A quick moving clipper system and associated arctic boundary brought snow showers and snow squalls to eastern Kentucky from Thursday Evening January 31st, to the predawn hours of Friday February 1st. The snow came down quickly, reducing the visibility to below a quarter of a mile at times.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
A quick moving clipper system and associated arctic boundary brought snow showers and snow squalls to eastern Kentucky from Thursday Evening January 31st, to the predawn hours of Friday February 1st. The snow came down quickly, reducing the visibility to below a quarter of a mile at times. When combined with blowing already fallen snow, near whiteout conditions were briefly witnessed. Thundersnow was also witnessed in locations such as Hazard and Paintsville. Snowfall amounts ranged from 1 to 3 inches over the lower elevations with 4 to 6 inches in isolated locations on the higher ridges along the Virginia border. Winds gusted up to 47 mph as the arctic front blew through causing several hundred power outages across eastern Kentucky.
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 31, 9:46 PM EST, 2 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 946 PM EST THU JAN 31 2013 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 946 PM EST THU JAN 31 2013 LIGHT SNOW HAS BEGUN AND HEAVY SNOW INDICATED NEARER THE FRONT IN MIDDLE KY. FRONT TRACKING EAST AT 40 MPH. UPDATED GRIDS WITH LATEST OBS. ZONE FCST ON TRACK. UPDATE ISSUED AT 559 PM EST THU JAN 31 2013 GOOD SNOW FIELD IN WRK KY PUSHING EAST AS ADVERTISED. LATEST MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH CURRENT OBS AND HAVE UPDATED GRIDS TO REFLECT LATEST TRENDS. WILL UPDATE THE ZONES AS NECESSARY WITH THE LATEST GRID UPDATE. SNOW GRAPHIC WILL CHANGE SLIGHTLY WITH THE LATEST UPDATE BUT AMOUNTS OVERNIGHT STILL LOOK TO BE MOSTLY IN THE 1-2 INCH RANGE WITH SOME ACCUMULATIONS NEAR 3 INCHES IN OUR ERN COUNTIES WITH THE HIGHER ELEVATION. UPSLOPE FLOW IS EXPECTED TO ENHANCE SNOWFALL IN THE EAST. && .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 340 PM EST THU JAN 31 2013 THE MAIN FORECAST CONCERN THROUGH THE PERIOD WILL BE THE CLIPPER SYSTEM THIS EVENING...MAINLY LATER IN THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT TONIGHT ENDING AROUND DAWN ON FRIDAY. THE LOW LEVEL FLOW HAS BECOME MORE SOUTHWESTERLY AND THIS HAS HELPED TO BRING ABOUT THE DEMISE OF THE MORE INTENSE SNOW SHOWERS THAT HAD BEEN ACROSS THE REGION EARLIER IN THE AFTERNOON. A FEW FLURRIES WILL LINGER OVER THE NORTHEAST PART OF THE CWA...BUT OVERALL A COUPLE OF HOURS OF LULL IS ANTICIPATED BEFORE SNOW MOVES INTO THE AREA/DEVELOPS DURING MID TO LATE EVENING WITH THE CLIPPER SYSTEM. MODELS CONTINUE TO BE SIMILAR WITH QPF WITH THE INCOMING SYSTEM...WITH EVEN SOME BRIEF INSTABILITY AS NOTED IN TQ INDEX AND SOME SMALL CAPE OF UNDER 100 J/KG IN THE LOW LEVELS PER MODEL FORECAST SOUNDINGS. THE SNOW OVERNIGHT WILL BE CONVECTIVE IN NATURE WITH THE HEIGHT OF THE EVENT A COUPLE OF HOURS EITHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT AS THE LAPSE RATES STEEPEN. DURING THIS TIME WE MAY EXPERIENCE SOME SQUALL WITH BRIEF WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. GUSTS WITH THIS ALSO MAY REACH THE 25 TO 30 MPH RANGE. THE STEADIER AND HEAVIER SNOW WILL LIKELY FALL IN ABOUT A THREE HOUR PERIOD OR SO...AND PERSIST A BIT LONGER IN THE SOUTHEAST WITH UPSLOPE COMPONENT AND LINGERING INSTABILITY. TEMPS SHOULD ALSO FALL RATHER QUICKLY FROM ABOUT MIDNIGHT TO DAWN BEHIND THE SYSTEMS COLD FRONT WITH TEENS COMMON AT DAWN AND THE TOP OF BLACK MTN DROPPING TO AROUND 5 OR 6 ABOVE. WIND CHILLS WILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE ZERO AROUND DAWN AS WELL. MODEL QPF REMAINS NEAR A TENTH OF AN INCH...IF NOT A TAD UNDER...BUT SNOW TO LIQUID RATIOS WILL BE RATHER HIGH LIKELY EXCEEDING 15:1 OTHER THAN PARTS OF THE SOUTHWEST AND SOME VALLEYS WHERE TEMPS WILL INITIALLY BE RIGHT AROUND IF NOT A DEGREE ABOVE FREEZING. SOME BANDING OF TRAINING SO TO SPEAK OF THE SHOWERS MAY OCCUR SO ALTHOUGH AMOUNTS ON AVERAGE SHOULD BE ABOUT ONE INCH...AMOUNTS AS HIGH AS TWO TO THREE INCHES ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN ABOVE 2000 FEET AND/OR WHERE ANY OF THESE BANDS MIGHT OCCUR. THE WSW WILL BE WORDED ACCORDINGLY. