People were trapped without power, cold, hungry and . During the 1994 blizzard, she ended up giving birth to her son on the . It was the first snow of the year in . The Salvation Army from Knoxville, Tennessee, came to lend a helping hand during the 2009 ice storm. The fire department would deliver medicine, water, food and things people were in need of., Bottled water and food were hauled in and stored at the Fire Training Center on Hwy. During the outages, Kentuckys power companies had to call in backup support. KY Mesonet, Latest Forecasts They would pray for our safety., Raymond Giannini, local coordinator for the Red Cross during the ice storm, recalled some memories. On the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 28, the precipitation changed to snow from northwest to southeast. Submission Deadline: April 7, 2023, May 1-31, 2022 Type of soil and location does play a factor. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke), A pair of horses graze through a pasture near Midway, Ky., in search of grass hidden beheath a fresh layer of snow Feb., 2003. It's the largest Temperatures dipped into the 20s and 30s in the mornings in the five-day period throughout Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Here are a few facts about the worst ice storm in Kentucky history: It took some time to get the ice cleared away, and even then, things werent the same for awhile. was obliterated, he said. MAYFIELD, Ky. -- Gov. Tuesday night freezing rain and sleet continued over southern Indiana, freezing rain transitioned to rain over northern Kentucky, and rain, occasionally heavy, continued over southern Kentucky. Belski's Blog. Some choked on carbon monoxide. Weather Radio Those who gardened and canned their own food had it much better than those who depended on Kroger for their nutrition. (LOUISVILLE, December 23rd, 2004) -- A record-breaking winter storm left thick layers of snow and ice covering much of Kentucky on Thursday, causing a near-standstill as highway crews struggled to clear snow-clogged roads. elderly and disabled neighbors were all right. Lows of 25 degrees in Louisville and 22 degrees in Lexington were reported on April 7 and April 8. Submission Deadline: August 7, 2022, September 1-30, 2022 Drifting occurred as well, and some measured as high as 12 feet in Western Kentucky. quake could occur some time in the future along western By Tuesday morning, Caldwell County was covered in ice. Meetings are held on the third Monday at 38 W Arch St, Madisonville, KY, the old L&N Depot. Kenergy ice storm crews repair damaged power poles at the intersection of Brown Road and Kentucky 862 Monday afternoon as they work to restore service . If you have items for sale or looking for a particular item or items. Initial estimates of damage topped half a billion dollars for the Paducah NWS forecast area. And, the state's emergency operations center - forefront The total cost to area utilities was about $47 million, with another $26 million used by local municipalities to clean up the damage. Keep these numbers handy to report incidents. working stations were long. Love Kentucky? In January 2009, a severe ice storm hit Madisonville. Local and state officials in both Indiana and Kentucky declared states of emergencyand begged folks to stay off the roads if they could. This air corrupts any snow that falls through it, changing it to rain. There were several places getting down to the minus-20 range back during that time, he said. The head of Ky Emergency Mgt. Below are the dates for upcoming chapter photo contests. In the Louisville metropolitan area, 205,000 lost power for up to 10 days. Several had purchased generators In February 1998, a massive winter storm led to major power outages across Louisville and much of Kentucky, dumping over, Long-time residents are likely still talking about the infamous, Reports of an inch in ice accumulations along Interstate 64 were part of this unforgiving winter weather system that slammed sheets of freezing rain and ice across Kentucky as temperatures plummeted into the 20s. utilities reported. A winter storm dropped snow onto sections of southern Indiana and counties bordering the Ohio River in Kentucky, accumulating up to 30 inches, causing drifts of 2-5 feet. Theme: Nuptial by Webulous Themes, UP T149 at Madisonville, Ky by Jim Pearson, CSX Work Train at Trenton, Ky by Jim Pearson, Video Action on the Henderson Subdivison by Rick Bivins, CSX P925-13 At Caskey and Mortons Junction by Jim Pearson, One of the great things about the internet, pictures and stories are at our fingertips, A LITTLE ODD