Heavy Snow, Breathitt
- When
- February 6, 1:30 PM EST to 6:30 PM EST
- Where
- Breathitt forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 37.522, -83.324 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Kentucky, February 6, 2002
A rapidly moving low pressure system moved across the gulf states, and then tracked northeast across the eastern seaboard. The precipitation began as snow, but by evening had changed to a mixture of light snow, light sleet, and light freezing rain, and eventually to all light rain.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS JKL wrote it up.
A rapidly moving low pressure system moved across the gulf states, and then tracked northeast across the eastern seaboard. The precipitation began as snow, but by evening had changed to a mixture of light snow, light sleet, and light freezing rain, and eventually to all light rain. Letcher County received the most snowfall with a 6 inch report. Jackson County reported 5 inches, with Breathitt and Owsley Counties reporting 4 inches.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Jackson, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 6, 11:05 AM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 6, 11:05 AM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 1105 AM EST WED FEB 6 2002 TRICKY SITUATION IN THE SHORT TERM. CLOUDS CONTINUE TO THICKEN AND LOWER AND VIRGA ALQDS IS VISIBLE. LIGHT SNOW AND SOME MIXED PCPN CONTINUES ACROSS TN. HAM RADIO REPORTS SOME S- BREAKING OUT AROUND THE LOZ AREA. BASED ON RADAR PICS AND FCST DATA COMING IN IT LOOKS LIKE THE PCPN SHOULD BEGIN REACHING THE GROUND VERY SOON IN THE SW AND THIS SLOWLY MOVES TO THE NE AS THE AFTERNOON PROGRESSES. PCPN TYPE STILL A BIG CONCERN. 12Z MODELS SIMILAR TO 00/06Z MODELS BUT MAYBE JUST A TOUCH COLDER. PLAN ON UPDATING ZONES AND CHANGE PCPN ONSET TYPE FROM RAIN TO SNOW. FCST SOUNDINGS STILL INDICATE GOOD WAA KICKS IN LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM THE SOUTH. 12Z 8H CHART SHOWS THAT THIS LOOKS REASONABLE. PROBLEM IS THAT THE VERY DRY LOW LEVELS WILL ALLOW THE COLUMN TO WET BULB DOWN FOR A TIME. IT WILL TAKE A LITTLE TIME FOR THE COLUMN TO WARM BACK UP AGAIN. PLAN ON SOME SORT OF WORDING OF AROUND AN INCH ACCUMULATION OR 1 INCH OR LESS FOR THE S 1/2-2/3 OF THE CWA. SNOW SHOULD CHANGE BACK TO RAIN AS THE LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING PROGRESSES...THEN CHANGE BACK TO SNOW TOWARD TOMORROW MORNING. WILL HOLD OFF ON ISSUING ANY ADVISORIES ATTM BASED ON THE WAA AND QPFS DONT APPEAR TO BE TOO HEAVY...BUT WILL HAVE TO CONTINUE TO MONITOR VERY CLOSELY. IN THE FAR NORTH...PCPN WILL ARRIVE LATER IN THE AFTERNOON OR MORE TOWARDS EVENING. MAY ADD A LOW POP THERE WITH LATE AFTERNOON WORDING. PCPN THERE WILL PROBABLY ALSO BE MIXED BUT ITS A CLOSE CALL. UNDER THE CLOUD COVER AND VIRGA/DEVELOPING PCPN...DONT EXPECT THE TEMPERATURES TO RISE MUCH AT ALL TODAY THEREFORE MAY LOWER TEMPS A NOTCH. ZONE UPDATE OUT SHORTLY. THANKS TO MRX FOR COORDINATION. .JKL...NONE HALL
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Jackson
- When
- February 6, 1:30 PM EST to 6:30 PM EST
- Where
- Jackson forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 37.420, -84.006 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Letcher
- When
- February 6, 1:30 PM EST to 6:30 PM EST
- Where
- Letcher forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 37.121, -82.855 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Owsley
- When
- February 6, 1:30 PM EST to 6:30 PM EST
- Where
- Owsley forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 37.419, -83.683 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Avalanche in Colorado, February 6, 2002
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, February 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Missouri, February 6 to 7, 2002
- Winter Weather in Georgia, February 6, 2002
- Winter Weather in South Carolina, February 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 6 to 8, 2002
- High Wind in Oregon, February 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Washington, February 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in West Virginia, February 6 to 7, 2002
- Flood in Indiana, February 6 to 12, 2002
- Flood in Indiana, February 6 to 11, 2002
- Ice Storm in North Carolina, February 6, 2002
More
Every storm in Kentucky in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, February 2002
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5280575, 5280576, 5280577, 5280578.