Heavy Snow — Floyd, Kentucky

2025-01-05 to 2025-01-06 · Floyd, Kentucky

Event narrative

A winter storm brought heavy snow and some mixed precipitation to Floyd County on January 5th and 6th. Snow began on January 5th, with a trained spotter in Brainard reporting 2.0 inches of accumulation by 1226 EST. Amounts increased through the afternoon; an NWS employee measured 4 inches in Prestonsburg at 1419 EST, followed by a public report of approximately 5 inches just southwest of the city at 1708 EST. As the snow later transitioned to rain and freezing rain, icing was not as significant as in locations further north. However, the weight of the mixed precipitation still resulted in damage. At 0015 EST on January 6th, a trained spotter reported several trees down along State Fork Road, south-southwest of Riceville. The following morning, a final storm total snowfall of 4.3 inches was measured by the CO-OP observer in Prestonsburg at 0700 EST.

Wider weather episode

The first significant winter storm of 2025 brought a mix of heavy snow and significant icing to eastern Kentucky on January 5th and 6th. A deep surface low tracked across southern Kentucky, spreading precipitation across the region. Snow began across the western counties of the forecast area as early as 0900 EST on January 5th, with snowfall rates up to one inch per hour quickly covering roadways. By 1000 EST, warmer air aloft began to change the snow over to freezing rain in southern counties, with this transition spreading north and east through the day. Through the evening and overnight hours of January 5th into the 6th, a prolonged period of freezing rain occurred, with the heaviest icing focused along the US-460 corridor. The highest icing amounts were observed across Menifee and Morgan counties where 0.50 to 0.75 inches of flat ice accretion were reported. Accumulating snow was observed across all of eastern Kentucky, with the highest amounts generally northeast of US-421, where 3 to 7 inches were common. The combination of snow and significant ice led to widespread impacts. Thousands of customers lost power, particularly in a narrow corridor through Menifee, Morgan, and Johnson counties, with some outages lasting nearly a week. Numerous trees were also damaged or downed by the weight of the ice.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1278292. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.