This loaded CSX coal train, Clarks True Value Hosts Chapter Modular Layout for the 2022 Christmas Season, September 2022 Chapter Photo Contest Winners, The passing of former member Chuck Hinrichs, If youve not been on the chapters Facebook page, heres an example of what you might miss, Dinner is Served On the Cumbres and Toltec by Gary Ostlund, Life Steam-Up at the home of Kathy and Ed Saley, LORAM Railgrinder RG414 grinds through a curve as it makes its way south at Nortonville, Kentucky, The Black Hills Central Railway locomotive 108 heads through the countryside. U.S. right:Sikeston area. operation centers throughout the state should have satellite The hospital was still using boilers, and they took water to operate. Seven Springs Farms had a semi truck of water, so they brought it to the hospital, and lines were ran to the boilers to keep them operating. year, but most go unnoticed without scientific equipment. high, as they described how they were "making it, Areas of 10-plus inches of snow accumulations stretched to the Ohio River by 7 p.m. Kentucky has, unfortunately, been on the receiving end of some truly memorable ice storms! HENDERSON, Ky (WEHT) - The National Weather Service is continuing the Ice Storm Warning for all of southwestern Indiana, western Kentucky, and Gallatin . It is estimated that 25 people lost their lives across the areas affected by the storm, and another 500 were injured. In some areas, ice was a half-inch thick; in others, they were up to a full inch, not to mention the addition of sleet and snow amounting anywhere from 1 inch to 4 inches, and in some places even up to 10 inches. Please select one of the following: Experimental Graphical Hazardous Weather Outlook, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Businesses were reporting ceiling or other minor building damage, but only several small structures failed. 1-Stop Drought Submission Deadline: October 14, 2022 to allow time for the chapter calendars to be printed in time for the holidays. The National Guard troops were called in to aid the residents in the area. If you had a working fireplace, you were one of the blessed. Perhaps we need to spend government bucks to ditch. Climate Graphs Lexington came within one degree of its record low. However, in 2009, the winter was anything but mild. It was and still is, the coldest March ever at Bowling Green, Louisville, Lexington, and Frankfort. We (webmaster of this site) work in a major grocery store in Main roads cleared in Evansville, as did the majority of secondary streets. Aviation this page. The first snowstorm to strike the region came through on the second day of the month and gave Bowling Green 5 inches, Louisville 9.2 inches, Lexington 7.5 inches, and Frankfort 6.4 inches. Elder trees were not strong enough to withstand the weight of the ice; both branches and entire trees fell to the ground. Thank you for reading! Temperatures on March 28 soared to near 80 just three days after being in the teens. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Stewart County, TN, Fire and Rescue helped us out. Over 200,000 of those individuals were in the city of Louisville. Many right.". Kent State beats rival Akron 77-73 in gritty MAC semifinal 22 minutes ago. for an engine house diorama scene. Limbs still littered the streets as city and county workers fired up chainsaws and began the cleanup. to his Ford F-150 pickup truck, which was warmer than his stores do not have an option on which to use. They arrived at the post office in time for delivery, but there was no mail service that day because of the hazards caused by the storm. Get more stories delivered right to your email. old-fashioned way because cell phone and Internet service was Kentucky residents flocked there for supplies. Kentucky has, unfortunately, been on the receiving end of some truly memorable ice storms! Call, text, or email Bill Thomas, billtrainthomas@gmail.com, 270-339-9482. HEAT.gov The impact on forest, livestock, crops, and fruit trees was responsible for $64 million of that total. We put in a new computer system in 2008 that allowed us to easily transfer files on external hard drives, Hutcheson wrote. Trees were weighted down with ice and snow, during the Ice Storm of 2009. After the April freeze had taken most of the crops, the drought was the end of any hope for a prosperous year in local agriculture. His column told how he used the fully-charged laptop at home to write his column Thursday night for Saturdays paper aided only by candlelight. Find historical weather data by zip code and access weather archives from more than 1,300 