'Overachiever' 12/29/12

Generally, this storm put out more than expected, what we like to call an overachiever, a surprising surprise.

So far, the highest amounts I found in the region include 8" at French Lick IN and 7" in Paoli, both in Orange County.

In Louisville, amounts varied as expected, due to its proximity to the rain/snow line and the infamous dry slot that nosed its way into the area. I recorded 1.5" in Valley Station in southwest Jefferson County (more possibly fell, since temperatures remained at or just above freezing the entire event; therefore, settling occurred during the dry slot because I was not able to measure at that point). However, up to 4" fell in the Lyndon area in eastern Jefferson County. The NWS at the Airport, which is the official site for precipitation measurement, has been 2.7" as of 7:00am.

Lexington proved to be the biggest winner, relatively speaking. Already near 3" as of 7:00am this morning, additional snow showers this afternoon may produce another inch or so for them. In Anderson county at Lawrenceburg, had a report of 3.5".

In Evansville, which is Paducah's coverage area, I saw a daily climate report listing 10 inches as the new snow amount for December 28 as well as the Preliminary Montly Climate Data.. That would have given Evansville over 17" this month. I thought that seemed overdone. After investigating various storm reports around the area, I saw a report of 4.5" of new snow for a total of 10 inches on the ground (what we know as snow depth). At 5:00am, I informed the Paducah NWS office about the error and it has since been corrected. By the way, as of midnight, Evansville had recorded 2" for a monthly total of 9.7". Still, varied reports of 3-4.5" were reported throughout Vanderburgh County for the entire event thus far. So, Evansville now enjoys double-digit snowfall for the month.

MS