Widespread Showers in the Eastern US; Severe Thunderstorms in the Plains; Heatwave in the Desert Southwest

Widespread showers and thunderstorms across much of the central and eastern U.S. will produce areas of excessive rainfall, especially in the southern Mid-Atlantic states. Scattered severe thunderstorms are expected from Montana into portions of the central/southern Plains this weekend. A heatwave will build in the Desert Southwest, in parts of Arizona, southeastern California, and southern Nevada. Read More >

BRR...then a brief respite...then BRR again...then a longer respite. Throw some snow into the mix, and that pretty much sums up this month.

2018 started on the same very cold note that finished off 2017. The first week of the year saw daily lows in the single digits, and occasionally below zero. It was the coldest January 1-7 on record at Lexington, Bowling Green, and Frankfort (#4 at Louisville). A pattern change then took place and temperatures surged into the 60s on the 10th and 11th. However, we returned to reality with colder than normal temperatures returning from the 13th to the 19th...though that spell wasn't quite as severe as the earlier cold weather. Temperatures then warmed back to near or above normal to finish out the month.

While the first week of the month was very cold, it was also dry. The second spell of cold weather, especially from the 12th to the 17th, brought snow with it. Rain moved in on the 12th, changed to freezing rain, and then to snow from the evening of the 12th into the morning of the 13th. A general 2-4" snowfall whitened the region. Significant snows came through again on the 15th-16th with total amounts more in the 3 to 6 inch neighborhood.

	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Snowfall	Departure from Normal
Bowling Green	33.0°	-2.7°	2.28"	-1.33"	8.2"	+4.9"
Frankfort	30.6°	-1.9°	1.58"	-1.68"
Lexington	31.0°	-1.9°	2.09"	-1.11"	6.1"	+2.2"
Louisville Bowman	31.8°	-2.7°	1.73"	-1.65"
Louisville International	32.7°	-2.2°	1.76"	-1.48"	5.0"	+1.3"

Records

1st: Record cold high of 17° at Frankfort
2nd: Record low of -3° at Frankfort
11th: Record warm low of 52° at Frankfort, record high of 66° at Lexington
14th: Record cold high of 20° at Frankfort

Leitchfield KY snow January 12, 2018