January 18th featured 500mb troughing across the eastern portion of the United States, with ridging anchored along the west coast, a pattern in place since the first of the year. A potent Alberta Clipper moved southeast across northern Kentucky during the early morning hours on January 18th.
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 LMK wrote it up.
January 18th featured 500mb troughing across the eastern portion of the United States, with ridging anchored along the west coast, a pattern in place since the first of the year. A potent Alberta Clipper moved southeast across northern Kentucky during the early morning hours on January 18th. Snow developed after midnight across southern Indiana and along the Ohio River and continued through the mid-morning hours. Accumulations of 4 to locally as high as 7 inches developed across southern Indiana along and east of Interstate 65. Across northern Kentucky, 4 to 6 inches of snow fell across Louisville to the east towards Frankfort and to the northeast towards Henry and Oldham Counties. Along with heavy snow, a strong arctic front moved southeast of the Ohio River around 7am. This front brought wind gusts in excess of 35 mph and a quick temperature drop from near freezing to the upper teens. Snow and blowing snow brought dangerous driving conditions and near whiteout conditions during the morning rush hour. A sharp snowfall gradient developed to the southwest of the main band of snow. Only an inch or so fell from just west of Louisville southeastwards towards the southern Bluegrass Region.
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 Jan 21, 12:43 AM EST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.
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</html>SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 1207 AM EST TUE JAN 21 2014 KYZ070-072-073-075-081-082-211000- LOGAN KY-SIMPSON KY-ALLEN KY-MONROE KY-CUMBERLAND KY-CLINTON KY- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...RUSSELLVILLE...FRANKLIN...SCOTTSVILLE... TOMPKINSVILLE...BURKESVILLE...ALBANY 1107 PM CST MON JAN 20 2014 ...LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING... AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL DIVE SOUTHEAST INTO THE OHIO VALLEY COMBINE WITH LOW PRESSURE OVER THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. THE COMBINATION OF THESE SYSTEMS MAY CAUSE LIGHT ACCUMULATING SNOW OVER SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS TUESDAY. ALTHOUGH THERE IS STILL SOME QUESTION AS TO EXACTLY WHERE ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL FALL...SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY COUNTIES ALONG THE TENNESSEE BORDER CAN GENERALLY EXPECT ACCUMULATIONS OF LESS THAN 1 INCH THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH WILL ACCOMPANY THIS WEATHER SYSTEM WITH WIND GUSTS OF 25 TO 35 MPH EXPECTED TUESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON. RJS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A former National Weather Service employee measured around 6.5 inches of snow near Goshen. Several other spotters measured 5 inches, including one in Pee Wee Valley.
The official snow total measured at Standiford field in Louisville was 3.8 inches. Several unofficial reports of 4 to 5 inches arrived from northeastern Jefferson County. An arctic front arrived just after 7am, during the morning rush hour. Icy roads and reduced visibilities due to blowing snow lead to numerous traffic accidents.
Snowfall totals of between 4 and 5 inches were reported across Henry County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, January 2014
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 484101, 484102, 484103.