stations across the United States and Canada, dating back to 1960. Beshear appointed him By late evening the freezing rain had changed to sleet and varied between sleet and light freezing rain throughout most of Feb. 16 as well. Anyone who requested a ride was picked up in a giant Humvee. stations. The 2009 ice storm presented the greatest challenge to putting out a newspaper on time in my newspaper career, said Chip Hutcheson, publisher of The Times Leader from 1992-2017. Examining Blizzard-like conditions with blowing and . from carbon monoxide poisoning in their house and helping save a owns land along the Mississippi River near here, cut a path At Murray University in southwestern Kentucky, brothers Jim At Lexington, it was the snowiest March and the eighth snowiest month on record. July. common values that exist among all income and education and Another Storm Produced Snow and Ice on February 17-18. Football Weather, Local Information We knew people that had no power for over 2 weeks, and some rural areas were reportedly worse. "Lifesaving, that's priority one for us, so the U.S. Midwest knocked out power to more than 870,000 homes and Precipitation began as light freezing drizzle and freezing rain over the entire area but changed to sleet and then snow overnight into the early morning hours of Tuesday across southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. Bootheel, and as far away as Mayfield and Murray Kentucky, 90+ A band of particularly heavy snow set up from Shelbyville through Cynthiana, where nearly two feet fell. state officials were cut off from much of western Kentucky during McClung, 42, and Dale Earnest, 38, were among those resting in It was ten years ago this weekend (January 26-28th), that Kentuckiana was impacted by an intense winter storm. Meanwhile in Illinois, life chugged on. Copy {copyShortcut} to copy Link copied! 36-hour dump of mixed frozen precipitation in a 50-100 mile swath If we had the storm situation a year earlier, our old system would have made producing a paper complicated if not impossible.. Click on the image to the left for a statewide map of ice accumulations in Kentucky. A 8 Hills Every Kentuckian Is Willing To Die On, Spend The Night In This Historic Inn That Was Once The Oldest Operating Jail In Kentucky, 7 Jaw-Dropping Overlooks Sure To Make You Fall Head Over Heels In Love With Kentucky, From Homemade Meatloaf To Banana Cream Pie, Youll Feel Right At Home At This Small-Town Diner In Kentucky, A Terrifying, Deadly Storm Struck Kentucky In 2009 And No One Saw It Coming, Over 40 Years Ago, Kentucky Was Hit With The Worst Blizzard In History, This Spring Is Forecast To Be The Most Active Tornado Season Kentucky Has Seen In Years, One Of The Worst Disasters In U.S. History Happened Right Here In Kentucky. I am somewhat a cliche'. Many mature trees in the hardest What was the weather like on your birthday or another date in history? "And they decided to venture outside. As power came back on in the northwest corner of Tennessee, Huge amounts of wet snow dumped on the Ohio and Tennessee river valleys, including 18 inches in Bowling Green, 9.2 inches in Louisville, 5.7 inches in Lexington, and 7.2 inches in Frankfort. And, neighbors were helping nieghbors. A portion of the Bluegrass Parkway in Bardstown was covered in snow after a winter storm dumped 5-to-10 inches of snow across Kentucky of the first day of spring in March of 2018. Experts have warned such a In some towns, volunteers checked to make sure their But there are some exceptions, as youll see in the following list of nine horrific winter storms in Kentucky. Time/General. Archives: Remembering the disastrous ice storm of January 2009. At Louisville and Frankfort, it was the snowiest March and the third snowiest month ever recorded. The past few years there have been fewer storms in terms of winter weather. Meteorologists warned it could be one of the worst storms in recent memory. Please try another search. A wintry mix moved into southern Indiana and central Kentucky on the night of Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. The, Here in Kentucky, we experience what's referred to as a "false spring" each year. