The second hypothermia death in two days occurred in the Louisville metro area when a man died of exposure in southwest Louisville.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 LMK wrote it up.
The second hypothermia death in two days occurred in the Louisville metro area when a man died of exposure in southwest Louisville.
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 Louisville, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 10, 9:46 PM EST, 2 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 946 PM EST WED FEB 10 2010 ...FORECAST UPDATE... CURRENTLY...THE STORM SYSTEM THAT BROUGHT SNOW TO MOST OF OUR REGION IS RIDING UP THE NE CONUS AS A NOR'EASTER...KEEPING OUR REGION IN NW FLOW ON THE BACK SIDE OF ITS UPPER LOW. FLOW OFF OF LAKE MICHIGAN IS AIDING IN A LARGE AREA OF STRATO-CU BLANKETING MOST OF OUR CWA WITH OVERCAST SKIES. EMBEDDED IN THIS NW FLOW AND CLOUD COVER ARE POCKETS OF FLURRIES AND POSSIBLY MORE CONCENTRATED LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS. HOWEVER...DO NOT THINK MORE THAN TRACE AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED SO HAVE REMOVED POPS OVERNIGHT AND JUST HAVE FLURRY WORDING. ALSO...ADJUSTED CLOUDS TO SLOWLY SCATTER/CLEAR OUR WESTERN CWA OVERNIGHT AND MADE MINOR TWEAKS TO OVERNIGHT LOWS. NO OTHER CHANGES MADE. UPDATE OUT SOON. .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT AND THURSDAY)... LARGE NORTH/SOUTH-ORIENTED HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO BUILD INTO THE REGION FROM THE GREAT PLAINS STATES. GRADIENT SHOULD BEGIN TO RELAX THIS EVENING...THOUGH EXPECT WINDS TO STAY UP ENOUGH TO KEEP SOME MIXING IN. LIKEWISE CLOUD COVER IS THINNING OUT AT THIS TIME...BUT THINK WILL SEE SOME REDEVELOP WITH THE OVERNIGHT COOLER TEMPERATURES. THINK THESE CLOUDS COMBINED WITH WINDS WILL KEEP US FROM FREE FALLING TEMPERATURE-WISE. HAVE TRENDED WARMER...TOWARDS GUIDANCE FOR LOWS TONIGHT...BUT STILL BELOW THOSE VALUES. NOW HAVE READINGS FALLING TO AROUND 20 FOR MOST OF THE REGION...EXPECT INTO THE UPPER TEENS OVER SOUTHERN INDIANA. THE SNOW TAP COMING FROM LAKE MICHIGAN SHOULD END THIS EVENING AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW RAPIDLY PULLS EAST OF THE REGION. HAVE LIGHT SNOW CHANCES OVER THE EASTERN CWA THIS EVENING THEN JUST OVER MY EASTERN COUNTIES AFTER MIDNIGHT. TONIGHT'S SNOWS SHOULD MAKE FOR NOT MUCH MORE THAN A TRACE OF NEW SNOWFALL. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BECOME CENTERED OVER THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY THURSDAY. THE DRY AIR SHOULD BRING ONE DAY THIS WEEK WITH MORE SUN THAN CLOUDS. FOR TEMPERATURES WILL SEE MOST SITES GET UP TO AROUND FREEZING...WITH SUN-FACING LOCATIONS SEEING SOME SNOW MELT. WENT WITH HIGHS ROUGHLY BETWEEN THE MAV AND MET GUIDANCE FOR HIGHS. .LONG TERM (THURSDAY NIGHT - WEDNESDAY)... THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY... THIS PORTION OF THE PERIOD WILL START OFF DRY AS WE REMAIN IN NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. SFC HIGH PRESSURE WILL NUDGE INTO THE REGION THURSDAY NIGHT AND WILL INFLUENCE OUR WEATHER THROUGH THE DAY ON FRIDAY. LOWS THURSDAY NIGHT WILL DROP INTO THE LOWER-MID TEENS ACROSS SOUTHERN INDIANA AND THE NORTH HALF OF KENTUCKY...WITH UPPER TEENS TO