Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Kentucky, January 19, 2002

Name: Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Kentucky, January 19, 2002
Start: 2002-01-19T05:30
End: 2002-01-19T12:00
Location: Kentucky

January 19, 2002 · NWS JKL · 33 events in 33 counties and zones

A significant winter storm occurred during the morning and early afternoon of January 19th as an area of low pressure moved northeast from northern Alabama into eastern Tennessee, and eventually into central Virginia. The precipitation initially began as a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain in the southern portion of the County Warning Area (CWA) during the early morning hours.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 33 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: 33

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 significant winter storm occurred during the morning and early afternoon of January 19th as an area of low pressure moved northeast from northern Alabama into eastern Tennessee, and eventually into central Virginia. The combination of the surface low, along with abundant Gulf moisture, and a strong upper level disturbance produced a large swath of wintry precipitation across eastern Kentucky.The precipitation initially began as a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain in the southern portion of the County Warning Area (CWA) during the early morning hours. As the precipitation spread north and east, it was mainly in the form of snow at first. The precipitation turned to sleet in the southern portions of the CWA by mid morning, then to freezing rain, and eventually to rain by late morning. In areas receiving heavy snow to the north, snow gave way to some light sleet by around noon, and shortly afterward changing to a light mix of sleet and freezing rain, and then mostly light rain by mid afternoon.Snowfall totals across eastern Kentucky from this event ranged from 6 to 9 inches north of a line from Irvine (Estill County) to Booneville (Owsley County) to Inez (Martin County). This includes Fleming, Bath, Rowan, Montgomery, Elliot, Menifee, Morgan, Powell, Johnson, Martin, Magoffin, Wolfe, Estill, Lee, and Owsley Counties. Also, 4 to 6 inches of snow were reported from Rockcastle, Jackson, Breathitt, Knott, Floyd, and Pike Counties.Areas in the southern CWA received a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. This area includes Wayne, Pulaski, McCreary, Laurel, Whitley, Knox, Clay, Bell, Leslie, Perry, Harlan, Letcher, and Pike Counties. Reports of 1/2 to 1 inch of sleet were received in Whitley, Knox, and Wayne Counties with a thin topping of ice in many areas from freezing rain.Pike County reached winter storm criteria by not only a heavy snow report in northern Pike County, but also another report of 1/2 of an inch of sleet on top of 2 inches of snow in the southern portion.

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 Jan 19, 4:10 AM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 19, 4:10 AM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
410 AM EST SAT JAN 19 2002

PCPN HAS ENTERED THE AREA WITH OUR SWRN MOST COUNTY ALREADY WITH 1/2
INCH OF SN. AREA OF SN MOVING QUICKLY EAST WITH THE BACK EDGE
EVIDENT ON PAH 88D. FRZG LINE IN OUR SRN COUNTIES BUT WET BULB
MAKING FOR SN RATHER THAN RAIN. LATEST OBS HAVE THE RA/SN LINE ON
THE TN/KY BORDER. WAA TO CHANGE THE SN TO FZRA BEFORE IT ENDS. STILL
FEEL THE WINTER STORM WARNING IS VALID BUT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL
BE ON THE LOWER END OF WARNING CRITERIA AND WE MAY ACTUALLY MEET
CRITERIA WITH ICE ACCUMULATIONS IN SOME OF OUR SRN COUNTIES.

LLVL JET ON VAD WITH 35 TO 40 KT SW WIND ONLY 3 TO 4K ABOVE THE SFC.
HAVE ACCEPTED THE AVN AS MODEL OF CHOICE FOR CONSISTANCY ALTHOUGH
ETA NOT FAR OFF AND AT 50H LOOKS REMARKABLY SIMILAR FOR THE FIRST 48
HRS. WILL DROP HIGHS A TAD AND RAISE LOWS TONIGHT A CAT ABOVE AVN
MOS. TO ACCOUNT FOR PCPN COOLING TODAY AND SNOW COVER TONIGHT. FEEL
CLOUDS WILL LINGER ALONG WITH SOME -SN IN OUR ERN HIGH TERRAIN
TONIGHT AS COLD AIR MOVES UPSLOPE SO WILL KEEP 30 POP GOING THERE.
HOWEVER THE MAJOR SNOWFALL WILL END WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE 70H TROF
EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.

