When you think of brutal winters in our history you think of the Late 70s, that period in January-Feb of 1985, or for younger people you would think about the winter of 2014-15 and those big snowstorm sin February and early March. For our area, the snowiest winter by far (since records have been kept in the late 1800s) was 1917-1918. Several areas received up to 60 inches of snow by the time the winter of 1917-1918 was complete.

1917-1918 featured many major winter storms, but if I had to include one on this list, It would be the very first major winter storm in December. It featured the biggest widespread snowfall over the area, a brutal cold snap with temperatures plunging below -10F and any breeze (there were gusts of 30-40MPH reported in Central KY on the 8th) would likely put wind chills under -20F to -25F. Blowing and drifting of snow would serve to limit visibility and pile the snow into even heavier piles (likely several feet high). Seven to eight days in a row would fail to reach above freezing, which is unprecedented before the Winter Solstice. Another similar cold shot happened in mid-January as well after a trio of moderate to heavy (locally very heavy) snows struck the area.

If you think that Western Kentucky’s weather just got extreme after 1990, well the winter of 1917-18 would prove that idea wrong, as in addition to the snows and brutal cold snaps there were a few short-lived warm (probably record-warm at the time) periods as well. The first part of December featured highs into the 70s until the bottom fell out on December 7th leading to our winter storm. After a Top-10 coldest/snowiest January, February finished decidedly above-average and temperatures were in the low 80s across the area as the month ended. February was also a very roller-coaster month which saw a high of 72F in Hopkinsville and then 3 days later, Hopkinsville had a low of 3F.

Why Was This Event Significant

• This event by far is both the most significant winter storm and featured the worst-cold snap pre-Winter Solstice. Paducah and Hopkinsville saw one of their biggest snowstorms on record. We wouldn’t see widespread 12-18 inch snowfall like this till the March 8-9th, 1960 snowstorm and we haven’t seen a widespread snowstorm like this since March 4-5th, 2015. The cold snap following may have been even more impressive than the snowfall, with multiple zero and sub-zero lows and highs failing to reach 32F/0C for a solid week. Eight out of nine nights from the 9th of December through the 17th of December featured a low temperature that dropped below +10F in Bowling Green.

• If a similar event were to occur today then we would have at least tens of millions of damage across the area. This would be due to loss of economic productivity (as most if not all non-essential business would be at a standstill for at least several days), many buildings and homes would experience frozen pipes due to the extreme cold, some communities would experience water flow/water issues due to frozen water mains, and rolling blackouts would be possible due to record heating demand putting a strain on power demand. Improper usage of space heaters would likely create an enhanced danger of house fires. The homeless population and people without suitable heating would be in danger, as would any livestock or outdoor pets due to the intensity and length of the cold. River traffic and trade along the rivers would be at a standstill as the cold would be severe enough to cause them to freeze solid (and the Ohio River did freeze solid in December 1917 and January 1918).

Links:

https://www.weather.gov/lmk/december_1917_january_1918

^^ NWS of Louisville writeup for the winter in general ^^

YESTERYEAR: Winter of 1917-1918

https://www.courierpress.com/story/life/2018/01/04/history-lesson-blizzard-1918/997499001/

^^ Another story about the Dec-Jan 1917-18 period ^^

If you like winter history, then this is just one of a few winter events that placed in the #20-#29, in the most significant weather events in Western Kentucky history.