January 2016 Summary

Though January 2016 was quite dry, there were a few significant snowstorms during the month. The first was a quick-hitting clipper that brought an inch or two of wind swept snow to the region on the morning of the 12th. Bona fide snow squalls temporarily reduced visibility to near zero, gusted winds to 40 mph, and even produced a few rumbles of thunder.

The next significant snow came on the 20th when low pressure moved by to our south. Two to four inches of snow fell on southern Indiana and most of central Kentucky.

Finally, a major winter storm covered central Kentucky in deep snow as strong low pressure cruised along a path from Texas to Alabama to Virginia on the 22nd. Moisture was plentiful and over a foot of snow piled up from Bowling Green through Greensburg and Columbia to Liberty and Stanford. Gusty winds added to the problems, and many roads and school districts were shut down for days.

	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Snowfall	Departure from Normal
Bowling Green	34.3°	-1.4°	1.81"	-1.80"	14.8"	+11.5"
Frankfort	31.5°	-1.0°	1.45"	-1.81"
Lexington	31.8°	-1.1°	1.24"	-1.96"	9.6"	+5.7"
Louisvsille Bowman	33.8°	-0.7°	0.93"	-2.45"
Louisville International	34.5°	-0.4°	1.01"	-2.23"	8.2"	+4.5"

Records

20th: Record snowfall of 3.7" at Louisville
22nd: Record snowfall of 12.2" at Bowling Green
23rd: Record snow depth of 13" at Bowling Green
24th: Record snow depth of 11" at Bowling Green
25th: Record snow depth of 10" at Bowling Green
31st: Record high of 72° at Bowling Green, record warm low of 53° at Frankfort, record high of 69° at Louisville, record warm low of 54° at Louisville

5th driest January on record at Lexington
6th snowiest January on record at Bowling Green
9th driest January on record at Louisville

Freezing Fog January 24 2016
Freezing fog on the morning of the 24th. Photo courtesy Jesse Carter