Hey folks...I wanted to post a quick update given the pretty treacherous conditions we saw through Saturday morning here in the Bluegrass and into Eastern Kentucky. The snow snuck in a little earlier than even I expected, and with the ground solidly cold from the last couple of days being below freezing, the roadways got slick in a hurry. This is a classic case of little snow but big impact.
We saw probably a half inch of snow on the ground, but the big key was that it stuck on the roads and iced them up quickly. By late morning here in Lexington, police were working around 60 accidents as the first shield of snow moved out of Lexington and into Eastern Kentucky. The snow mixed with some freezing rain into Eastern Kentucky causing even more problems. As a result the Mountain Parkway was closed for a time in Magoffin County with some other roadways shut down as well.
Another batch of snow worked through during the early and mid afternoon ahead of the front, so conditions stayed tricky to say the least. Roads will stay slick through the rest of the day and obviously tonight as well, with additional cold air sliding in behind the front so travel should be limited if at all possible. Unfortunately it is a worse case scenario since you have lots of folks out and about doing the holiday shopping thing, so that adds to the traffic volume and adds to the misery.
Before I sign off, a big kudos to NWS Louisville for throwing out a Winter Weather Advisory for the Bluegrass region this afternoon. When I approached them around Noon about doing so, given the problems we were having here in Lexington, they were very receptive to the idea and I think made the right call. This is a perfect case where you don't meet criteria for issuing an advisory, but the impact and timing is significant enough where it warrants it.
Everyone stay safe and don't go out unless you have to. Once the clipper gets out of here late Saturday, it should be a quiet finish to the weekend. Barring anything unusual, I'll check in with you Monday.
That's all for now!
T.G.
