Ole Man Winter is paying another visit to the area. Snow started flying Thursday afternoon across central parts of the state while others farther east waited until Thursday evening to get in on the activity. The snow will continue through Friday.
Before we get to that, I want to show you just how quickly our weather can change. This graph is from a Kentucky MesoNet site in southern Pike County. There are several of these sites across the state that record everything from temperature to precipitation and everything in between. Pike County was one of the areas last to see the cold front but once it blew through, changes moved in.
The red line is the temperature. The front moved through just before 6pm Thursday evening. In the first hour, the temperature dropped 10 degrees. It dropped nearly 20 degrees in three hours!
OK, now to why you are here. Lets start with the snow first. Snow showers are expected for several more hours. Some of that may be heavy at times reducing visibilities. With temperatures falling, moisture from Thursday’s rain is freezing on the roads and now snow accumulating on top of that. This will cause a lot of problems, especially for the morning commute. I expect a lot of school closings and delays meaning a four day weekend for some!
Winter Radar
Due to the hazardous road conditions, a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect through Friday for ALL of our area. This includes Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, and Ohio.
Winter Weather Advisory (Counties in Purple)
Expires at 1pm Friday for Fleming, Montgomery, Bath, Rowan, Estill, Powell, Menifee, Rockcastle, Jackson, Pulaski, Laurel, Wayne, McCreary, and Whitley Counties.
Expires at 1pm Friday for Wolfe County, Breathitt County, Harlan County, Leslie County, Perry County, Johnson County, Bell County, Morgan County, Owsley County, Magoffin County, Knox County, Lee County, Clay County.
Expires at 4pm Friday for Pike County, Letcher County, Knott County, Floyd County, Martin County.
By the time the snow winds down, we should see around 1-3″ of accumulation. Again as I have mentioned several times, locally higher amounts would not surprise me.
Now to the cold and windy conditions. Lows by Friday morning will drop into the teens with winds around 30-40mph. That will create a feel like temperature in the single digits or even colder at times. High temperatures on Friday will not break out of the 20’s with wind chills in the teens. Keep track of that right here!
Current Temperatures
Current Wind Chill
This is just round one of snow expected over the next couple of days. Round two will move in by Saturday evening into Sunday morning creating another chance of snow showers. Some light accumulations are possible.
Round three will move in early next week. Another system will head this way Monday and Tuesday. Ahead of the storm we should warm up enough for rain showers Monday, but another cold front moves through Tuesday bringing in more cold air and changing the rain over to snow. Still plenty of time to watch that.
That is it for now. Let me know how much snow you pick up!
EKB Weather 