Winter Storm — Wolfe, Kentucky

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

Event narrative

A winter storm brought heavy snow, significant ice, and widespread damage to Wolfe County on January 5th and 6th. Snow began on the morning of the 5th before transitioning to freezing rain during the afternoon, which persisted into the night. During the snow portion of the event, a public report from Zachariah at 1400EST measured 4.5 inches. Later that afternoon, reports of 5.0 inches came from near Maytown at 1607EST, and 4.1 inches was measured near Murphyfork at 1624EST. As ice accumulated overnight, numerous reports of downed trees were received. At 0015EST on January 6th, two large trees were reported down on Stillwater Road near Gosneyville, bringing down powerlines and blocking the roadway. Shortly after at 0030EST, another tree was reported blocking a lane on Cook Branch Road. On the morning of the 6th, an NWS Employee measured 0.44 inches of flat ice accretion along the Mountain Parkway near mile marker 39 at 0715EST. Reports of damage continued through the day, with a trained spotter reporting another tree down across Proffitt Fork Road at 1200EST.

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 1282967. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.