Heavy Snow — Elliott, Kentucky

2016-01-22 to 2016-01-23 · Elliott, Kentucky

Event narrative

Snowfall totals ranged from 9 inches up to 15 inches, with the highest amounts in the east end of the county.

Wider weather episode

A paralyzing winter storm dumped up to 20 inches of snow across parts of eastern Kentucky from the early morning hours of Friday January 22nd through the day on Saturday January 23rd. The snowfall produced by the storm was the heaviest to fall across eastern Kentucky since the Blizzard of March 1993.

The storm system responsible for the east Kentucky snow originated over Texas, tracked across the Deep South and Carolinas, and finally up the East Coast. Precipitation overspread east Kentucky during the early morning hours of Friday January 22nd. The precipitation fell as a mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow over southeast Kentucky through the morning and into the midday hours on Friday, before changing to snow Friday afternoon. The precipitation fell as mostly snow for the remainder of the area throughout the event. The snow fell very heavy at times during the morning and early afternoon hours on Friday, with snowfall rates of 2 or more common as a heavy snow band set up across the heart of eastern Kentucky.

The Automated Surface Observing System located at the Jackson, KY National Weather Service office reported 11 hours of continuous moderate to heavy snow with a visibility of 1/2 mile or less. Snowfall rates were 1 to 2 inches per hour during this time.

The snow gradually diminished in intensity Friday night into Saturday morning, with the last of the snow pulling east out of the area late Saturday afternoon. Final snowfall totals ranged from 4 to 8 inches in Knox, Bell and Harlan counties, with up to 12 to 20 inches in a strip from Hart County in central Kentucky eastward through the heart of eastern Kentucky into central West Virginia. Freezing rain accumulated up to 3/10 inch in places near the Tennessee border Friday morning, before the changeover to snow occurred.

The storm total snowfall of 18.5 from this winter storm at the National Weather Service office near Jackson, KY is the greatest January snowstorm since records began at this station in 1981. In fact, this winter storm is 2nd only to the Blizzard of March 1993 in the station's record books as far as snowfall goes.

The storm caused major impacts across eastern Kentucky, especially with travel. Interstate 75 was shut down in Rockcastle County at times Friday afternoon through Saturday morning due to multiple crashes leaving 3,000 people stranded in their vehicles at one time. Power was also knocked out for thousands of customers during the peak of the storm with the hardest hit areas lying close to the Tennessee border, which experienced up to a quarter inch of ice accumulation before the changeover to snow occurred. The weight of the snow and ice also caused some roof collapses including boat docks on Lake Cumberland and Paintsville Lake.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 617004. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.