A third round of winter weather hit Kentucky overnight. Is all this snow normal?
More winter weather hit Kentucky overnight, with snow falling Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
Meteorologists warn road conditions may become dangerous Thursday morning with expected snow accumulations of 2 to 3 inches around Lexington. It’s the third winter storm in about two weeks – so is all this snowfall unusual? Not necessarily.
KY officials urge caution after snow. Tips for driving if you have to be on the roads.
NWS Louisville meteorologist Tom Reaugh said Lexington has logged around 12.2 inches for the winter season thus far – it runs December to February – but all that precipitation has come just this month.
“It was unusually warm here in December,” he said, noting a record warm Christmas Day across the central stretch of the state.
The area is experiencing a La Niña winter, which would typically bring a little less snowfall, “but we’ve already had over a foot,” Reaugh said.
Wintry weather is anticipated tonight through tomorrow morning. Minor snowfall accumulations expected across much of Kentucky into parts of southern Indiana. Untreated roadways could become icy and snow covered and make travel difficult at times. #kywx #inwx pic.twitter.com/Y8xfTmqTvj
— NWS Louisville (@NWSLouisville) January 19, 2022
The Lexington area has averaged around 10.32 inches of snow annually in the last decade, according to NWS data. There was relatively less total snowfall in the four-year period from 2017 to 2020, Reaugh pointed out, possibly leaving residents “lulled” into the comfort of milder winters. The back-to-back systems hitting the state recently are due to a “very active storm tracking dipping southeast out of Canada,” the meteorologist noted.
Reaugh said the NWS Louisville forecasts above normal precipitation and above normal temperatures for the one- to three-month outlook moving forward.
Just for fun
So what’s record total seasonal snowfall for Lexington? According to the records dating back to 1889, the snowiest winter appears to be 1918, with 41.2 inches. The lightest was 1932, at just a tenth of an inch.
As for options to keep the family busy over snow days, as always, the former Shriner’s Hospital on Richmond Road proved a popular spot for sledding earlier this month during a snowfall of 9.9 inches. Reaugh, based in Louisville, said he likes to take in the sights with a snowy hike through nearby parks.