AROUND 20 FOR LOWS ACROSS SOUTHERN KENTUCKY. HIGHS FRIDAY WILL CONTINUE TO BE COLD WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 20S IN SOUTHERN INDIANA AND NORTHERN KENTUCKY...WITH LOWER TO MID 30S POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHERN KENTUCKY. MOS NUMBERS ARE WAY TOO WARM HERE...SO HAVE TRENDED THE FCST CLOSE TO THE RAW 2M TEMPS FROM THE 10/12Z OP GFS AND GEFS ENSEMBLES. BY FRIDAY NIGHT...FAIRLY HEALTHY MID-LEVEL WAVE IS FORECAST TO APPROACH FROM THE NORTHWEST. THIS SHOULD BRING SOME LIGHT SNOW INTO THE REGION FRIDAY EVENING AND EARLY SATURDAY MORNING BEFORE SCOOTING OFF TO THE EAST. PRECIPITATION WILL HAVE SOME TROUBLE GETTING STARTED FRIDAY NIGHT AS THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE FAIRLY DRY INITIALLY. HOWEVER...SATURATION AND WETBULBING PROCESSES SHOULD ALLOW PRECIPITATION TO MAKE IT TO THE GROUND PROBABLY AFTER MIDNIGHT FRIDAY NIGHT. LIGHT SNOWS SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY ON SATURDAY BEFORE DIMINISHING SAT AFTERNOON. AS IN PREVIOUS SYSTEMS...THERE IS A THREAT THAT A SURGE OF WARMER AIR NEAR THE SURFACE MAY PRECEDE THE UPPER LEVEL WAVE AS IT APPROACHES. THE 12Z GFS MODELS SOUNDINGS OUT OF BUFKIT SHOW THIS NICELY WITH A WARM LAYER FROM THE SFC UP TO AROUND 1500-2000FT. P-TYPE DIAGNOSTICS SHOW SNOW CHANGING TO RAIN AS WELL SATURDAY MORNING. HOWEVER...THE 10/09Z SREF ENSEMBLE P-TYPE PLUMES SHOW ONLY A FEW MEMBERS GOING WITH THE TRANSITION TO RAIN. BASICALLY ITS ABOUT A 75/25 SPLIT FOR SNOW VS. RAIN. THE SREF P-TYPE PROBABILITY PRODUCTS ALSO KEEP MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION AS SNOW AS WELL. GIVEN THE EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE OF THE SREF IN THE RECENT WEEKS...WILL GO ON THE COLDER SIDE OF THE GUIDANCE AND KEEP THINGS SNOW FOR NOW. HOWEVER...SHOULD A WARMER TREND EMERGE WITHIN THE DATA...A RAIN/SNOW MIX MAY END UP OCCURING ACROSS SOUTHERN KENTUCKY. TEMPERATURES SATURDAY WILL WARM INTO THE UPPER 20S TO AROUND 30 IN THE NORTH WITH LOWER 30S ACROSS SOUTHERN KY. GIVEN THE QPF AMOUNTS FROM THE GEFS AND SREF ENSEMBLES ALONG WITH THE OP GFS QPF...SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF AN INCH OR LESS SEEM VERY LIKELY ACROSS SOUTHERN INDIANA AND THE NORTHERN HALF OF KY. ACROSS SOUTHERN KENTUCKY...ITS NOT ALL THAT CLEAR GIVEN THE POSSIBLE CHANGE OVER TO A MIX. FOR NOW...BASED ON THE CURRENT DATA...A HALF INCH OR LESS OF ACCUMULATION SEEMS REASONABLE FOR THOSE LOCATIONS. SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY... ...STRONG CLIPPER SYSTEM TO AFFECT THE REGION LATE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY BRINGING ANOTHER ROUND OF ACCUMULATING SNOWS TO THE REGION... LATEST SUITE OF LONG TERM MODEL SOLUTIONS ENTAILING BOTH THE DETERMINISTIC AND ENSEMBLE RUNS ARE IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH BRINGING A POTENT CLIPPER SYSTEM THROUGH THE REGION DURING THE DAY ON SUNDAY AND INTO SUNDAY NIGHT. THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF SIGNIFICANT WINTERY PRECIPITATION TO THE REGION. WHILE THE MODELS AND ENSEMBLE SOLUTIONS AGREE THAT THE SYSTEM WILL CERTAINLY AFFECT THE REGION...THERE ARE SOME CRITICAL DIFFERENCES IN THE ACTUAL TRACK AND THERMAL PROFILE THAT WILL MAKE THIS ANOTHER CHALLENGING