Winter Storm — Menifee, Kentucky

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

Event narrative

Heavy snow and significant icing occurred in Menifee County on January 5th and 6th, resulting in widespread tree and power utility damage. The precipitation started as heavy snow on January 5th. An NWS employee reported 4.0 inches of measured snow at 1320EST 1 mile west of Cornwell. By that evening, a trained spotter in Wellington measured a storm total of 7.0 inches of snow at 1829EST. The NWS employee located 1 mile west of Cornwell reported a final measured snow accumulation of 5.4 inches. After precipitation transitioned to freezing rain, a major ice storm unfolded through January 6th. Ice accretion varied dramatically with elevation, with the highest amounts observed on ridgetops and lower amounts in valleys. The NWS employee 1 mile west of Cornwell measured 0.40 inches of flat ice by 0600EST, with that total increasing to 0.48 inches by 2000EST. Throughout the evening of the 6th, the employee conducted a survey along the US-460 corridor, reporting numerous flat ice measurements in a chronological progression. These included 0.60 inches at Broke Leg Falls Park at 1854EST, 0.75 inches at the Byrd Ridge Road intersection at 1908EST, 0.67 inches at the Wellington Dollar General at 1912EST, 0.67 inches at Menifee Central School at 1928EST, a lower-elevation reading of 0.32 inches at the courthouse in Frenchburg at 1939EST, and a peak ridgetop measurement of 0.75 inches at the high point between Frenchburg and Means at 2103EST. The combined weight of heavy snow and significant ice accretion brought down many trees and power lines throughout the county.

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 1278336. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.