Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in Kentucky
Every extreme cold/wind chill event the National Weather Service has filed in Kentucky, year by year, with the most significant episodes. Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
The most significant on the map
The most significant extreme cold/wind chill episodes in Kentucky.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 156
- Deaths
- 7
- Injuries
- 4
- Damage
- $1.5 million
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Kentucky, December 22 to 24, 2022A powerful cold front swept through the region, with wind chills dropping to 20 to 30 below zero. These were the coldest wind chills observed in over 25 years across the region. Paducah, KY dropped down to a -21 wind chill, which was the coldest since February 3, 1996.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, February 19 to 20, 2015A prolonged cold snap, beginning on the 15th, worsened as Arctic high pressure combined with a deep snow pack to produce some of the coldest temperatures since January 1994 during the morning of February 20th.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, January 30, 2019An arctic airmass was pushed into the Ohio Valley behind a cold front. Temperatures within a few degrees of zero combined with wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph, creating wind chills from 20 to 30 below zero.
- Extreme Cold and Heavy Snow in Kentucky, January 14 to 16, 2024Arctic air and a winter storm kicked off the 3rd week of January 2024. Arctic air seeped into eastern Kentucky on Sunday, January 14th, following the passage of a shallow arctic cold front. That front eventually stalled along the spine of the Appalachians by late in the day.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Kentucky, February 19 to 20, 2025A Siberian airmass and an area of high pressure allowed for an extended period of sub-freezing temperatures that began on the 19th in the aftermath of a major snowstorm.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, December 23 to 24, 2022The coldest blast of arctic air in years and the most frigid Christmas weekend in decades enveloped eastern Kentucky from Friday, December 23rd through Christmas Day.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, January 27 to 30, 2014Arctic air poured into northeast Kentucky on the 27th. A clear night with diminishing winds resulted in temperatures on either side of the zero mark at dawn on the 28th. The coldest dawn temperatures occurred on the 29th.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, January 6 to 7, 2014An arctic cold front sweep through northeast Ohio just after midnight on Monday the 6th. Rain showers and temperatures in the upper 40s and lower 50s quickly became snow showers with temperatures falling through the 20s by the predawn hours.
- Extreme Cold and Winter Weather in Kentucky, February 18 to 20, 2015In less than a week, a second arctic front swept through northeast Kentucky during the late morning hours of the 18th. Snow showers formed ahead of the front.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, December 12 to 31, 2000An invasion of arctic air occurred on December 12. The arctic air became permanently entrenched over the region for the remainder of the month, resulting in the coldest December on record at Paducah. The average monthly temperature of 25.9 degrees was 11.4 below normal.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, January 1 to 4, 2001The prolonged arctic freeze that began during the second week of December finally ended by January 4. During the first few days of the new year, temperatures averaged 15 to 25 degrees below normal. Overnight lows were in the single digits.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, January 15, 2009In the wake of an arctic cold front, gusty northwest winds from 15 to 25 mph combined with a surge of arctic air to produce wind chills from minus 5 to minus 10 degrees.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Kentucky, January 25 to 27, 2026A cold air mass with sub-freezing temperatures that originated from Siberia was reinforced by a major winter storm that brought a snowpack across portions of western Kentucky on the 25th.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, December 22 to 24, 2022A cold front crossed the Ohio Valley Thursday evening, with plummeting temperatures and strong winds. Sustained 20 to 30 mph winds had higher gusts of 35 to 45 mph.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, January 28, 2000Dawn temperatures were mostly in the zero to minus 5 range. For example, Grayson had 4 below zero.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, November 21 to 24, 2000Daytime highs were in the 30s, with overnight low readings in the teens. This made for a cold, but dry Thanksgiving.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, May 19 to 22, 2002Early morning minimum temperatures were in the 30s for 4 consecutive days. Little damage was noted to agriculture. However, spring growth was slowed.
- Extreme Cold in Kentucky, December 23 to 24, 2022An arctic blast of bitter cold temperatures arrived into eastern Kentucky just before the Christmas holiday. Rapidly dropping temperatures led to flash freezing of roadways and frozen pipes and water lines in Boyd County.
More
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill everywhereEvery kind of event in Kentucky
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 2026-09-24.