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Several emergency shelters were set up across the affected region. Property damage was widespread, with the damage due to falling trees, large tree limbs, and power lines weighed down by ice. just beyond Blytheville, Ar. With these two factors, enough moisture was pulled into the system from the Atlantic Ocean (not the Gulf of Mexico, as is usually the case), and the Appalachian Mountains proved no barrier for bringing the moisture farther west than a normal Noreaster. ", Someone What would a "big one" quake recovery be like? Share Copy Link. that is directly attributable to those county emergency directors Unrelenting and terrifying, this beast of a storm coated the entire city with at least one inch of ice (two inches in parts of west-central KY). This ice storm was deemed the absolute biggest and worst ice storm in Kentuckys modern history via Governor Steve Beshear. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. As fate would have it, this would not be the only problem set to take place in the crop industry for this year. reports that some users might be out of power for several weeks. After a few days, persons seeking shelter grew to a few hundred, the shelter was moved to the Butler building, as soon as that power grid was activated. 2009 Feb 4, 2009; 0; . director of Kentucky's Division of Emergency Management in Exactly one week later, low pressure formed over New Mexico and moved through the lower Mississippi Valley and on into the central Appalachians. The hardest-hit areas, however, were in and around the cities of Frankfort and Lexington, where ice accumulations measured 1 inches on exposed streets, sidewalks, and branches. Technology allowed both papers that week to be printed on schedule. He denied the charges and begged constituents for a chance to clear his name.. (Published February 08, 2009) . This experience will give some generations of people the LMK Warning Area In Louisvilles local school system, 69 schools lost power. Ahead of the front, the precipitation was mostly rain along the Tennessee border of Christian County, KY. Most of the heaviest snow was limited to an area north of a Lexington-to-Louisville line, in areas such as New Castle of Henry County, where 25 inches were reported. Download Image of Winter Storm - Madisonville, Ky. , February 23, 2009 -- Three weeks after the January 27th ice storm, debris is still being removed by city contractors. Several hundred thousand were left without power for 10 days and longer. one-story house. years, Mother Nature has taken down in a couple days," said Sunday, February 1, 2009; Page A12 Washington Post, All Guardsmen in Ky. Called to Ice Storm Duty. Their trucks werent sliding into ditches anymore. this for myself and anyone else interested, is why I did this Heavy wet snow on the backside of this storm could accumulate up to two feet through Monday across northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. "The reality is that today's environment and the Kentucky is known for having four seasons and what some call a mild winter. through trees, and managed to get an old barge several hundred I was concerned about people not being able to flush toilets. West Kentucky Chapter NRHS, The New Madrid fault spans from southern Illinois to watching for icicles falling from electrical wires. Updated: 8:33 PM EST Jan 27, 2014. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Decision Support Page Trees and power lines blocked roads, fell on homes and cars, and caused travel hazards in the days following the storm. In Louisville's local school system, 69 schools lost power. We're looking at more ice than snow in a lot of places, and the reason that is because it's just so cold at the surface, but aloft, you're actually keeping it in a liquid form, he said. Some sprawled in aisles, An airport hangar collapsed in Elizabethtown, destroying several airplanes. The Louisville ice storm in 2009 went down in history as one of, if not THE, worst in the state. Here, an estimated 125,000 residents were without power for up to five days or more, trees were destroyed, branches cluttered the roads, and sections of Interstate 64 were periodically shut down during and after the storm. rebuilding storm damaged lines. Evansville residents discovered that, even though the temperature was above freezing, not all the ice was gone. Nashville They were right. Minor river flooding developed in some spots by Wednesday from the steady rain. You have permission to edit this article. Coffee keeps me going, yoga keeps me sane, my kids keep me grounded, and my writing keeps me inspired. half-dozen filling stations before finding one where they could LEXINGTON, Ky. Kentuckians are rather familiar with severe winter weather, as many longtime residents have battled multiple ice and snow storms over the years in the Bluegrass State. A wintry mix moved into southern Indiana and central Kentucky on the night of Monday, January 26, 2009. Many roads were blocked by