Winter Weather in Kentucky, April 13, 2004

One of the latest spring snows on record occurred over parts of western Kentucky. The highest accumulation of 4.7 inches was measured in southern Muhlenberg County. Elsewhere, accumulations were generally 1 to 3 inches over the Pennyrile region, from the Owensboro area south to the Hopkinsville area. Three inches was reported at Central City in northern Muhlenberg County and at Whitesville in eastern Daviess County. Up to 2 inches of snow was measured along the Tennessee border south of Mayfield and Murray. Despite rather warm ground temperatures, the snow fell hard enough to accumulate on roadways. Two fatal vehicle accidents in Muhlenberg County were blamed on hazardous road conditions. On the Western Kentucky Parkway, a van skidded on ice and crossed the median, striking a tractor-trailer rig head on. Three persons in the van were killed. The westbound lanes of the parkway were closed for several hours. Another accident on Kentucky 601 near Graham took the life of a 43-year-old man. The man's pickup truck slid sideways into the path of an oncoming vehicle. About a dozen other accidents occurred in Muhlenberg County, and close to 40 accidents or slide-offs occurred in Christian County / Hopkinsville. The heavy wet snow brought down some tree limbs. A few power outages were reported in Hopkinsville, and cable lines were down near Central City. The late winter weather created very unusual scenes of tulip blossoms and other spring flowers covered with snow. Snow removal efforts were delayed due to the fact some highway maintenance crews had put away their plows and salt spreaders until next winter. The snow was caused by a low pressure system moving across the Tennessee Valley combined with an upper level low approaching from the northwest.