Glen Conner
State Climatologist Emeritus for Kentucky

Kentucky isn't a state that comes to mind when snowfall is mentioned. However, when moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is lifted by cold air from the north, spectacular (for Kentucky) snowfall amounts can occur. Benham, in Harlan County, holds three monthy records, the annual record, and the winter record snowfall for the Commonwealth. During 1960, they observed 30 inches during February and 46.5 inches during March. Those amounts help produce the record annual snowfall of 96.7 inches. Those amounts contributed to the record most snowfall for a winter. Benham had 107.2 inches during the winter of 1959-1960 produced by a total of forty snowfall days.

Some college students of the time referred to the March 1993 snowfall as the "Spring Break Snow." This short duration but spectacular blizzard over eastern and southeastern counties occurred on 13 and 14 March. Several locations in Kentucky broke the old greatest daily snowfall record on 18 inches. The new record holder is Hazard where 25.0 inches of snowfall was observed for 14 March 1993, eclipsing Bowling Green's old record (also a March snowfall) by seven inches!

On 2 April 1987, snow began falling over southeastern Kentucky. By the next day, power lines broke under the weight of the snow. A second snow event followed on 4-5 April. Snow covered the southeastern area to a depth of one to three feet. The greatest snowfall was in Letcher and Pike Counties. Carr Fork Lake recorded 27.5 inches for the month, Ivel had 27 inches, and Freeburn topped the list with 29 inches.