Winter came early for the Bluegrass State with below normal temperatures in place for the entirety of the week. Highs struggled in the 30s on multiple occasions, which is 20+ degrees below normal for this time of year. Low temperatures even dipped into the teens on Saturday and Sunday morning, prompting the livestock cold stress index to dive into the danger and emergency categories. Outside of temperatures, the state saw periodic rounds of light precipitation. Some activity transitioned to a light snow, but warm ground temperatures limited any impacts. Overall, accumulations increased from west to east. While Western Kentucky only averaged 0.06 inches, that number increased to 0.43 for Eastern Kentucky.
Temperatures for the period averaged 33 degrees across the state which was 14 degrees cooler than normal and 22 degrees cooler than the previous period. High temperatures averaged from 42 in the West to 41 in the East. Departure from normal high temperatures ranged from 16 degrees cooler than normal in the West to 17 degrees cooler than normal in the East. Low temperatures averaged from 25 degrees in the West to 26 degrees in the East. Departure from normal low temperature ranged from 13 degrees cooler than normal in the West to 8 degrees cooler than normal in the East. The extreme high temperature for the period was 52 degrees at YELLOW CREEK and the extreme low was 10 degrees at CALHOUN 5NW.
Precipitation (liq. equ.) for the period totaled 0.21 inches statewide which was 0.75 inches below normal and 22% of normal. Precipitation totals by climate division, West 0.06 inches, Central 0.18 inches, Bluegrass 0.18 inches and East 0.43 inches, which was 1.05, 0.83, 0.65 and 0.44 inches below normal. By station, precipitation totals ranged from a low of 0.01 inches at CALHOUN 5NW to a high of 0.60 inches at PAINTSVILLE 4W.
Categories: Kentucky, Weather