Snow May Repeat Storm of Christmas 2004

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet crews are gearing up to respond to a Christmas night snowstorm that is expected to create travel issues overnight on Tuesday and through the day on Wednesday.  Before they left work on Friday, KYTC crews across Western Kentucky fueled their trucks, loaded them with salt, and mounted snow plows so they can be prepared to roll out as quickly as possible as the storm develops.  The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for parts of the region.  Forecasters are comparing this storm to the Christmas week storm in 2004 that snarled highways across the region, closing some.  Areas of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois are expecting 10 inches or more of snow.  Kentucky’s Mississippi River and Ohio River border counties are expecting 4 inches or more of snow.   NWS meteorologists are expecting high winds which will further complicate travel.

Motorists are advised to closely monitor the weather forecast and adjust their travel plans to that forecast.  There is a good chance that additional watch and warning advisories will be issued by the NWS as the storm continues to develop and move across the region.

The changeover from rain and snow to all snow will be determined by how quickly cold air moves in behind the storm.  At this time the weather service indicates the heaviest snow is expected northwest of a line from New Madrid, MO, to Paducah, KY, to Evansville, IN.  Areas to the southeast of that line will also get substantial amounts of snow.

Christine Wielgos with the NWS Paducah Office indicated that this storm has the potential to develop near-blizzard conditions with winds above 20 miles per hour.  The dividing line between snow and rain has the potential to move farther to the south and east, greatly increasing snow accumulation in the Purchase and Pennyrile Regions of Western

A copy of graphics from the National Weather Service briefing today can be found here under “Additional Info Items of Interest” then click on “Severe Weather Briefings”.

Timely traffic advisories for the 12 counties of KYTC Highway District 1 are available by going to their Facebook page. You do not have to be a Facebook member to access this page.

WBKR and our weather partners, Eyewitness News will be covering the storm for you.

Timely traffic advisories for the 11 counties of KYTC Highway District 2 are available by going to www.facebook.com/kytcdistrict2.  You do not have to be a Facebook member to access this page.