Cold/Wind Chill — Fayette, Kentucky

2015-02-15 · Fayette, Kentucky

Event narrative

A woman slipped and fell in the parking lot of her apartment after leaving a friend's home. Her body was found the next morning. The coroner ruled her death to be exposure and hypothermia. The low temperature at the Lexington ASOS that morning was 4 degrees.

Wider weather episode

An arctic outbreak brought frigid air to central Kentucky, which not only resulted in one of the heaviest snowfalls in a decade for the state, but led to several hypothermia fatalities as well. Several record low temperatures lccurred early on the 20th when clear skies, calm winds and a fresh snowpack in excess of 6 inches led to early morning lows near 20 degrees below zero, as measured by some Kentucky Mesonet locations. The ASOS site at Lexington Airport reached -18 degrees. A temperature of -6 degrees was measured at Standiford Airport in Louisville, which is located within an urban heat island. Ten hypothermia deaths were recorded in Kentucky during the period, with 7 in central KY.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 564056. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.