Freezing rain fell across portions of Eastern Kentucky late in the afternoon into the evening hours of December 23rd. Light precipitation started out as sleet, freezing rain, and rain during the afternoon hours.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS JKL wrote it up.
Freezing rain fell across portions of Eastern Kentucky late in the afternoon into the evening hours of December 23rd. Light precipitation started out as sleet, freezing rain, and rain during the afternoon hours. By late afternoon, the precipitation had increased in coverage and intensity, and changed over to freezing rain and rain. Arctic air that had been over the area over the previous couple of days allowed for surface temperatures to remain at or below freezing, even as air temperatures rose to near or slightly above freezing. This created very hazardous travel conditions across the area, with numerous accidents reported. Traffic was backed up on the Mountain Parkway due to accidents caused by icy roads.
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 Dec 23, 3:46 PM EST, 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 346 PM EST TUE DEC 23 2008 .SHORT TERM.../TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/...UPDATED THE MAIN FOCUS FOR THE SHORT TERM WILL DEAL WITH AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT AND THE ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION/WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WARM SECTOR. CURRENTLY TEMPERATURES ARE AT FREEZING OR ABOVE EVERYWHERE IN THE CWA WITH ROAD SURFACE TEMPERATURES LAGGING SLIGHTLY. HAVE NOT HAD MUCH OF AN IMPACT FROM WHAT PRECIPITATION HAS FALLEN. HAD SOME REPORTS OF SLEET EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. THE SPS FOR FROZEN PRECIPITATION POTENTIAL WILL EXPIRE AT 6 PM AND LIKELY BE REPLACED BY AN SPS FOR WINDS OVERNIGHT AND INTO WEDNESDAY AS PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS AHEAD OF APPROACHING COLD FRONT. WILL ISSUE A WIND ADVISORY FOR HARLAN AND LETCHER COUNTIES AT 10 PM TONIGHT AND THROUGH THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY. MODELS INDICATE A 60-70 KNOT LOW LEVEL JET AND GUSTS TO 50 MPH DO NOT SEEM UNREASONABLE AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. WILL ISSUE AN SPS FOR WINDS EVERYWHERE ELSE WHERE GUSTS TO 40 MPH SEEM REASONABLE AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS IN RESPONSE TO APPROACHING COLD FRONT. CURRENT RADAR IMAGERY SHOWS A SHIELD OF RAINFALL ON THE WESTERN BORDER OF THE CWA SO HAVE INCREASED POPS TO CATEGORICAL A LITTLE EARLIER. HAVE INCLUDED ISOLATED THUNDER IN THE ZFP FOR TONIGHT AS FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOW SOME ELEVATED INSTABILITY...ALTHOUGH VERY MARGINAL. RAINFALL DOES NOT END UNTIL FRONTAL PASSAGE LATE IN THE PERIOD ON WEDNESDAY. STAYED BELOW GUIDANCE FOR TONIGHT WITH A NON- DIURNAL TEMPERATURE CURVE. LONG TERM.../THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...UPDATED THE MODELS ARE IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT TO START ON THURSDAY WITH HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING INTO THE AREA. ON FRIDAY...A WARM FRONT WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE COAL FIELDS AHEAD OF THE NEXT MAJOR WEATHER SYSTEM. RIGHT NOW...THIS DOES NOT LOOK LIKE IT WILL HAVE FREEZING RAIN WITH IT...HOWEVER WILL NEED TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON IT TO SEE HOW IT DEVELOPS. WE ARE EXPECTING SOME SCATTERED SHOWER ACTIVITY WITH THE WARM FRONT AND ALSO IN THE WARM SECTOR BEHIND THE FRONT. I DID LOWER THE POPS SOME IN THE WARM SECTOR BASED ON CURRRENT MODEL TRENDS. HAVE VERY LOW CONFIDENCE