Cold air on the backside of a departing low pressure system interacted with surface moisture to create freezing rain on January 15, 2013.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
Cold air on the backside of a departing low pressure system interacted with surface moisture to create freezing rain on January 15, 2013.
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 15, 12:37 PM EST, 2 hours 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 1237 PM EST TUE JAN 15 2013 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 1237 PM EST TUE JAN 15 2013 RAIN CONTINUES TO SPREAD NORTHWARD THIS AFTERNOON AND BASED ON TRENDS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD NORTH INTO THIS EVENING. NO UPDATES PLANNED AT THE MOMENT EXCEPT TO FRESHEN UP THE FORECAST A BIT. UPDATE ISSUED AT 1128 AM EST TUE JAN 15 2013 SEVERAL CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE WITH THIS UPDATE THIS MORNING. FIRST OFF...DECIDED TO ISSUE A FLOOD WATCH FOR THE SOUTHEASTERN TWO ROWS OF COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY BORDERING VIRGINA AND WEST VIRGINA. IT LOOKS LIKE ANYWHERE FROM 1 TO 2 INCHES OF ADDITIONAL RAIN IS EXPECTED WITH RIVERS ALREADY RUNNING HIGH ALONG WITH SATURATED GROUND...WE COULD EASILY SEE SOME FLOODING ISSUES DEVELOP. SECONDLY...DECIDED TO EXPAND THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TO MAGOFFIN AND JOHNSON COUNTIES WITH SURFACE TEMPERATURES HOLDING A BIT LOWER OVER IN THAT AREA. MAY HAVE TO EVENTUALLY THINK ABOUT GOING FURTHER SOUTH IF SURFACE TEMPERATURES DO NOT COME UP AS EXPECTED. HOWEVER...WILL KEEP EVERYTHING ELSE STATUS QUO FOR NOW. DECIDED TO DOWNPLAY THE LARGE SLEET ACCUMULATIONS IN FAVOR OF MORE OF A MIX OF FREEZING RAIN/SLEET WITH ICE ACCUMULATIONS UP TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH. OUR QPF JUST DOES NOT SUPPORT LARGE ACCUMULATIONS OF SLEET. FINALLY...STILL DEALING WITH SOME FREEZING DRIZZLE ACROSS SOME AREAS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY PRESENTLY...BUT NOT EXPECTING SIGNIFICANT ICING WITH AIR TEMPERATURES RIGHT AROUND FREEZING. ADJUSTED THE TEMPERATURES CURVE TO REFLECT MORE STEADY TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE DAY...AND REALLY THROUGH TONIGHT...WITH THE WARMEST WEATHER IN THE SOUTHEAST WITH THE RAIN...AND READINGS IN THE LOWER 30S IN THE NORTH WITH THE MIXED PRECIPITATION. FORECAST UPDATE HAS BEEN SENT. && .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY) ISSUED AT 311 AM EST TUE JAN 15 2013 STATIONARY FRONT JUST EAST OF THE SPINE OF THE APPALACHIANS AND EXTENDING SW TO NEW ORLEANS. CURRENT PCPN IS JUST S AND E OF THE CWFA. FREEZING LINE RUNNING FROM MONTICELLO TO WILLIAMSBURG TO PIKEVILLE. NEXT WAVE OF PCPN ALREADY TRACKING NE THRU SRN AND ERN TENN. EXPECT THIS WAVE TO PUSH PCPN BACK INTO ERN KY TODAY AND HAVE NEAR 100 PERCENT CHANCE OF PCPN FOR ALL BUT THE BLUEGRASS OF NRN KY. WITH A NEAR CERTAINTY OF PCPN FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT...THE DIFFICULT PART OF THE FCST IS TEMPS AND THEN TYPE OF PCPN. SHALLOW COLD AIR IN PLACE AND LOW OVC INDICATING A NEAR SATURATED LOW LEVEL. THE TIME/HEIGHT SECTIONS INDICATE THE WARM OVER RUNNING AIR WITH THE MAJORITY OF THE MOISTURE FOR PCPN TO BE ABOVE FREEZING TO AROUND 10K WITH THE SHALLOW COLD AIR ONLY 50-75MB THICK. ANY PCPN EARLY COULD BE A MIX OF RAIN...FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET. BECAUSE THE COLD AIR IS SO SHALLOW NOT EXPECTING ANY SNOW AND EVEN SLEET WILL BE HARD TO FIND AS THE EARLY PCPN WILL ORIGINATE FROM THE WARM LAYER AND WHEN THE COLD AIR LATER TODAY HAS A CHANCE OF PRODUCING ICE CRYSTALS IN THE DENDRITIC ZONE THEY WOULD HAVE TO FALL THRU NEARLY 10K OF ABOVE FREEZING AND THE SFC WILL ALSO BE ABOVE FREEZING AT THAT TIME TOO. THIS LEADS ME TO THINK THAT ANY FREEZING PCPN WILL BE VERY LIGHT EXCEPT ON THE MOST NORTHERN EDGE OF THE PCPN SHIELD. WILL ISSUE A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR MY MOST NRN COUNTIES FOR MIXED ACCUMULATIONS OF SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN. EXPECTING LESS THAN A QUARTER INCH OF FREEZING WITH MOST ACCUMULATION IN THE FORM OF SLEET. PCPN WINDS DOWN QUICKLY JUST BEFORE SUNRISE ON WED WITH ALL PCPN FINISHED BY 18Z ON WED WITH THE LAST PCPN IN THE FORM OF JUST RAIN AS SFC TEMPS WILL CLIMB TO THE LOWER 40S WED AFTERNOON. FOR THE REST OF THE SHORT TERM FCST...HIGH TEMPS TODAY WILL STRUGGLE TO THE MID 30S NORTH AND NEAR 40 SOUTH BEFORE FALLING TO AROUND 30 NORTH AND MID 30S SOUTH FOR OVERNIGHT LOWS. SKIES WILL BE OVC AND WITH THE LOWEST LAYER REMAINING SATURATED CEILINGS WILL BE NEARLY TO THE SFC UNTIL LATE WED WHEN WE MAY SEE SOME BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS AND MAY EVEN SEE MORE SUN THAN CLOUDS FOR NRN KY. .LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY) ISSUED AT 412 AM EST TUE JAN 15 2013 THE MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE LONG WAVE PATTERN. THE AMPLIFIED FLOW THAT HAS BEEN DOMINATING