Heavy Snow — Letcher, Kentucky

2026-01-30 to 2026-01-31 · Letcher, Kentucky

Event narrative

Snowfall was widespread across the county. A CO-OP observer at Lilley Cornett Woods (Skyline) measured 4.0 inches of snow at 0803EST on the 31st. Additionally, a CoCoRaHS observer at Mayking 1.4 ENE reported a storm total of 3.7 inches of dry, powdery snow.

Wider weather episode

A strong upper-level trough and an intensifying coastal low off the Eastern Seaboard combined to produce a fluffy snowfall event across southeastern Kentucky from January 30th through January 31st, 2026. The system was characterized by a persistent west-to-east oriented frontogenetic snow band that developed south of the Mountain Parkway. As the coastal system intensified into a powerful Nor'easter, the band pivoted and became nearly stationary along the Kentucky-Virginia border, leading to an extended period of light to moderate snowfall.

The highest accumulations were concentrated in the high terrain of Pike, Letcher, and Harlan counties, where totals reached 4.0 to 5.0 inches. Because of the extremely cold Arctic airmass in place, snow-to-liquid ratios were high, ranging from 14:1 to 19:1, resulting in a very dry, powdery snow.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1314704. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.