IN EXACTLY HOW MUCH SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL BE OCCURRING. FOR MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA...IT IS POSSIBLE TO SEE MOSTLY DRY CONDTIONS UNTIL THE COLD FRONT FINALLY MOVES INTO THE AREA ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. THE TIMING OF THIS SYSTEM HAS VARIED QUITE A BIT...BUT WENT WITH THE BETTER VARIFYING ECMWF MODEL FOR TIMING OF THE COLD FRONT. THE FRONT SHOULD BE THROUGH THE AREA BY SUNDAY NIGHT FOLLOWED BY MORE HIGH PRESSURE MOVING IN. && .AVIATION.../18Z TO 18Z/ EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS AT THE START OF THE FORECAST PERIOD WITH GRADUALLY LOWERING CIGS AND VISIBILITIES AS RAIN MOVES INTO THE AREA OVERNIGHT. CURRENTLY RADAR SHOWS SOME DECENT RETURNS...ALTHOUGH WITH THE VERY DRY LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE...PRECIPITATION IS HAVING TROUBLE REACHING THE GROUND. MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN TO FALL SHORTLY AFTER DUSK TONIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGHT THE END OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. FROM MIDNIGHT ON...EXPECT A MORE STEADY RAINFALL AS THE COLUMN BECOMES COMPLETELY SATURATED AND THE BEST LIFT IS PRESENT. ONCE THE MORE STEADY RAIN BEGINS TO FALL...EXPECT CIGS AND VISIBILITIES TO DROP TO MVFR AND STAY THERE THROUGH THE END OF THE FORECAST PERI0D. HAVE CONTINUED LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR FROM EARLY TONIGHT THROUGH DAWN...WITH SURFACE WINDS INCREASING TO 20 MPH AND GUSTS TO 30 LLWS WILL NOT BE AN ISSUE...DESPITE THE LINGERING LOW LEVEL JET OF 60 KNOTS. THE THREAT OF FREEZING RAIN HAS DIMINISHED...ALTHOUGH CHANCES FOR AN ICY SPOT OR TWO WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH EARLY EVENING... ESPECIALLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 64. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY FOR KYZ088-118. && SHORT TERM...SCHOETTMER/SCHOETTMER LONG TERM....JJ AVIATION...SCHOETTMER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 1140 AM EST TUE DEC 23 2008 KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>118-241100- FLEMING-MONTGOMERY-BATH-ROWAN-ESTILL-POWELL-MENIFEE-ROCKCASTLE- JACKSON-PULASKI-LAUREL-WAYNE-MCCREARY-WHITLEY-KNOX-BELL-HARLAN- ELLIOTT-MORGAN-JOHNSON-WOLFE-MAGOFFIN-FLOYD-LEE-BREATHITT-KNOTT- OWSLEY-PERRY-CLAY-LESLIE-LETCHER- 1140 AM EST TUE DEC 23 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. MIXED PRECIPITATION IS POSSIBLE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS ACROSS THE AREA...AS COLD AIR AT THE SURFACE SLOWLY RETREATS AND THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE GRADUALLY SATURATE. PRECIPITATION...IF ANY...WOULD INITIALLY START OUT AS SLEET OR RAIN...BUT MAY MIX WITH OR CHANGE TO A BRIEF PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN...BEFORE TRANSITIONING TO JUST PLAIN RAIN. LITTLE OR NO ICE OR SLEET ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. WINDS MAY GUST AS HIGH AS 40 MPH ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY WEDNESDAY EVENING AS A COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY OCCURRENCE OF SLEET OR FREEZING RAIN TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON KY.. KYZ119-120-241100- MARTIN-PIKE- 1140 AM EST TUE DEC 23 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. WINDS MAY GUST AS HIGH AS 40 MPH ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY WEDNESDAY EVENING AS A COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY OCCURRENCE OF SLEET OR FREEZING RAIN TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON KY.. SCHOETTMER