ACROSS THE CONUS WILL TRANSITION TO ZONAL FLOW THROUGH THE WEEKEND...BEFORE AMPLIFYING ONCE AGAIN EARLY NEXT WEEK. AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL BE DAMPENING AS IT MOVES EAST ALONG THE GULF COAST WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY...HELPING TO ONLY LINGER SOME CLOUDS A BIT LONGER IN THE SOUTH. AN AREA OF SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BRING SOME WELCOMED MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...WITH TEMPERATURES MODERATING FROM NEAR SEASONAL TO A BIT ABOVE NORMAL. A DRY COLD FRONT WILL PASS THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING...BRINGING A SHOT OF COLDER AIR INTO THE AREA. BY EARLY NEXT WEEK...THE MODELS ARE ADVERTISING THE COLDEST OF AIR OF THE SEASON TO DROP DOWN OUT CANADA BEHIND AN ARCTIC FRONT. RIGHT NOW...THIS LOOKS TO TAKE PLACE NEXT MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. WILL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE IF THIS VERY COLD TREND CONTINUES WITH FUTURE RUNS. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1237 PM EST TUE JAN 15 2013 LIFR/IFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE TAF FORECAST PERIOD KEEPING THE AIRPORTS IN EASTERN KENTUCKY BELOW AIRPORT MINIMUMS. RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD NORTHWARD TODAY WITH MIXED PRECIPITATION EXPECTED ACROSS THE NORTH. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 AM EST WEDNESDAY FOR KYZ044-050>052-058>060-104-106>109. FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR KYZ084>088-110-113- 115>120. && UPDATE...KAS SHORT TERM...DUSTY LONG TERM....GEOGERIAN AVIATION...KAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY 1122 AM EST TUE JAN 15 2013 KYZ044-050>052-058>060-104-106>109-170000- FLEMING-MONTGOMERY-BATH-ROWAN-ESTILL-POWELL-MENIFEE-ELLIOTT-MORGAN- JOHNSON-WOLFE-MAGOFFIN- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FLEMINGSBURG...MOUNT STERLING... OWINGSVILLE...MOREHEAD...IRVINE...STANTON...FRENCHBURG... SANDY HOOK...WEST LIBERTY...PAINTSVILLE...CAMPTON...SALYERSVILLE 1122 AM EST TUE JAN 15 2013 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 AM EST WEDNESDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. AREAS OF FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS EVENING. A MIX OF RAIN...FREEZING RAIN...AND SLEET WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT. TOTAL ICE ACCUMULATIONS AROUND A TENTH OF AN INCH ARE EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. A MIX OF DRIZZLE...FREEZING DRIZZLE AND SLEET IS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY MORNING. LITTLE IF ANY ADDITIONAL ICE ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF RECENT RAINFALL WILL CAUSE PORTIONS OF THE CUMBERLAND AND KENTUCKY RIVERS TO RUN HIGH FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS...PLEASE RELAY REPORTS OF SLEET...FREEZING RAIN...OR SLIPPERY ROAD CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN JACKSON. KYZ068-069-079-080-083-111-112-114-170000- ROCKCASTLE-JACKSON-PULASKI-LAUREL-WAYNE-LEE-BREATHITT-OWSLEY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MOUNT VERNON...MCKEE...SOMERSET...LONDON... MONTICELLO...BEATTYVILLE...JACKSON...BOONEVILLE 1122 AM EST TUE JAN 15 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. THE COMBINATION OF RECENT RAINFALL WILL CAUSE PORTIONS OF THE KENTUCKY RIVER TO RUN HIGH FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. KYZ084>088-110-113-115>120-170000- MCCREARY-WHITLEY-KNOX-BELL-HARLAN-FLOYD-KNOTT-PERRY-CLAY-LESLIE- LETCHER-MARTIN-PIKE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WHITLEY CITY...CORBIN...WILLIAMSBURG... BARBOURVILLE...MIDDLESBORO...PINEVILLE...HARLAN...PRESTONSBURG... HINDMAN...HAZARD...MANCHESTER...HYDEN...WHITESBURG...INEZ... PIKEVILLE 1122 AM EST TUE JAN 15 2013 ...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT. THIS MAY LEAD TO SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING IN LOW LYING AREAS ALONG WITH RIVER FLOODING ALONG THE CUMBERLAND RIVER THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. KAS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 ice storm, 2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Half an inch of ice was observed on tree limbs. The weight of the ice was causing some of the smaller limbs to break and fall from the trees.
Four tenths of an inch of ice was observed on tree branches. Tree branches were heard cracking due to the weight of the ice. The accumulated ice had little impact and was confined to higher elevation areas throughout the county.
The average ice accumulation observed on trees was 3/16 of an inch.
Jackson Energy reported 468 customers without power in the Bills Branch area.
Jackson Energy reported that 85 customers were without power in the Maretburg area.
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, January 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: 428022, 430481, 428023, 428024, 428025.