The Brutal Kentucky Winter Storm That Sent Temperatures 78 Degrees Below Normal

We've already experienced an arctic blast here in Owensboro and the tri-state area during the last month, and we're getting ready for another one this weekend. The highs aren't expected to reach freezing.

On that note, I'll proclaim that we should consider ourselves lucky. While we're looking at overnight lows in the teens, it can and has been a lot worse in the Commonwealth. A lot worse. Even on a pair of occasions I'm remembering now, when the actual temperatures dipped into the negative teens, it still wasn't as bad as Kentucky has experienced in its history.

The Coldest Recorded Kentucky Temperature

My research into record cold in Kentucky revealed an irony that I have to share with you. One of my oldest friends in the world is also one of the coldest-natured people I've ever known. He hates the cold, yet he lives in the city that holds the record for the coldest single-day temperature in Kentucky. (Thankfully, he wasn't living there at the time.)

On January 19th, 1994, in Shelbyville, the low temperature hit a ghastly 37 degrees below zero. That was an actual temperature. It happened in the middle of a crippling winter storm that dumped tons of snow across the Commonwealth and Indiana.

But think about that temperature for a moment. The normal January high for Louisville, which is about 20 minutes west of Shelbyville, is 41 degrees. So we're talking about a temperature that was 78 degrees (!) below normal. Transfer that differential to summertime, and...well, you can't. The normal high in July for the same region is 87 degrees, and it will never be nine degrees above zero in July. So, no, you can't.

And you wouldn't want to, either. We all need a break from the summer heat, but I doubt any of us wants that break to be apocalyptic.