Northwest flow combined with just enough low level moisture to bring scattered snow showers to eastern Kentucky on January 2nd. Most locations only received less than an inch of snow.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
Northwest flow combined with just enough low level moisture to bring scattered snow showers to eastern Kentucky on January 2nd. Most locations only received less than an inch of snow. There were two reports of 1.5-2 inch snow fall received by the weather office on this 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 2, 1:06 AM EST, 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 106 AM EST SAT JAN 2 2010 .SHORT TERM.../THE REST OF TONIGHT AND SATURDAY/ NORTHWEST FLOW AND COLD ADVECTION CONTINUE TO WRING OUT FLURRIES ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA WITH A FEW ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS IN OUR FAR EASTERN COUNTIES. H5 SHORTWAVE IS APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST AND COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OF SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS THIS PASSES. THE SHORTWAVE/S PASSAGE WILL ALSO CAUSE THE LOW LEVEL WINDS TO BECOME A BIT MORE NORTHERLY... BRIEFLY TRANSPORTING SOME LAKE MICHIGAN MOISTURE INTO OUR AREA LATE TONIGHT INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ON SATURDAY. THE FORECAST HAS BEEN UPDATED/TWEAKED TO REFINE OUR PRECIP CHANCES AND POSSIBLE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY. FEEL THAT THE PRESENCE OF SOME LAKE MOISTURE WILL BRING NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS TO OUR NORTHEAST AND EAST COUNTIES LATE TONIGHT... ROUGHLY EAST OF A MOREHEAD TO HINDMAN LINE AND INCLUDING OUR HIGHER ELEVATION COUNTIES ALONG THE VIRGINIA BORDER. UP TO AN INCH OF SNOW IS EXPECTED IN THESE AREAS... WITH ANOTHER INCH POSSIBLE SATURDAY MORNING ALONG THE VIRGINIA BORDER. ELSEWHERE... LOCALIZED LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE EAST OF I-75 WITH NO ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED WEST OF I-75. SNOW RATIOS WILL BE ON THE ORDER OF 20:1 OR HIGHER AND SOME BLOWING OF THE LIGHT FLUFFY SNOW IS LIKELY. THE SNOW SHOWERS WILL TAPER OFF QUICKLY SATURDAY AS A VERY DRY SURFACE AIR MASS ADVECTS INTO THE AREA. FLURRIES ARE LIKELY TO CONTINUE INTO THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS HOWEVER. THE OTHER CONCERN IS WIND CHILLS... ESPECIALLY OVER OUR HIGHER TERRAIN. CURRENT WIND CHILLS ARE ALREADY IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE 1500 FEET AND NEAR ZERO ABOVE 2500 FEET. IT IS POSSIBLE WE WILL APPROACH WIND CHILL ADVISORY CRITERIA (WIND CHILL -10F TO -24F) FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 2500 FEET LATE TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING BUT DECIDED THIS WOULD NOT HAPPEN FOR A LARGE ENOUGH AREA AND FOR A LONG ENOUGH PERIOD OF TIME TO JUSTIFY AN ADVISORY AT THIS TIME. THE PREVIOUS SHORT TERM FORECAST DISCUSSION FOLLOWS... /TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/ THE MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT WITH THE UPPER PATTERN WITH SOME MINOR TIMING ISSUES OF THE SHORT WAVES BY SUNDAY NIGHT. NEEDLESS TO SAY...THIS IS A VERY COLD PATTERN AND THE AREA IS IN STORE FOR AN EXTENDED COLD PERIOD. A SECOND COLD FRONT MOVED ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND BROUGHT IN SOME ADDITIONAL COLD AIR. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR SOME PARTIAL IMPROVEMENT...BUT WILL BE SHORTLY FOLLOWED BY A CLIPPER SYSTEM TONIGHT COMBINED WITH SOME UPSLOPE FLOW. WENT WITH THE GFS BECAUSE IT SEEMED TO HAVE A BETTER HANDLE ON THE UPSLOPE. FOR TEMPS...JUST TWEAKED THE PREVIOUS FORECAST A LITTLE AND GENERALLY STAYED BELOW MOS AS THIS IS A FAIRLY EXTREME COLD AIR SITUATION THAT MOS IS USUALLY TOO WARM ON. THE UPPER NORTHWESTERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE AND THE AREA IS SET UP FOR CONTINUED CLIPPER AND SHORT WAVES ROTATING DOWN THE BACKSIDE OF THE UPPER LOW. .LONG TERM.../MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/ EAST KENTUCKY SHOULD REMAIN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A BROAD H5 TROUGH THROUGH THE ENTIRE FORECAST PERIOD. THE RESULTING IMPACT ON SENSIBLE WEATHER WILL FEATURE CONTINUED COLD...CLOUDS...AND CHANCES FOR SNOW. AT THE START OF THE FORECAST PERIOD...MODELS AGREE ON INCREASING DEEP MOISTURE AND H5 TROUGH AXIS EMBEDDED IN THE MEAN TROUGH APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST. AT THIS POINT...ENOUGH DEEP MOISTURE IS THE LIMITING FACTOR SO WILL ONLY INCLUDE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS...HOWEVER IF LOW LEVEL FLOW BECOMES A BIT MORE FAVORABLE UPSLOPE COMPONENT COULD SQUEEZE A BIT BETTER COVERAGE OUT OF THE AVAILABLE MOISTURE. MID LEVEL