First Snowfall Climatology for Eastern Kentucky

By: Jim Caldwell - Email

Updated: Wed 4:55 PM, Dec 12, 2012

While some higher elevation locations near the Virginia border have already witnessed their first snowfall of the 2012-2013 winter season, most east Kentuckians have yet to see a flake.

The folks at the NWS in Jackson released some interesting information on snowfall climatology. Check it out!

I'll have another post out later tonight about our wintry potential for next week.

While some higher elevation locations near the Virginia border have already witnessed their first snowfall of the 2012-2013 winter season, most east Kentuckians have yet to see a flake. After temperatures hit the 70s earlier this month, many began wondering if it will snow at all this winter. So, to see how abnormal or not this lack of snowfall truly is, we dug through the climate records and came up with the table below that lists the earliest recorded measurable snow date and the average first measurable snow date for 19 locations across eastern Kentucky. Snow is considered measurable when at least one tenth of an inch has fallen.

Location	Station Elevation	Average Date of First Measurable Snow	Earliest Measurable Snow	Station Active Years
Barbourville	990 ft	Dec 30	Nov 3, 1951 & 1956	1951-2012*
Baxter (Harlan)	1164 ft	Dec 22	Nov 3, 1954, 1966	1952-2012
Buckhorn Lake	936 ft	Dec 20	Nov 12, 1976	1964-1994
Closplint 4ESE	1800 ft	Dec 2	Oct 28, 2008	1980-2009
Farmers 2S	680 ft	Dec 11	Oct 30, 1925 & 2012	1904-2012*
Hazard	840 ft	Dec 28	Nov 2, 1954	1950-2012*
London Airport	1188 ft	Dec 13	Nov 2, 1966	1955-1994
Manchester 4W	820 ft	Dec 23	Nov 3, 1954 & 1966	1951-2006
Middlesboro	1145 ft	Dec 16	Nov 3, 1951 & 1954	1928-1990
Mt. Sterling	960 ft	Dec 10	Oct 28, 1925	1892-2012*
Mt. Vernon	1160 ft	Dec 16	Oct 31, 1993	1963-2012
NWS Jackson	1357 ft	Nov 29	Oct 20, 1989	1981-2012
Oneida	760 ft	Dec 31	Nov 12, 1976	1958-2011*
Paintsville 1E	570 ft	Dec 16	Nov 3, 1954	1933-2012
Skyline 1SE	1200 ft	Dec 11	Oct 30, 2012	1975-2012
Somerset 2N	1020 ft	Dec 22	Nov 2, 1954	1950-2012*
Stearns 2S	1220 ft	Dec 25	Nov 2, 1954	1954-2012*
West Liberty	780 ft	Dec 19	Oct 31, 2012	1948-2012*
Williamsburg	1000 ft	Dec 25	Nov 11, 1987	1948-2012*
* Incomplete climate record

Not surprising, the ridgetops normally see the first measurable snow of the season. The National Weather Service Office located near Jackson, at an elevation of 1357 feet, has the earliest average date of first measurable snowfall of November 29th. Closplint, also a higher elevation site located in Harlan County at 1800 ft elevation, has a similarly early average date of first snowfall of December 2nd. However, the average date for the first measurable snow typically doesn't occur until mid to late December in the valleys of east Kentucky.

C-Ya Bye

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First Snowfall Climatology for Eastern Kentucky

While some higher elevation locations near the Virginia border have already witnessed their first snowfall of the 2012-2013 winter season, most east Kentuckians have yet to see a flake.

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