February 2024 summary

..Warm and Dry...

The first week and a half of the month was dry, but this came to a halt during the pre-dawn hours of the tenth when a squall line moved across southern Indiana and north central Kentucky. The line produced scattered wind damage and two brief tornadoes as it moved through between 4am and 6am EST.

What little winter we had during the month was concentrated around the 16th-19th. Late on the 16th the month's only significant snowfall occurred as a weak system deposited 1-2" of light snow from southern Indiana to the Kentucky Bluegrass region. The snow on the ground resulted in the 17th being the coldest day of the month with most locations not rising above freezing.

We had an early taste of spring on the 26th-27th with temperatures rising into the 70s. We paid for it, though, when a sharp cold front brought severe thunderstorms and plunging temperatures to the region on the 28th. Storms brought a stripe of wind and hail from Hancock and Ohio Counties eastward through the Lexington metro during the early morning hours. There were also a few instances of wind damage between Lexington and Lake Cumberland. Temperatures behind the front crashed 30 to 40 degrees in a matter of several hours.

	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Snow	Departure from Normal
Bowling Green	48.0°	+6.9°	3.25"	-0.82"	0.2"	-2.7"
Frankfort	44.5°	+6.7°	2.46"	-0.94"
Lexington	45.4°	+7.9°	4.55"	+0.91"	1.5"	-3.0"
Louisville Ali	47.3°	+7.8°	1.63"	-1.78"	0.4	-3.7"
Louisville Bowman	44.7°	+6.0°	1.34"	-1.93"

Records

12th: Precipitation of 1.40" at Bowling Green
26th: High of 77° at Louisville
27th: Warm low of 60° at Bowling Green, warm low of 57° at Frankfort, warm low of 55° at Lexington, warm low of 57° at Louisville

6th warmest February on record at Bowling Green
7th warmest February on record at Frankfort
3rd warmest February on record at Lexington
4th warmest February on record at Louisville

Tornado damage near Underwood, Indiana February 10, 2024

Destroyed barn near Underwood, Indiana on the 10th. NWS Storm Survey