from northwest to southeast Thursday afternoon and evening. Lows will reach the single digits for areas with clear skies Friday morning.
- Friday morning wind chills drop below zero.
- I have the First Call For Snowfall map attached to the twitter link for this post, so go take a look at it there. Additional updates to the map will come later today.
Now that our storm system is fully over land, the models are now able to get a full sample of the atmosphere with it. You can really see this by how similar the model runs are to one another now.
I had to get creative to share the model forecasts with you as KWC continues to undergo significant maintenance.
Some of the short range models are really going wild with the totals…
Some late evening computer model forecasts for your viewing pleasure… or displeasure. #kywx pic.twitter.com/HtegMDbm86
— Chris Bailey (@Kentuckyweather) January 5, 2022
The Canadian and EURO aren’t too far behind…
Here are the latest snowfall forecasts from the Canadian and EURO Models. #kywx pic.twitter.com/6odzLJ5VYZ
— Chris Bailey (@Kentuckyweather) January 5, 2022
The GFS is being the GFS, but it’s going in the right direction for snow lovers…
The latest GFS snowfall forecast continues to run on the low-end of the late evening models. #kywx pic.twitter.com/1kb8OgmS19
— Chris Bailey (@Kentuckyweather) January 5, 2022
I will have updates through the day and on WKYT-TV starting at 4pm. I leave you with your radars to follow the action as it approaches the region from the west…
follow along…
Have a great day and take care.
Testing
Unfortunately, there are no more snow days. They just send the laptop home with your kid and expect you to play teacher while trying to work…
Thanks Chris, I really appreciate all your HARD WORK !!! This year is not starting out too well for me either as my back has gone out again. Oh well I am 70 years old and that is to be expected.
I hope the Snow pans out, but it’s still hours away.
WPC has Eastern ky in the heavy snow hatched area..Click on day 2 if map is not loaded correct.
https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/NationalForecastChart/map.php#
That first map has 4- 5 range for my neck of woods, it be interested how it will plays out.
Another thought have you notice the cold shots that we’ve had hasn’t stick around long. Temps supposed to rebound to mid 40s by Saturday and the snow were getting won’t stick around long.Oh well at least we can enjoy it for couple days if it comes to a fruitation.
Be interesting to see if models continue there NW shift..Get a little nervous when seeing this..Remember a system that landed in parts of Indiana and Ohio a few years ago..
Talking about the heaviest snow axis from post above..Anyway here’s the latest NAM..
https://m.imgur.com/uQGFnML