WNKY News 40 Weather Reports: Kentucky Cold Snaps

A Recap Of Cold Extremes In Our Region

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- A harsh winter pattern unleashed the coldest air of the season this week. Morning low temperatures Wednesday (Jan.22) dropped below zero across Kentucky. Windchill readings fell as low as 15 below zero. This January has been unusually cooler than normal. Between Jan.1 and Jan.22, the month’s average temperature has ran nearly 10° below normal. The recent blast of bitter cold was the coldest since early January 2022, courtesy of a strong dip in the polar jet stream.

Shane Holinde, outreach manager at Kentucky Mesonet & Ky Climate Center recounts Kentucky’s coldest snaps.

The Cold Snap of January 1985

“The polar jet stream took a dive to the south over the eastern United States. As it did so, it brought, some very cold temperatures into much of the central and eastern U.S. Such that we had two nights of record lows, double digits below zero in Bowling Green on the 20th and 21st, and daytime temperatures on January 20th of 1985 actually stayed below zero, with wind chills colder than -30.”- Holinde

Cold & Snowy Wave January 1994

“I have my own personal recount of January 1994. I was working at a supermarket at the time in Owensboro, Kentucky. Forecasts were all over the place from maybe 1 or 2in of ice, a little snow on top to a foot of snow with maybe a little bit of ice mixed in.” Holinde recounts. 

This system brought historic snow totally nearly 2ft near Owensboro and across places along the Ohio River. The arctic plunge combined with a heavy snowpack brought the coldest temperature ever recorded in Kentucky. That’s  -37° in Shelbyville, Ky!

The coldest number on record for Bowling Green is -26°.