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS AND FLURRIES SHOULD END ON FRI MORNING...WITH INITIAL CLOUD COVER AND VERY COLD AIRMASS WITH 850 MB TEMPS IN THE -15C TO -20C RANGE...TEMPS WILL STRUGGLE TO REACH THE 20S IN SOME AREAS...ESPECIALLY ABOVE 2000 FEET. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING A PERIOD OF CLEARING SKIES ON FRI AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY EVENING BETWEEN TONIGHTS SYSTEM AND ANOTHER CLIPPER THAT WILL TRACK INTO THE AREA DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD. SOME LIGHT SNOW OR FLURRIES WILL BE POSSIBLE TOWARD DAWN ON SATURDAY AS WELL. OVERNIGHT LOWS ON FRI NIGHT SHOULD OCCUR NEAR 6Z OR SO...WITH TEMPS RISING TOWARD DAWN. WE PLAN TO START THE ADVISORY A BIT EARLIER IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE AREA PER ISC COORDINATION AND TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE SLIGHTLY FASTER GFS. AN UPDATED WSW AND HWO WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY. .LONG TERM...(SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY) ISSUED AT 345 PM EST THU JAN 31 2013 THE MODELS REMAIN IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH THE WEEKEND SO CONFIDENCE REMAINS HIGH IN ANOTHER ROUND OF ACCUMULATING SNOW FOR SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. THE MODELS REMAIN IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH THE LONGWAVE PATTERN INTO NEXT WEEK WITH A GENERAL MID/UPPER LEVEL TROUGH ANCHORED OVER THE REGION. THIS WILL KEEP THE PARADE OF CLIPPER TYPE SYSTEMS COMING INTO NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND WITH ADDITIONAL CHANCES FOR SNOW. THE PERIOD WILL START WITH A ROBUST MID LEVEL TROUGH DROPPING SOUTHEAST INTO KENTUCKY. THIS WILL YIELD ANOTHER ROUND OF LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW STARTING AROUND DAYBREAK SATURDAY. MODELS CONTINUE TO TREND COLDER WITH THIS SYSTEM...SUPPORTING ALL SNOW IN EASTERN KENTUCKY. IN FACT...IT MAY BE COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT BETTER LIQUID TO SNOW RATIOS...PROVIDING A BIT BETTER SNOWFALL POTENTIAL. TRAVEL CONDITIONS THROUGH SATURDAY AND ESPECIALLY SATURDAY NIGHT WILL BE VERY HAZARDOUS AS SNOW CONTINUES TO FALL ON COLD GROUND. THE SNOW WILL WIND DOWN INTO EARLY SUNDAY MORNING WITH PERHAPS SOME FLURRIES HOLDING ON INTO MIDDAY. MODELS CONTINUE TO WARM THINGS UP FAIRLY QUICKLY HEADING INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...ALTHOUGH THERE IS SOME QUESTION GIVEN THE EXISTING SNOW COVER THAT THIS WARM UP MAY BE TOO FAST. THUS...WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP TEMPERATURES BELOW GUIDANCE THROUGH ALL OF NEXT WEEK. THE CLIPPER SYSTEM ON TUESDAY LOOKS LIKE MAY BE A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW...ALTHOUGH ECMWF WOULD SUPPORT MAINLY SNOW. THE ARCTIC AIR WON'T BE IN PLACE AHEAD OF THE TUESDAY SYSTEM...SO PERHAPS WE HAVE A BETTER CHANCE TO SEE SOME RAIN. MORE COLD AIR WILL SETTLE INTO THE AREA FOR THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK BEHIND THE DEPARTING WAVE. A STRONGER STORM SYSTEM MAY TAKE SHAPE LATE NEXT WEEK AND AGAIN PROVIDE A THREAT OF MIXED PRECIPITATION. OVERALL...THIS ACTIVE STORM PATTERN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE WITH A TREND FOR COLDER THAN ADVERTISED TEMPERATURES. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z FRIDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 621 PM EST THU JAN 31 2013 EXPECT CIGS TO DECREASE OVERNIGHT AS THE NEXT DISTURBANCE PULLS SNOW INTO THE REGION. MVFR AND BRIEF IFR OR LOWER IS ANTICIPATED IN HEAVIER SNOW SHOWERS AND SNOW SQUALLS DURING THE 1Z TO 8Z PERIOD AS A CLIPPER BRINGS A FAST MOVING SHOT OF SNOW TO THE AREA. CIGS SHOULD IMPROVE TOWARD VFR BY THE END OF THE PERIOD. VIS WILL FALL INTO MVFR CATEGORY AND BRIEFLY BELOW AIRPORT MINS DURING THIS CLIPPER/S PASSAGE. GUSTY WINDS WILL REMAIN A CONCERN THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH THE HIGHEST SPEEDS...UP TO 25 KTS...ANTICIPATED MAINLY WITH THE CLIPPER/S FRONT BETWEEN ABOUT 2Z AND 12Z WITH WINDS SHIFTING TO NORTHWEST. