Heavy Snow in Kentucky, January 19, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Kentucky, January 19, 2002
Start: 2002-01-19T00:15
End: 2002-01-19T07:00
Location: Kentucky

January 19, 2002 · NWS PAH · 14 events in 14 counties and zones

Four to five inches of snow fell across most of western Kentucky. Due to a mix of sleet and rain, accumulations were 1 to 3 inches in the Tennessee border counties.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 14 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 14

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 PAH wrote it up.

Four to five inches of snow fell across most of western Kentucky. Due to a mix of sleet and rain, accumulations were 1 to 3 inches in the Tennessee border counties. Most of the snow fell in just a few hours, with visibility only a quarter to half mile during the period of heaviest snow. Since the snow fell mainly after midnight on a weekend, traffic problems were minimal. Surface temperatures during the event were within a degree or two of freezing, which made snow removal relatively easy. A few of the highest snowfall totals reported: 5.5 inches at Calhoun in Mclean County, 5 inches at Owensboro and at Kentucky Dam, and 4.5 inches at Henderson. Snowfall totals in the rest of the heavy snow area were right at 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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 18, 1:58 PM CST, 10 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 18, 1:58 PM CST, 10 hours 17 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
158 PM CST FRI JAN 18 2002

SHORT TIME TO DISCUSS FEATURES THIS AFTERNOON...SO WILL GO WITH
SCENERIO EXPECTED TONIGHT.

LOOK FOR START OF MEASURABLE SNOW TO MOVE INTO RIPLEY AND CARTER
COUNTIES SHORTLY AFTER 00Z...WITH RAPID EXPANSION OF LIGHT
SNOW/FLURRIES INTO ALL OF SRN IL AND WRN KY WEST OF THE LAND BETWEEN
THE LAKES BY 03Z. MEASURABLE SNOW SHOULD EXPAND INTO SRN IL AND WRN
KY W OF THE LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES BY 04Z...EXPANDING TO THE REST OF
THE CWA BY 06Z.

ANTICIPATE HEAVIEST BAND OF SNOW /UP TO 5 INCHES/ WILL STRETCH FROM
N/NE OF POPLAR BLUFF/KPOF/...ONWARD TO NEAR CAIRO IL...TO S OF DIXON
AND OWENSBORO KY.

THE PERIOD OF EFFECTIVE SNOWFALL/MAXIMUM PRECIPITATION EFFICIENCY
WILL LIKELY ONLY LAST 4-5 HOURS AT THE MOST...1-2 INCHES AN HOUR
POSSIBLE FOR A COUPLE HOURS.

MIX OF SLEET AND SNOW WILL BE LIKELY FROM SOUTHEAST OF MAYFIELD
KY...CLOSER TO MURRAY KY...EASTWARD THROUGH CADIZ...HOPKINSVILLE AND
ELKTON. WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE A SHORT PERIOD OF FREEZING
RAIN IN THIS AREA...BUT WILL FOCUS MAINLY ON SLEET AND SNOW. SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS IN THIS AREA WILL LIKELY AMOUNT TO 1-3 INCHES.

WILL KEEP WEST-EAST LINE OF COUNTIES FROM MOUNT VERNON IL TO WINSLOW
IN OUT OF ANY ADVISORIES...BUT ANTICIPATE THESE AREAS MAY SEE UP TO
TWO INCHES OF SNOW.

WARM UP SHOULD BEGIN IN EARNEST ON SUN THROUGH WED...WITH DECENT
WARM AIR ADVECTION PATTERN IN PLACE. SHOWERS...POSSIBLY A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE POSSIBLE LATE WEDNESDAY...BUT MAINLY ON
THURSDAY OF NEXT WEEK.

WILL ADJUST MX/MN TEMPS FOR ANTICIPATED SNOW COVER. WILL HAVE TO
MAKE LAST MINUTE DECISION ON POTENTIAL FOR FOG...BUT MAY HAVE TO
DEFER TO EVENING SHIFT.

APPRECIATED COORDINATION WITH HPC AND IN/KY/MO/TN WFOS ON WINTRY WX.

.PAH...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY SOUTH OF A LINE OF MURRAY TO ELKTON KY
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ALONG A LINE FROM PINCKNEYVILLE IL AND
SANTA CLAUS INDIANA TO LAKE WAPPAPPELO MO AND OWENSBORO KY...WINTER
STORM WARNING FROM LAKE WAPPAPPELO TO OWENSBORO KENTUCKY SOUTH TO
MURRAY AND ELKTON KY LINE.

SMITH

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

14 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Ballard

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Ballard forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.058, -88.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Caldwell

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Caldwell forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.145, -87.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Crittenden

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Crittenden forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.353, -88.097 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Daviess

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Daviess forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.732, -87.087 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Henderson

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Henderson forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.796, -87.573 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hopkins

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Hopkins forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.309, -87.541 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Livingston

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Livingston forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.210, -88.354 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lyon

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Lyon forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.019, -88.083 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Marshall

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.884, -88.329 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, McCracken

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: McCracken forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.054, -88.713 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, McLean

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: McLean forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.529, -87.264 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Muhlenberg

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Muhlenberg forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.216, -87.142 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Union

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Union forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.659, -87.945 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Webster

When: January 19, 12:15 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.518, -87.683 (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

Every storm in Kentucky in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Kentucky, January 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5277098, 5277099, 5277100, 5277101, 5277102, 5277103, 5277104, 5277105, 5277106, 5277107, 5277108, 5277109, 5277110, 5277111.