A historic and major winter storm affected much of the Ohio Valley from the 22nd into the 23rd of December 2004. Two bursts of heavy snow, separated by a few hours, brought over two feet of snow across several counties north of the Ohio River in southern Indiana. Interstates 64 and 65 across southern Indiana were closed for a number of hours during this storm. Snow totals of 30 inches or more were measured across portions of Washington, Jefferson, and Scott counties. Further south, an amazing 6 inches of sleet fell in one location across Henry County. Significant sleet accumulations also fell on the Louisville metro area. Thundersnow and thundersleet were observed during this event, with snowfall rates approaching 4 inches per hour in some southern Indiana locations. Across central Kentucky, freezing rain brought up to an inch and a half of ice across an area from Bowling Green through Nelson County. Ice accumulations caused considerable tree and some structural roof damage in Hardin and Nelson counties.
You can view a 3 hour duration radar loop during the evening of 22 December...pretty much the peak of the event. Click here to view...however note that the file is 3 MB large any may take a few moments to download over slower Internet connections. You can see the persistent banding which lead to large snow and sleet totals. A couple strikes of cloud to ground lightning were also seen, indicating the thundersleet or thundersnow.
A large scale 500 MB trough over much of North America provided an environment favorable to ascent over the Ohio River Valley. This analysis was valid at 00 UTC on 23 December 2004 (7 PM EST 22 December).
A relatively weak surface low was located over the Gulf Coast states, allowing moist air to flow northward into the Ohio Valley. This clearly shows you that it does not take a deep cyclone to create significant winter storms in this part of the country. This analysis was also valid at 00 UTC on 23 December 2004 (7 PM EST 22 December).
This map shows an approximate analysis of snow and/or ice accumulations, in inches, across the NWS Louisville area of responsibility.
A surface temperature analysis early Christmas morning (a couple days after the winter storm). The deepest snowpack is well correlated with the coldest temperatures that morning. It took nearly a week after the snowstorm for the deepest snows to melt completely.
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Here is a county-by-county listing of snow, sleet, and ice totals from the event:
THE FOLLOWING ARE COUNTY-BY-COUNTY *MAXIMUM* PRECIPITATION TOTALS GATHERED FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, STORM SPOTTERS, COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS, AND OFFICIAL REPORTING STATIONS.
.SOUTHERN INDIANA...
COUNTY SNOWFALL COMMENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------ DUBOIS 20 INCHES 4 FOOT DRIFTS PERRY 20 INCHES ORANGE 30 INCHES EST BY TRAINED SPOTTER CRAWFORD 23 INCHES 5 FOOT DRIFTS HARRISON 20 INCHES WASHINGTON 32 INCHES 5 FOOT DRIFTS FLOYD 14 INCHES CLARK 15 INCHES SCOTT 29 INCHES JEFFERSON 17 INCHES EASTERN PART OF THE COUNTY JEFFERSON 30 INCHES FAR WESTERN PART OF COUNTY
.NORTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY...
COUNTY ACCUMULATIONS COMMENTS ----------------------------------------------------------------- HANCOCK 17-19 INCHES 5 FOOT DRIFTS BRECKINRIDGE 15+ INCHES MEADE 10+ INCHES BULLITT 4-6 INCHES SPENCER 4-5 INCHES JEFFERSON 9 INCHES OFFICIAL FROM SDF (LOU ITNL) OLDHAM 9 INCHES HARDIN 3-4 INCHES SLEET WITH 1 INCH OF ICE NELSON 1 INCH OF ICE WITH 2 INCHES OF SNOW/SLEET ON TOP WASHINGTON 1/4 TO 1/2 INCH ICE WITH A LITTLE SNOW TRIMBLE 12 INCHES 2 FOOT DRIFTS SHELBY 5.5 INCHES INCLUDES 3.5 INCHES SLEET HENRY 9 INCHES INCLUDES 6 INCHES SLEET
.SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY...
COUNTY ACCUMULATIONS COMMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------------
OHIO 8 INCHES MORE IN THE NORTHERN PART
OF THE COUNTY
BUTLER 3-4 INCHES OF A SLEET/SNOW MIXTURE
GRAYSON 6 INCHES OF SLEET AND SNOW
CUMBERLAND 2/10 INCH OF ICE
.EAST CENTRAL KENTUCKY...
COUNTY ACCUMULATIONS COMMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------------
FRANKLIN 1/4 TO 1/2 INCH ICE, 1 INCH SLEET AND SNOW
WOODFORD 1/4 INCH ICE
SCOTT 1/2+ INCH ICE, WITH SOME SLEET AND SNOW
FAYETTE 1/4 INCH ICE
JESSAMINE 1/4 INCH ICE
GARRARD 1/4 INCH ICE
MADISON 1/4 INCH ICE NEAR WESTERN BORDER, LOWER AMOUNTS
ELSEWHERE
CLARK LIGHT GLAZE OF ICE
BOURBON 1/4 INCH ICE
HARRISON 1/2+ INCH ICE
NICHOLAS LIGHT GLAZE OF ICE
MERCER 1/2+ INCH ICE
Here is a listing of the low temperatures observed the morning of December 25th:
...ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...
LEAVENWORTH MINUS 7 SCOTTSBURG MINUS 19 TELL CITY PLUS 5 HUNTINGBURG MINUS 13 PATOKA LAKE MINUS 7
...ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL KENTUCKY...
LOUISVILLE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE 0 LOUISVILLE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT PLUS 2 LOUISVILLE BOWMAN FIELD PLUS 2 FRANKFORT PLUS 3 BOWLING GREEN PLUS 9 COVINGTON MINUS 2 WOODBURY PLUS 4 ROCHESTER FERRY MINUS 3 HERRINGTON LAKE PLUS 11 MARROWBONE PLUS 9 BARREN RIVER LAKE PLUS 10 GREEN RIVER LAKE PLUS 14 NOLIN RIVER LAKE PLUS 4 ROUGH RIVER LAKE MINUS 4 FORT KNOX MINUS 2 LEXINGTON PLUS 8
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