Belski's Blog - Anniversary of Kentucky and Indiana's coldest day
Way, way below zero
Way, way below zero
Updated January 19.......
So on this date in 1994, Louisville was 2 days removed from the ice storm and snow storm. A quarter inch of ice was followed by 12 to 24 inches of snow in the area..... officially 15.9 inches in Louisville.
The NWS Louisville lists the 1994 snowstorm and the following cold as the number 1 winter weather event in the history of Louisville.
The fresh, deep snow pack and a very strong high pressure out of Canada settling over the Ohio Valley by the 19th resulted in the lowest temperatures ever recorded in many portions of the WLKY viewing area.
Starting with Tuesday, January 18.....here are some Louisville temperature reports
6:00 PM -7
9:00 PM -10
Midnight -15
3:00 AM -19
4:00 AM -20
5:00 AM -20
6:00 AM -21
7:00 AM -22
-22 broke the record for the coldest ever in Louisville. It has been nowhere near that since then......not even within 10 degrees.
Other lows that morning in the WLKY viewing area.......
Oldham Co. -40
Shelbyville -37
English, IN -30
Salem, IN -29
Scottsburg, IN -29
Paoli, IN -29
The -37 at Shelbyville is recognized as the lowest temperature for Kentucky records.
The -40 in Oldham Co. was not an official government reporting site. I trust the accuracy of it though and have always listed -40 as the Kentucky lowest temperature.
Indiana also set a state record that day with -36 degrees at New Whiteland.
What incredible cold that day. Look at this map below showing the low temperatures for January 19, 1994.
89% of the 48 states was below 32 degrees.
34% colder than zero degrees
25% colder than -10 degrees
16% colder than -20 degrees
-22 in Louisville that morning. Here are the lowest temperatures since then.
-5 in 1996
-1 in 2004
-1 in 2009
-3 in 2014
-6 in 2015
It was certainly a day for the history books. The coldest since then has been 16 degrees warmer.
The extreme cold froze up the snow and ice and made it especially difficult to clear. Those who were not around in 1994, it was the only time I can remember when grocery stores in parts of Louisville ran out of food and gas stations ran out of gas that week since no deliveries were able to be made for several days. It was so strange to see people walking in the middle of Bardstown Road and also Broadway.
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