fallen trees during the 2009 ice storm. We were making sure all trucks, generators, equipment, anything mechanical, were all ready to go. After I got home, not sure of the time, but I woke up hearing tree limbs crackling, and then the power went off. I along with others responded to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). There just wasnt enough skilled manpower on the payroll to get things going again, so other states pitched in and sent us some help. The ice storm of late January and early February 2009 Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading. One mail carrier who had obviously never been in a warzone told the C&P it was like a warzone.. Photo above: Sikeston school field house emergency shelter. 2. Brock Thomas was Judge/Executive, Gale Cherry was Mayor of Princeton and Mike Board was Mayor of Fredonia at the time., I was in charge of logistics. 2022 West Kentucky Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. the state's largest outage on record. Hordes of irateTri-Staters called elected officials begging for help. Recognizing school success and providing the most up to date information As Railfans we are often at trackside and in position to observe emergency conditions that could affect railroad safety or security. The trees, power lines, homes, roads, trees and even flowers froze solid. ", More: 4 stories from the worst snow storms in Evansville history | Webb, More: Indiana bill would put 'In God We Trust' in every classroom | Webb, Contact columnist Jon Webb at jon.webb@courierpress.com, Walter McCarty rips officiating after UE loss to Drake. This week in 2009, Caldwell County, and most of western Kentucky, experienced an ice storm that shut down schools, businesses, and caused roads to be blocked by downed trees and power lines. have to endure a couple of days and it will be all not work as a debit, but would work if run as a credit. 49 tornadoes were confirmed in the central United States in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee over . to doing things and keeping busy," he said. Jan 30, 2009. WIDER area, and MORE economic disruption than an ice storm, Around 7:30, her power zapped out as well. . FULL ARTICLE The 2009 ice storm is described by the National Weather Service as the weather event of the decade. In Paducah, Amber Fiers and her neighbor Miranda Brittan tried a See story datelined Frankfort, on LOUISVILLE, Ky. . Hutcheson wrote of former area residents who thanked the paper for somehow managing to get news out in the Caldwell-Lyon area. I love writing, art, sunshine, all animals and my incredibly patient husband, who tolerates my "crazy animal lady" side. We would meet twice a day, morning and afternoon, to coordinate. thousands of Kentuckians, many in far-flung rural areas, left in Hook Line & Singer Railroad at Madisonville, Ky is now a fallen flag! Submit a Storm Report Record snow and incredible cold: Jan. 17-19, 1994. Ill be removing sod for my garden spot in the next couple of weeks. We met every day at the EOC and there would be a minister come in and say a prayer before the meeting got started. Welcome! During the months listed all members are invited to shoot pictures and submit no more than two entries each to webmaster@westkentuckynrhs.org by the deadline listed next to each contest. Emergency rooms filled with broken bones. Others succumbed to hypothermia. Up to 6 inches of snow accumulated across the northernmost sections of the CWA. Some, especially in Kentucky, lived in the dark and cold for weeks. Madisonville KY 37.34N 87.51W. During these uncertain times, please keep safety in mind and consider adding destinations to your bucket list to visit at a later date. I guess this is RR related. zone" with downed power lines and tree limbs. As the summer got up and going, a strong drought set in, lasting throughout the early fall months of 2007. By Wednesday and Thursday, a streak of heavy snow is likely from the central Rockies to the Great Lakes and severe storms possible from the southern U.S. to Ohio Valley. I write like it's my job - because it is! And what happens when it all meets over the state of Kentucky? The heavy ice caused power lines to snap all across the state. The storm started on January 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke). Submission Deadline: February 7, 2024. Great Ice Storm of 1952: Jan. 28-Feb. 2, 1951. Precipitation began as light freezing drizzle and freezing rain over the entire area, but changed to sleet and then snow overnight into the early morning hours of Tuesday across southern Indiana and northern Kentucky.