FLOW BEGINS TO BRIEFLY FLATTEN OUT A BIT BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON WITH DEPLETING MOISTURE ACROSS THE REGION. LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY SHOULD THEN STAY DRY AS THE NEXT POTENT SHORTWAVE REINFORCES THE MEAN TROUGH BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT. MODELS HAD AGREED THAT A DECENT AMOUNT OF MOISTURE WOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM AS SURFACE LOW/S DEVELOPED ALONG THE GULF COAST AND ADVECTED MORE MOISTURE INTO THE AREA. 12Z GFS/CANADIAN HAVE DIVERGED FROM THIS SOLUTION WITH FASTER MORE OPEN SHORTWAVE AND WEAKER SURFACE LOW TO THE SOUTH...WHILE 12Z ECMWF HAS HELD ON TO THE MORE MOIST/SLOWER SOLUTION. WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS FOR THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT PERIOD TO ACCOUNT FOR UNCERTAINTY. AT THIS POINT...LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS APPEAR POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY WITH ARCTIC AIR MASS IN PLACE AND BETTER SNOW RATIOS. HOWEVER...IF A SOLUTION SIMILAR TO THE ECMWF VERIFIES AND MORE MOISTURE IS PUMPED INTO THE REGION...HIGHER ACCUMULATIONS COULD BE POSSIBLE. WILL KEEP AN EYE ON THIS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. AS FAR AS TEMPERATURES ARE CONCERNED...HAVE KEPT THINGS BELOW MEX GUIDANCE FOR MUCH OF THE PERIOD AS STEADY COLD AIR ADVECTION... PLENTY OF SKY COVER AND SOME SNOW COVER WILL KEEP THE MERCURY LOW. SMALL DIURNAL RANGES WILL BE COMMON AS LOWS IN THE TEENS ONLY GIVE WAY TO HIGHS IN THE 20S. WILL HAVE TO WATCH FOR POTENTIAL CLEARING EACH NIGHT AS THE MERCURY COULD BOTTOM OUT IN THE SINGLE DIGITS IF THIS OCCURS. WIND CHILLS WILL ALSO BE A BIT OF A CONCERN WITH READING IN THE SINGLE DIGITS TO NEAR ZERO ON MONDAY NIGHT. && .AVIATION.../06Z TO 06Z/...UPDATED WE CONTINUE TO EXPECT MAINLY MVFR IN STRATOCU TO HOLD OVER EAST KENTUCKY THROUGH AT LEAST 12Z AS AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE PASSES BY TO THE NORTH. HOWEVER...AS DRIER AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA CIGS SHOULD BECOME VFR BETWEEN 14Z AND 19Z. LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISTURBANCE WILL CONTINUE TO GENERATE SOME SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS 6Z TO 15Z WITH SOME VIS RESTRICTIONS EXPECTED...MOSTLY DOWN INTO THE MVFR RANGE. HOWEVER...BRIEF PERIODS OF IFR VIS DURING THE HEAVIEST SNOW SHOWERS CANNOT BE RULED OUT. WINDS WILL BE NORTHWEST AT 5 TO 10 KT WITH SOME GUSTS AROUND 15KT. SUSTAINED WINDS WILL BE A BIT HIGHER BRIEFLY IN THE HEAVIER SNOW SHOWERS. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JJ/ABE LONG TERM....SCHOETTMER AVIATION...GRIEF/JP
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 1004 PM EST FRI JAN 1 2010 KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>120-021200- 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-MARTIN-PIKE- 1004 PM EST FRI JAN 1 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT. ACCUMULATIONS UP TO AN INCH ARE POSSIBLE FOR LOCATIONS EAST OF A LINE EXTENDING FROM MOREHEAD TO HINDMAN TO HARLAN. LOCALIZED LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS MAY ALSO OCCUR AS FAR WEST AS INTERSTATE 75. NORTHWEST WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH FALLING TEMPERATURES TO PRODUCE LOW WIND CHILLS. ABOVE 2500 FEET ELEVATION...WIND CHILLS WILL FALL TO AS LOW AS 10 BELOW AT TIMES AROUND DAWN. FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE OUTLOOK AREA...WIND CHILLS WILL FALL TO AROUND ZERO AT TIMES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THE COLDEST AIR MASS OF THE YOUNG WINTER SEASON WILL BE IN PLACE FOR THE WEEKEND THROUGH MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY WILL LIKELY FAIL TO REACH THE FREEZING MARK IN MANY LOCATIONS...WITH LOW TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS EACH NIGHT. BRISK NORTHWEST WINDS SATURDAY AND SATURDAY EVENING WILL LIKELY SEND WIND CHILLS TO BELOW ZERO AT TIMES. ALONG WITH THE COLD...SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY MORNING BEFORE TAPERING TO FLURRIES SATURDAY AFTERNOON. AN ADDITIONAL INCH OF SNOW MAY FALL IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN ALONG THE VIRGINIA BORDER. SNOW WILL THEN BE POSSIBLE AGAIN ON SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AND THEN AGAIN WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS TO THE JACKSON WEATHER OFFICE. JP/JJ/ABE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
A member of the public reported 1.5 inches of snow on the ground in Shelby Gap.
Two inches of snow was on the ground with light snow still falling in Thornton.
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, January 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: 205558, 205557.