FORECAST. BOTH THE 12Z GFS AND EURO SOLUTIONS BRING AN INITIAL SHOT OF PRECIPITATION INTO THE REGION EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. THE GFS IS SLIGHTLY FASTER WITH ITS PRECIPITATION THAN THE EURO. WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION SEEMS RATHER LIKELY ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION ON SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. AS THE SFC LOW HEADS OFF TO THE EAST...THE CLOSED H5 LOW WILL MOVE OVER THE REGION ON MONDAY BRINGING ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW TO THE REGION. FOR THE SUN-MON PERIOD THE GFS AND EURO SOLUTIONS GENERATE BETWEEN 0.25 TO 0.50 INCHES OF LIQUID QPF...WHICH IS PRETTY DECENT FOR A CLIPPER SYSTEM. THE CURRENT FCST TRACK GIVEN BY THE EURO AND GFS IS NOT ENTIRELY A GOOD ONE FOR SNOW ACROSS OUR REGION...ESPECIALLY FOR SOUTHERN KENTUCKY. HOWEVER AREAS NORTH OF THE WESTERN KENTUCKY AND BLUEGRASS PARKWAYS MAY BE IN THE SWEET SPOT AGAIN FOR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS. WITH THE SURFACE LOW FCST TO TRACK THROUGH SOUTHERN KY...MODEL SOUNDINGS AND BUFKIT P-TYPE DIAGNOSTIC SUGGEST THAT A LOW-LEVEL WARM SURGE WILL PUSH INTO SOUTHERN KENTUCKY RESULTING IN A MIX OF SNOW/RAIN TO JUST PLAIN RAIN. VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE SAW THIS PAST MONDAY. COLD AIR LOOKS TO STAY LOCKED IN ACROSS SOUTHERN INDIANA AND THE NORTHERN HALF OF KENTUCKY FOR ALL SNOW. WHILE WE WILL HAVE HAD SOME COLD AIR IN PLACE BEFORE THIS SYSTEM GETS HERE. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW SOME WARMING ALOFT (WAY ABOVE THE SFC) WHICH IS ONLY ALLOWING SNOW RATIOS TO REACH UP TO AROUND 15-16:1. COMBINE THAT WITH THE 0.25 TO 0.50 INCHES OF LIQUID...AND SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE ONCE AGAIN ACROSS SOUTHERN INDIANA AND IN KENTUCKY NORTH OF THE BLUEGRASS AND WESTERN KY PARKWAYS. BASED ON THE CURRENT SOLUTIONS...I BELIEVE THAT OUR BEST ACCUMULATIONS MAY HOLD OFF UNTIL SUNDAY AFTERNOON/NIGHT AND MONDAY WHEN THE UPPER LOW COMES SCOOTING ACROSS. COLDER AIR WILL QUICKLY PUSH BACK IN WITH ALL AREAS SEEING SNOW SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY BEFORE DIMINISHING MONDAY NIGHT. UPPER TROUGH WILL THEN SHIFT EAST ALLOWING SOME DRIER AND COLDER AIR TO REMAIN IN THE AREA FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. AS FOR TEMPS...GENERALLY STUCK CLOSE THE RAW 12Z OP GFS AND THE ENSEMBLE MEANS FOR THIS FORECAST. THIS RESULT IN ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO THE PREVIOUS FCST. MOS TEMPS ARE WAY TOO WARM AND ARE JUST NOT RECOGNIZING ALL THE SNOWCOVER THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE AND/OR WILL HAVE ACROSS THE REGION. LOWS SAT NIGHT WILL DROP INTO THE UPPER TEENS ACROSS THE NORTH AND LOWER 20S IN THE SOUTH. HIGHS ON SUNDAY SHOULD WARM INTO THE UPPER 20S TO AROUND 30 IN THE NORTH WITH LOWER TO MID 30S ACROSS SOUTHERN KY. LOWS MONDAY MORNING LOOK TO COOL TO THE UPPER TEENS TO THE LOWER 20S WITH HIGHS ON MONDAY ONLY WARMING INTO THE MID 20S. LOWS MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY NIGHT SHOULD DROP INTO THE MID-UPPER TEENS TO AROUND 20 AND HIGHS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WILL LIKELY WARM INTO THE UPPER 20S TO THE LOWER 