SNOW GO WINTER WX AWARENESS

You've seen those post cards that show those pretty cards with all that pretty snow shown, and the kids all having a good time. That is true that is why people love snow down in West KY

1) great memories are made in snowstorms that is if travel isn't impossible from your to your friends house.

2) we don't get a whole lot of snow in West KY. With maxium average being 14 in. a season in Henderson and Union counties. So it isn't like we get 30"+ a year like areas to our NW do.

3) snow is so nice you can do so much with so.

A lot of people only think of snow as a positive thing. Snow can have a lot of negative consequences to. Although not as big of a threat with snow as in ice, but in heavy snow situations powerlines and trees and even rooftops can become easily toppled. Travel can be halted esp. in blizzard and near blizzard condtions in which whiteouts may occur. It is hard to travel or even venture out on foot without dire consquences if everything around you loses color and turns a big sheet of white.

Traffic accidents is an issue, also deaths by overworking by shoveling snow causes many fatalities. Messing with your car and working with space heaters causes fires and carbon mioxide posioning.

More on the safety facts on Saturday. There are two great Mid TN/West KY snowstorms inculding the legendy Dec 2004 storm with links.

2) THE DEC 22-23RD 2004 WINTER STORM/CHRISTMAS COLD SNAP- This was a very devasting winter storm across West KY and parts of Mid TN. This was the worst Winter Storm as far as timing, sig of precip, perfect temp to get the precip of frezzing on surface. This was the perfect storm at the wrong time during the Christmas travels. People were traveling doing last minute Christmas shopping and traveling to friends and familys for the hoildays. A strong low was forming across Ark LA Tex across N MS/NW al then the strong low moved across the Applachins as a very strong cold front moved across meaning that precip got involved in the winter arctic air. Starting on the morning of Dec 22nd the gulf moisture came thu starting as snow/sleet across NW KY. And Rain/ to Frz Rain to Sleet across Tn and SW KY. Southern parts of TN stayed msotly rain and got limited winter precip the worst was north of I-40 and all of West KY was devasted by ice and snow. Henderson received 24 Inches ofsnow some of the most a West Ky location has ever recieved. PAduach recieved 14-15 inches of snow. 5 to 7 inches of sleep fall across south counties of KY and 1 to 5 inches of snow and sleet across NW Mid TN. The precip occured from Dec 22nd thu early and midday Thursday Dec 23rd.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/storm/christmas04/main.php http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/pubdoc/CR/ISWSCR200503.pdf
http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~555878

4) MAJOR SNOWSTORM OF FEB 3RD-4TH 1998- A dynamic cooling storm. West KY recieved 2-12 inches. Mid TN recieved 2-18 inches worst is in the Plateau I-40 in Putnam County was closed for 18 hours between Montorey and Cookeville TN. This was a impressive gulf system that ran up the East Coast along with a strong cold front. Strong Atlantic east winds brought Atlantic and Gulf Moisture along the low all the way in West KY. Mid Tn was hit the hardest esp the Plateau and also Henderson/Owensburo KY area. Mid Tn Plateau was the worst wind driven snow occured on higher elevations of East Mid TN. I-40 was closed for 18 hours in Putnam COunty more power outgages occred than with the SUperStorm of 1993 and this is one of the worst storms to hit the parts of the Cumberland Plateau in 20 years and havent been matched since. here is NCDC snowfall amounts: Warren / 4-8" White / 5-7" Van Buren / 4" Smith / 4-6" Putnam / 8-12" Pickett / 6" Overton / 8-12" Macon / 4"-6" Jackson / 2-8"Franklin / 3-10" (Sewannee Mountain had 10) Grundy / 6-14" Dekalb / 5-6" Coffee / 3-6" Clay / 2-6" Cannon / 7-8" Bedford / 2-4" / Jamestown in Fentress County in NE Mid TN recieved a record 18 INCHES for the city of Jamestown so some areas set a record for a tremendous snowfall.

This was a example of a storm made worse by something called "Dynamic Cooling" This is cooling as pressure decreases. There is more advanced things on this. The snow changed earlier then expected that caused a lot of problems and struck that area of TN very hard. So much that over 5 millon dollars of damage was done - This storm brought the idea of Dynamic Cooling to the area

http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~322451
http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~340343 http://www.srh.noaa.gov/topics/attach/html/ssd98-10.htm - A technical paper about Dynamic Cooling.