Winter Weather — Christian, Kentucky

2022-12-22 · Christian, Kentucky

Wider weather episode

A 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. The most extreme wind chills were from the evening of the 22nd to the morning of the 23rd, but wind chills as late as the morning of December 24th were often below minus 10. Actual air temperatures only reached the single digits above zero on the 23rd, which followed morning lows around 5 below. Peak wind gusts of 35 to 50 mph were observed during this event as well. The peak wind gust at Paducah was 47 mph on the evening of the 22nd. Isolated power outages were reported, some of which were caused by the strong winds. About 1,200 utility customers were without power in the Pennyrile area early on the 23rd. The extreme cold was indirectly responsible for a number of structure fires caused by supplemental heating sources, such as space heaters. A house fire resulting from a faulty or improperly used kerosene heater resulted in a fatality in Fulton County. A 21-month-old child was killed in the fire in Hickman. Two persons were injured in a house fire in Crofton in Christian County that was likely started by a kerosene heater. There were numerous reports of frozen water pipes that burst and flooded homes and other buildings. The Owensboro animal shelter was flooded after pipes burst. About 15 volunteers helped to alleviate the impact. The Todd County courthouse was flooded by a broken water line. In the city of Hopkinsville and Todd County, authorities requested that people conserve water due to water leaks and other cold weather impacts that strained capacity. Two schools in Graves County and several schools in Marshall County were flooded by broken water pipes. The Marshall County school system remained closed after Christmas break to finish cleaning up the damage. Highway 641 South about a quarter mile from the Tennessee border was closed for a short time due to a water line break in Hazel in Calloway County. The community of Hazel was without water for about twelve hours as a result of the frozen water causing a main line break. Demand for electricity was at record levels across the Tennessee Valley Authority service area. TVA urgently requested consumers reduce their energy usage. There were even brief rotating blackouts in at least one city. On top of the extreme cold, one to three inches of snow fell. The highest amounts were in the Ohio River counties from Wickliffe and Paducah to Henderson and Owensboro, where around 3 inches fell. Snowfall amounts elsewhere were mostly from 1 to 2 inches. This snow and the accompanying flash freeze heavily impacted travel across the region. Despite relatively light traffic, there were numerous traffic mishaps. A semi wreck caused the closure of Highway 286 in Ballard County for several hours. In Christian County alone, there were 105 accidents or slide-offs. Sixteen accidents involved injuries. Christian County also reported 5 falls with injuries and one mild case of hypothermia. In Lyon County alone, deputies responded to 9 vehicle slide-offs and 5 minor crashes.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1064818. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.