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 1153 AM EST TUE DEC 23 2008 KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-104-106>115-232300- FLEMING-MONTGOMERY-BATH-ROWAN-ESTILL-POWELL-MENIFEE-ROCKCASTLE- JACKSON-ELLIOTT-MORGAN-JOHNSON-WOLFE-MAGOFFIN-FLOYD-LEE-BREATHITT- KNOTT-OWSLEY-PERRY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FLEMINGSBURG...MOUNT STERLING... OWINGSVILLE...MOREHEAD...IRVINE...STANTON...FRENCHBURG... MOUNT VERNON...MCKEE...SANDY HOOK...WEST LIBERTY...PAINTSVILLE... CAMPTON...SALYERSVILLE...PRESTONSBURG...BEATTYVILLE...JACKSON... HINDMAN...BOONEVILLE...HAZARD 1153 AM EST TUE DEC 23 2008 ...SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN POSSIBLE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON... AN APPROACHING STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING INCREASING MOISTURE AND WARMER AIR ALOFT TODAY. THIS WILL LEAD TO THE POTENTIAL FOR MIXED PRECIPITATION DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS ACROSS THE AREA...AS COLD AIR AT THE SURFACE SLOWLY RETREATS AND THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE GRADUALLY SATURATE. PRECIPITATION...IF ANY...WILL INITIALLY START OUT AS SLEET...BUT MAY MIX WITH OR CHANGE TO A BRIEF PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN...BEFORE TRANSITIONING TO JUST PLAIN RAIN BY EARLY TUESDAY EVENING...AS TEMPERATURES QUICKLY WARM. ROAD SURFACE TEMPERATURES WILL LAG BEHIND THE WARMING SURFACE AIR TEMPERATURES...CREATING A WINDOW OF POTENTIALLY SLICK CONDITIONS GENERALLY BETWEEN NOON AND 6 PM. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR THE LATER UPDATES ON THIS POTENTIAL WINTER WEATHER SITUATION. KYZ079-080-083>088-116>120-232300- PULASKI-LAUREL-WAYNE-MCCREARY-WHITLEY-KNOX-BELL-HARLAN-CLAY-LESLIE- LETCHER-MARTIN-PIKE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SOMERSET...LONDON...MONTICELLO... WHITLEY CITY...CORBIN...WILLIAMSBURG...BARBOURVILLE...MIDDLESBORO... PINEVILLE...HARLAN...MANCHESTER...HYDEN...WHITESBURG...INEZ... PIKEVILLE 1153 AM EST TUE DEC 23 2008 WARMING TEMPERATURES ABOVE FREEZING THIS AFTERNOON WILL HELP TO REDUCE THE THREAT OF SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN...ALTHOUGH ROAD TEMPERATURES WILL LAG BEHIND A BIT. THEREFORE THE THREAT FOR PATCHY SLICK SPOTS WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY NEAR SHELTERED AREAS WHERE THE SURFACE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HEAT UP AS QUICKLY. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR THE LATER UPDATES ON THIS POTENTIAL WINTER WEATHER SITUATION. SCHOETTMER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Freezing rain caused a glaze of ice on sidewalks in Eubank.
A glaze of ice from freezing rain led to numerous car accidents county wide.
Numerous car accidents were reported due to icy roads from freezing rain around Morehead.
One tenth of an inch of ice accretion from freezing rain accumulated on sidewalks, with a glaze of ice on roadways in and around Drip Rock.
Freezing rain caused a glaze of ice on roadways and exposed surfaces. Several car accidents were reported late in the afternoon.
Freezing rain caused icy roads and several car accidents around the county.
Numerous car accidents and road closures were reported due to a glaze of ice from freezing rain in and around Owingsville.
A glaze of ice was occurring from freezing rain on exposed surfaces at the National Weather Service Office.
One tenth of an inch of ice accretion was reported from freezing rain at Gimlet.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, December 2008
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: 139997, 139998, 139999, 140000, 140003, 140004, 140001, 140005, 140006.