Winter Storm — Powell, Kentucky

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

Event narrative

Heavy snow was followed by ice and subsequent damage in Powell County on January 5th and 6th. Heavy snow fell across the county from mid-morning through early afternoon on January 5th. A trained spotter reported a measurement of 2 inches of snow at Waltersville at 1226EST. Shortly after, at 1243EST, an NWS employee measured 3.5 inches of snow 1 mile south-southeast of Stanton. Later in the afternoon, a social media report from Clay City at 1600EST showed about 4.5 inches of snow. The snow then transitioned to freezing rain during the late afternoon and evening hours. Overnight, the combination of snow and ice accumulation led to widespread tree damage. At 0045EST on January 6th, it was reported that at least a half dozen trees were knocked down in Nada. Five minutes later, at 0050EST, a large tree was also reported down on a fence about 1 mile south of Bowen. These specific reports represent only the damage that was relayed to the National Weather Service; the full extent of tree damage across the county was likely far more widespread. Morning observations on January 6th quantified the final accumulations. At 0649EST, an NWS employee measured 0.36 inches of flat ice accretion at the Papa John's in Stanton. At 0700EST, the CO-OP Observer located 2 miles west of Stanton reported a storm total of 5.2 inches of snowfall in their routine observation. While some additional light snow and icing occurred after these observations, the reported totals captured the majority of the storm's accumulation.

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 1278369. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.