Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Kentucky, January 15 to 16, 2018

Name: Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Kentucky, January 15 to 16, 2018
Start: 2018-01-15T08:00
End: 2018-01-16T07:00
Location: Kentucky

January 15 to 16, 2018 · NWS PAH · 22 events in 22 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 22 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 22

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.

Snow developed along an Arctic cold front as it sliced southeast across western Kentucky during the daytime hours. As the front slowed down over the Tennessee Valley late in the day, a weak surface low developed on the front. This caused snow to persist through the evening hours, and even into early on the 16th from Murray to the Hopkinsville area. The result was heavy snowfall across most of western Kentucky, ranging from 4 to 8 inches. Some specific heavy snowfall reports included 8 inches at Paducah and Benton, 7 inches at Hopkinsville and Mayfield, and 4.5 inches in Madisonville. Where the snow ended sooner across the Henderson and Morganfield areas, amounts were near 3 inches. Visibility was frequently reduced below one mile in the heavy snowfall area. Much of the snow melted on treated road surfaces during the day, but conditions rapidly deteriorated after dark as temperatures dropped through the 20's. Wind chill indices were in the teens during most of the snowstorm. Actual air temperatures fell into the teens as the snow ended. These cold temperatures reduced the effectiveness of road salt, which slowed recovery efforts in the wake of the storm. The new snowfall on top of snow from the January 12th storm raised total snow depths to near a foot in some areas. There were some traffic accidents on the slippery roads. At Mayfield, a ramp at the junction of the Purchase Parkway and U.S. 45 was closed for two days after an accident involving a jackknifed tractor-trailer.

What forecasters said that 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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 15, 5:48 AM CST, 2 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 15, 5:48 AM CST, 2 hours 12 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 15, 4:16 AM CST, 3 hours 44 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

20 heavy snow, 2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Henderson

When: January 15, 8:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Henderson forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.796, -87.573 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Union

When: January 15, 8:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Union forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.659, -87.945 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ballard

When: January 15, 9:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Ballard forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.058, -88.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, McCracken

When: January 15, 9:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: McCracken forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.054, -88.713 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Livingston

When: January 15, 9:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Livingston forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.210, -88.354 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Crittenden

When: January 15, 9:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Crittenden forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.353, -88.097 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Carlisle

When: January 15, 10:00 AM CST to 11:00 PM CST
Where: Carlisle forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 36.853, -88.971 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hickman

When: January 15, 10:00 AM CST to January 16, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Hickman forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 36.678, -88.976 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Daviess

When: January 15, 10:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Daviess forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.732, -87.087 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Fulton

When: January 15, 11:00 AM CST to January 16, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Fulton forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 36.554, -89.188 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Graves

When: January 15, 11:00 AM CST to January 16, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Graves forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 36.723, -88.651 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Webster

When: January 15, 11:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.518, -87.683 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Marshall

When: January 15, 11:00 AM CST to January 16, 12:30 AM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 36.884, -88.329 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lyon

When: January 15, 11:00 AM CST to January 16, 12:30 AM CST
Where: Lyon forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.019, -88.083 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Caldwell

When: January 15, 11:00 AM CST to 11:00 PM CST
Where: Caldwell forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.145, -87.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Muhlenberg

When: January 15, 1:00 PM CST to January 16, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Muhlenberg forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.216, -87.142 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Trigg

When: January 15, 1:00 PM CST to January 16, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Trigg forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 36.806, -87.873 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, McLean

When: January 15, 1:00 PM CST to 11:00 PM CST
Where: McLean forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.529, -87.264 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hopkins

When: January 15, 1:00 PM CST to 11:00 PM CST
Where: Hopkins forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.309, -87.541 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Christian

When: January 15, 1:00 PM CST to January 16, 7:00 AM CST
Where: Christian forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 36.894, -87.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Calloway

When: January 15, 1:00 PM CST to January 16, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Calloway forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 36.621, -88.272 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Todd

When: January 15, 2:00 PM CST to January 16, 7:00 AM CST
Where: Todd forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 36.836, -87.179 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kentucky in 2018 Every state in 2018 This day in weather history Warnings in Kentucky, January 2018

Sources

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: 728749, 728750, 733332, 733333, 733334, 733335, 733336, 733337, 733338, 733340, 733341, 733343, 733344, 733345, 733346, 733347, 733348, 733349, 733350, 733351, 733352, 733355.