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The first measurable snow of 2024--January 15th...

By Mike Watson

The weather outside is frightful one more time, and there may well be more in the offing. We in Kentucky usually have plenty of snow and ice in almost any winter. Not a record, but cabin fever may overtake many residents in the coming frigid days. Last evening, Sunday, in the space of twenty minutes, roads and walks went from clear to white. By morning, two and one-half to three inches covered our surfaces.

I fought the notion of a short historical sketch on past snowfalls, but here are a few weather notes assembled from near-forty years of research into Adair County's past:

The first week of January 1886 brought a very cold snap, with temperatures in the region dropping well below zero. Stanford, in Lincoln County, officially recorded a week-long low of 24 below zero. Rockcastle County registered 28 below. Adair County was likely in the same temperature range.


February 1886 came in with a big, white bang. All across Kentucky, Adair County included, and from Maine to Texas, a heavy snow began and for two days and one night the fall was considerable, with several days of light snow to follow. The totals for Adair, as far as existing information reveals, were from 18 to 23 inches of light, fluffy snow, with little wind to create drifts. The temperatures reported across the region spanned from 11 to 18 degrees at first, but dipped dramatically in the days that followed, preventing melting. At the height--or depth--of the February cold, 29 degrees below zero was recorded at Roundstone, in Rockcastle County, which may be taken as a indicator of the low temps in the whole region.

Across the state the snowfall was much the same. From existing news accounts, older residents had never seen a deeper snow, except in the latter part of 1862, when 20 to 24 inches fell in parts of east central Kentucky.

Incidentally, most in this area heated and cooked with wood, which they generally cut themselves. However, the purchase price for a rick of wood was between 50 and 75 cents, and for those who did use coal, the price was 13 cents per bushel.

Early February 1907 saw eight to twelve inches all over Adair and Russell Counties. January 1917 brought eight to ten inches over much of Adair County.

January 30th, 1963 was the national weather day for Adair County. National news programs reported the low temperature, a record so far as official statistics could reveal, of 30 degrees below zero at "Columbia" Kentucky. Actually this temperature was recorded near Breeding, but as is the way with state and national reporting at the time, the closest "town" was cited as the point of note.

During this same time, though I do not have the date, but winter of '62-'63, there was one big snow with considerable drifting. I often heard our dad, Carl Watson, speak of the drifted snow being even with the tops of fence posts on our farm out 704 on Earls' Ridge, between Old Concord Methodist-Walnut Grove School neighborhood and Inroad.

I'll not even mention the white plague of 1994, or the several "very" white times since.

Keep warm and shake the snow from your feet.


This story was posted on 2024-01-15 11:56:46
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Monday morning snow



2024-01-15 - Columbia, KY - Photo by Sgt. Evan Burton.
CPD Det. Sgt. Evan Burton shared this view coming into town at the Fairground Street bridge over Russell Creek. We have received a code red winter storm warning alert - use extreme caution.

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Cleaning off the drive after first round of snow



2024-01-15 - Columbia, KY - Photo by Sgt. Evan Burton.
Braden Sutton (ACHS student) is pictured cleaning off his driveway Monday morning.

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