30S. && .AVIATION (00Z TAF ISSUANCE)... LOW MVFR-VFR CLOUDS WILL CONTINUE TO FLOW SOUTH FROM LAKE MICHIGAN AND ROTATE AROUND A LARGE UPPER LOW OVER THE NERN CONUS. VERY LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS OR FLURRIES WILL BE POSSIBLE UNDER THE BKN-OVC CIGS WITH THE BEST CHANCE OCCURING AT LEX THROUGH 12Z THRS AND AT SDF THROUGH 06Z THRS. VSBYS MAY BE IMPEDED A LITTLE AT THESE SITES...MORE SO AT LEX FROM THE MORE PERSISTENT SNOWS. BWG SHOULD SCATTER TO CLEAR OUT BY 03Z. BECAUSE OF THIS...BWG MAY DROP TO MVFR VSBYS DUE TO BR TOWARD DAWN THRS. SCT-BKN MVFR/VFR CIGS COULD CONTINUE AT LEX AND POSSIBLY SDF THURSDAY MORNING BUT SHOULD SCATTER BEYOND 18Z THRS AS SFC HIGH PRESSURE SLIDES OVER THE REGION. BECAUSE OF THIS...GUSTY WNW WINDS WILL WEAKEN INTO THURSDAY AS WELL. && .LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. IN...NONE. && UPDATE.........AL SHORT TERM.....RJS LONG TERM......MJ AVIATION.......AL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 946 PM EST WED FEB 10 2010 INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067- 070>078-081-082-110445- ORANGE IN-WASHINGTON IN-SCOTT IN-JEFFERSON IN-DUBOIS IN- CRAWFORD IN-PERRY IN-HARRISON IN-FLOYD IN-CLARK IN-HANCOCK KY- BRECKINRIDGE KY-MEADE KY-OHIO KY-GRAYSON KY-HARDIN KY-BULLITT KY- JEFFERSON KY-OLDHAM KY-TRIMBLE KY-HENRY KY-SHELBY KY-FRANKLIN KY- SCOTT KY-HARRISON KY-SPENCER KY-ANDERSON KY-WOODFORD KY- FAYETTE KY-BOURBON KY-NICHOLAS KY-NELSON KY-WASHINGTON KY- MERCER KY-JESSAMINE KY-CLARK KY-LARUE KY-MARION KY-BOYLE KY- GARRARD KY-MADISON KY-BUTLER KY-EDMONSON KY-HART KY-GREEN KY- TAYLOR KY-CASEY KY-LINCOLN KY-LOGAN KY-WARREN KY-SIMPSON KY- ALLEN KY-BARREN KY-MONROE KY-METCALFE KY-ADAIR KY-RUSSELL KY- CUMBERLAND KY-CLINTON KY- 946 PM EST WED FEB 10 2010 /846 PM CST WED FEB 10 2010/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...OVERNIGHT. SOME FLURRIES OR VERY LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT...MAINLY ACROSS THE BLUEGRASS AND LAKE CUMBERLAND REGIONS. OTHERWISE...A FEW SLICK SPOTS WILL REMAIN OVERNIGHT ON ANY UNTREATED ROADWAYS AND IN AREAS WHERE MELTED SNOWS REFREEZE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. A WEAK UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL BRING SOME LIGHT SNOW TO THE REGION ON SATURDAY. A MINOR ACCUMULATION OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA. A MORE POTENT CLIPPER SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY. THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BRING ACCUMULATING SNOWS TO SOUTHERN INDIANA AND PORTIONS OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY...NORTH OF THE WESTERN KENTUCKY AND BLUEGRASS PARKWAYS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TONIGHT. RJS/MJ/AL
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
After a night of temperatures in the teens, police discovered the body of a man about a mile from his home in southwest Louisville the morning of February 11, on the deck of a home under construction. An autopsy showed that he had died of hypothermia.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold/Wind Chill, Jefferson | 2010-02-11 | 49 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, February 2010
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: 218282.