Officials and crews with District 1 & 2 of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet are currently preparing, and bracing, for the frigid-winter blast — expected to roll across the region this evening and into Friday morning.
District 1, which covers Kentucky’s 12 westernmost counties, resides underneath a Winter Weather Warning from the National Weather Service. An updated forecast includes expectations of overnight temperatures at minus-5 and a wind chill of minus-30 degrees, and snow accumulation projections have been increased from 1-to-3 inches, to 2-to-4 inches.
Adding 40-mile-an-hour wind gusts, and overnight highway crews will be facing near-blizzard conditions overnight.
Due to this extreme weather, KYTC is asking the public to avoid overnight travel it at all possible. With these extreme cold temperatures, something as simple as a dead battery or a flat tire can evolve into a life-threatening, time-of-the-essence situation. Frostbite can occur in 30 minutes, or less.
During his Thursday “Team Kentucky” update, Governor Andy Beshear asked citizens of the Commonwealth to have their lists of phone numbers handy not only for emergency management reasons, but also to check on others during this bout.
By 3:30 PM Thursday, District 1’s “Snow & Ice Team” will be monitoring roadway and weather conditions, and they will be immediately responding to imminent threats until 7 AM Friday.
A second crew will assume command in the early-morning Friday hours.
Secretary of Transportation Jim Gray noted all 12 KYTC districts are currently on “standby.”
According to Keith Todd, KYTC spokesman, crews will “do their best” to make highways as safe as possible. However, he warns that the extreme cold will “severely limit” the ability to improve driving conditions. And particularly at night. Salt, and other ice-fighting chemicals such as brine, lose their ability once temperatures drop in the mid-teens. They’re even further reduced once temperatures approach single digits.
Gray explained further how this process will work in the overnight and early Friday hours.
Downed trees and snow drifts, especially late in the night, remain a possibility.
A lone positive, Beshear added, is that no precipitation is expected this weekend going into Christmas.
Motorists that must travel should pay attention to tire tread and antifreeze coolant levels.