AVN BRINGS A RATHER GOOD LOOKING TROF THRU THE AREA MON BUT IT WILL
BE MOISTURE STARVED AND EXPECT LITTLE MORE THAN AN INCREASE OF
CLOUDS. NEXT SYSTEM TO BRING PCPN WILL BE WED COUPLED WITH A STRONG
WARMING TREND. WILL SEE TEMPS ONCE AGAIN WELL ABOVE CLIMO BY THE
EARLY WORK WEEK. SIGNIFICANT ARTIC AIR TO INFLX BEHIND THE THU COLD
FNT AND RAIN WILL CHANGE TO SN. TOO EARLY TO SPECULATE ON AMOUNTS
YET.

IFPS WORKED TODAY AND WORK ZONES ALREADY OUT AS SDFOZFJKL.
COORDINATION WELCOME. PRELIMINARY CCF FOR COORDINATION PURPOSES

CCF
LOZ SB 036/029 039/031 045 22+20
JKL SB 036/027 039/030 044 22+20

GFE...POPULATED THE FIRST 48HR WITH AVN BUT TWEAKED TEMPS TODAY AND
TONIGHT AS STATED PREVIOUSLY.

.JKL...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR MOST OF EASTERN KENTUCKY THROUGH
MIDDAY.

DUSTY

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

20 heavy snow, 13 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, McCreary

When: January 19, 5:30 AM EST to 9:30 AM EST
Where: McCreary forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.737, -84.484 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wayne

When: January 19, 5:30 AM EST to 9:30 AM EST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.801, -84.829 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Whitley

When: January 19, 5:30 AM EST to 10:30 AM EST
Where: Whitley forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.758, -84.145 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Bell

When: January 19, 6:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where: Bell forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.731, -83.674 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Knox

When: January 19, 6:00 AM EST to 10:30 AM EST
Where: Knox forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.891, -83.854 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Laurel

When: January 19, 6:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where: Laurel forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.111, -84.118 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Pulaski

When: January 19, 6:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where: Pulaski forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.104, -84.577 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Clay

When: January 19, 6:30 AM EST to 10:30 AM EST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.160, -83.715 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Harlan

When: January 19, 6:30 AM EST to 10:30 AM EST
Where: Harlan forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.857, -83.218 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Leslie

When: January 19, 6:30 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Leslie forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.094, -83.381 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Jackson

When: January 19, 6:30 AM EST to 10:30 AM 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, Rockcastle

When: January 19, 6:30 AM EST to 10:30 AM EST
Where: Rockcastle forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 37.365, -84.316 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Letcher

When: January 19, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Letcher forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.121, -82.855 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Perry

When: January 19, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Perry forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.244, -83.221 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Estill

When: January 19, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Estill forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 37.693, -83.964 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lee

When: January 19, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Lee forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 37.595, -83.716 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Owsley

When: January 19, 7:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Owsley forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 37.419, -83.683 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Bath

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Bath forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.145, -83.743 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Breathitt

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Breathitt forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.522, -83.324 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Elliott

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Elliott forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.118, -83.098 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Fleming

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Fleming forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 38.370, -83.697 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Johnson

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Johnson forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.847, -82.831 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Knott

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Knott forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.354, -82.954 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Magoffin

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Magoffin forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 37.707, -83.065 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Menifee

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Menifee forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.941, -83.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Montgomery

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.034, -83.913 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Morgan

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Morgan forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.922, -83.259 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Powell

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Powell forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.831, -83.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Rowan

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Rowan forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.196, -83.421 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Wolfe

When: January 19, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Wolfe forecast zone
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 37.739, -83.493 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Pike

When: January 19, 8:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Pike forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.469, -82.396 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Floyd

When: January 19, 8:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Floyd forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.557, -82.746 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Martin

When: January 19, 8:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Martin forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.802, -82.513 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5279446, 5279450, 5279451, 5279439, 5279442, 5279443, 5279449, 5279440, 5279441, 5279444, 5279458, 5279526, 5279445, 5279447, 5279455, 5279518, 5279524, 5279452, 5279453, 5279454, 5279456, 5279459, 5279460, 5279519, 5279521, 5279522, 5279523, 5279525, 5279527, 5279528, 5279448, 5279457, 5279520.