A Brief Review of 2014

Hail falls in visible streaks over southern Warren County on October 6th. Viewed from the EST building on Normal St.

2014 is in the books! Once again, south-central Kentucky recorded a year of wacky and wild weather. We are settled in a region of the US that truly does experience all four seasons to the truest extent. Severe weather can get dicey in the spring, summer can bring dreadful heat waves, the fall can be unusually chilly, and winter is always a battleground in these parts between rain, snow and ice. 2014 was no exception.

Bitter cold arrived the first week of January, with many places dropping below zero. Entering the year, Bowling Green had yet to see any significant snow. Time and again, a chance arose, but it was always negated by being slightly above freezing, leaving us with cold rain while places to the north and west received snow. After a spat of severe weather on February 20, we finally got our first (and only) real winter storm of the season . . . in March of all times! Three inches of sleet fell on March 2 and overnight into March 3, with two inches of snow coming in on top. WKU cancelled classes for not one but two days as crews struggled to remove the now-solidified pack of ice.

Center of WKU's campus on Monday, March 3rd. Classes were not in session.

The spring was fairly quiet in terms of severe weather around here, and the same was true for the whole country. However, the few instances of severe weather brought us some astounding views of shelf clouds and even rotating wall clouds over the city. Summer would wind up being abnormally cool, especially July. The weather would be comparatively "calm" until October brought us rain, rain and more rain. Our first true cold snap came around Thanksgiving, with temperatures reaching the teens. November was just as cold, if not more so, than the month of December.

From the WKU farm mesonet site
Max temp: 96.1° (Jul 27)
Min temp: -0.8° (Jan 6)
Wettest calendar day: 2.74" (Feb 4)

And now 2015 is upon us! Rain or shine, the WKU Storm Team will have you covered with the latest weather forecasts. The year's first weekend is definitely looking to be wet. In fact, the chances for precip begin tonight. Rain is lurking to the southwest this evening, but should be scattered in nature if it makes it here. Temperatures won't be nearly as cold tonight, but will eventually hover around the freezing mark. This may mean we see a slight wintry mix fall tonight as well, but other than a few slick spots on roads and overpasses, travel impacts should not be a major concern. Moisture will continue to stream in tomorrow, bringing hit-or-miss showers. The best chance for rainfall looks to be Saturday, as we have to put up with another cold front via a low pressure system churning through the Ozarks.

Tonight: Low near 33° with a 40% chance of rain, which may also fall as a light wintry mix. Cloudy with winds becoming calm.
Friday: High of 40° with a 60% chance of rain. Overcast skies and light winds.
Friday night: Rain chances increase to 70% with a low around 38°. East winds around 5 mph

Happy New Year!
- Caleb Chevalier