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM EST FRIDAY FOR KYZ044-050>052- 058>060-068-069-079-080-083>088-104-106>120. && UPDATE...DUSTY SHORT TERM...JP LONG TERM....KAS AVIATION...DUSTY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 423 PM EST THU JAN 31 2013 KYZ044-050>052-058>060-068-069-079-080-083>085-011200- FLEMING-MONTGOMERY-BATH-ROWAN-ESTILL-POWELL-MENIFEE-ROCKCASTLE- JACKSON-PULASKI-LAUREL-WAYNE-MCCREARY-WHITLEY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FLEMINGSBURG...MOUNT STERLING... OWINGSVILLE...MOREHEAD...IRVINE...STANTON...FRENCHBURG... MOUNT VERNON...MCKEE...SOMERSET...LONDON...MONTICELLO... WHITLEY CITY...CORBIN...WILLIAMSBURG 423 PM EST THU JAN 31 2013 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST FRIDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. A CLIPPER SYSTEM WILL BRING ACCUMULATING SNOW AS WELL AS COLD TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILL VALUES TO EAST KENTUCKY TONIGHT. THE SNOW MAY FALL HARD ENOUGH AT TIMES TO BRIEFLY REDUCE VISIBILITIES BELOW ONE QUARTER OF A MILE. SEE THE SDFWSWJKL PRODUCT FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. SNOW SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE EARLY ON FRIDAY MORNING. SNOW IS EXPECTED FROM SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE. SNOW SHOWERS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE FROM MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL IN REPORTS OF SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT AND THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND. KYZ086>088-104-106>120-011200- KNOX-BELL-HARLAN-ELLIOTT-MORGAN-JOHNSON-WOLFE-MAGOFFIN-FLOYD-LEE- BREATHITT-KNOTT-OWSLEY-PERRY-CLAY-LESLIE-LETCHER-MARTIN-PIKE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BARBOURVILLE...MIDDLESBORO...PINEVILLE... HARLAN...SANDY HOOK...WEST LIBERTY...PAINTSVILLE...CAMPTON... SALYERSVILLE...PRESTONSBURG...BEATTYVILLE...JACKSON...HINDMAN... BOONEVILLE...HAZARD...MANCHESTER...HYDEN...WHITESBURG...INEZ... PIKEVILLE 423 PM EST THU JAN 31 2013 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST FRIDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. A CLIPPER SYSTEM WILL BRING ACCUMULATING SNOW AS WELL AS COLD TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILL VALUES TO EAST KENTUCKY TONIGHT. THE SNOW MAY FALL HARD ENOUGH AT TIMES TO BRIEFLY REDUCE VISIBILITIES BELOW ONE QUARTER OF A MILE. SEE THE SDFWSWJKL PRODUCT FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. SNOW SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE EARLY ON FRIDAY MORNING. SNOW IS EXPECTED FROM SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE. SNOW SHOWERS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE FROM MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL IN REPORTS OF SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT AND THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND. JP
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
1125 PM EST THU JAN 31 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1125 PM SNOW STANTON 37.85N 83.86W
01/31/2013 E1.0 INCH POWELL KY PUBLIC
&&
JCARICOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall amounts ranged from a little over 2 inches in Harlan up to 6 inches on Hwy 160 over Black Mountain.
Snowfall amounts ranged from an inch in the lower elevations up to 4 inches in Jenkins.
Snowfall amounts ranged from an inch in the valleys up to 4 inches near Mouthcard.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, February 2013
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: 432148, 432149, 432150.