Tennessee’s Ice Storm Revives Memories of 2009

Those of us who have vivid memories of the 2009 ice storm don't need much provocation to trigger them. Every winter, it seems, we have a winter storm event that raises the questions, "Are we getting an ice storm?" and "Will it be like 2009?" Needless to say, and in more ways than one, it made an impact.

Winter Storm Fern and 2026 Tennessee Ice Storm

Here in Owensboro and the tri-state area, while we are covered in a thick blanket of snow with road conditions still suboptimal (probably a large understatement), farther to the south, they are dealing with the immediate aftermath of the type of storm we faced 17 years ago today.

2026 Ice Storm

Nashville's WKRN reports that as much as 0.8 inches of ice accumulated as the storm moved through middle Tennessee, southwest to northeast. A member of the WKRN team gives us a look at the ice storm aftermath in Nashville.

Farther south, more than an inch of ice accumulation has crippled southwestern Tennessee and northern Mississippi.

Winter storm warnings were issued from New Mexico all the way up into New England where, as I write this, it is still snowing.

Extreme Cold Warning

The thing is, we have now moved into phase two of this beast, and that's the extremely cold air. The National Weather Service has a large swath of the nation under an Extreme Cold Warning, and the temperatures, in the Owensboro/Evansville area anyway, aren't expected to even get close to the freezing point for the next week.

We began winter with a warm week; it now seems like it's making up for lost time.