textproduct: Louisville

KEY MESSAGES

* Winter Storm Warning remains in effect through early Monday morning for a significant winter storm. This storm will be winding down this evening, however impacts to roadways and infrastructure will remain for some time.

* Brutally cold temperatures continue for at least the next 5-7 days. A Cold Weather Advisory has been issued for Sunday night through Monday. An Extreme Cold Warning will then take effect Monday night into Tuesday with minimum wind chill values ranging 10 to 20 below zero.

UPDATE

Issued at 928 PM EST Sun Jan 25 2026

Per the KYMesonet, temperatures are in the teens across all of the CWA, with many observations across the region still reporting light snow. This is also confirmed by the area terminal doppler radars of TSDF and TCVG where we are seeing light snow around both the Louisville and Lexington metro areas. With light snow and even flurries continuing overnight into early tomorrow morning. We could even see some areas of freezing drizzle/mist overnight, many area roads and highways, especially side and residential remain snow covered, slick and hazardous, decided to keep the Winter Storm Warning going until 12z. We also increased PoPs to reflect the chance of light snow and flurries.

Temperatures are expected to drop into the single digits overnight into tomorrow morning with wind chill values ranging 0 to 15 below, Cold Weather Advisory will go into effect at 05z due to these cold temperatures. Other than changing some PoPs and increasing some QPF for the light snow shower/flurry potential, the rest of the forecast remains unchanged.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/

Issued at 307 PM EST Sun Jan 25 2026

Seeing some pretty big impacts across the region with hazardous roadways and some hefty snow/sleet totals across the northern CWA. Meanwhile, the southern CWA is dealing with major ice accumulations and, at one point, we saw around 75,000 power outages across portions of southern, central, and eastern Kentucky. The good news is that the ice accumulation should be about finished across our SE CWA as the low level thermal profile is crashing behind the departing H85 low. Power outages have dropped below 50K this past hour so it appears things are trending in a better direction at the moment.

Winter storm is going to start winding down later this afternoon into the evening as deeper moisture makes its exit between now and 00z. This will occur as surface low pressure pushes east toward the mid Atlantic and New England, and the upper trough axis begins to push toward and through the area. Precipitation will shut down from SW to NE across the as this occurs with best timing for the bulk of the activity shutting down between 21 and 00z. That being said, we'll hang onto lower level moisture tonight into some of tomorrow, and given that this bit of moisture will reside in the DGZ thanks to the cold airmass we may hang onto a few flurries or very light snow showers for some overnight.

Otherwise, the bigger story is the cold that will set up going into tonight. Lows look to drop through the teens and into the single digits, with perhaps some sub zero lows across our NW CWA going into Monday morning. Cold Weather Advisory is in place across the area for tonight to cover.

LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/

Issued at 307 PM EST Sun Jan 25 2026

Monday - Sunday...

Arctic surface high pressure and progressive NW flow aloft will dominate our pattern through the upcoming week, and into the weekend. This will result in a mostly dry and cold pattern from a sensible weather standpoint. The big story will be the cold with Cold Weather Advisory headlines ongoing through Monday, and then a transition to Extreme Cold Warning headlines going into Monday night and Tuesday. This will be as minimum wind chill values drop below zero later tonight, and then drop in to the -10 to -20 below zero range for Monday night into Tuesday.

There will be some chances for some light snow through the week as well, mostly notable in the mid week time frame when a clipper looks to quickly slide through the area. Not a lot of moisture with this feature, but given a cold thermal profile could squeeze a quick inch of snow out for some at 20:1 ratios or higher. Something to watch. Will also be adding some lingering flurries or very light snow to the forecast for tomorrow as lingering low level moisture will reside in the DGZ, and you can usually squeeze out some fluffy flakes in that realm.

Confidence lowers going into the weekend as the upper pattern gets pretty messy and it is tough to discern exact times/locations of each shortwave rotating through the parent eastern CONUS trough. As a result, will keep a generally dry and cold sensible weather forecast going for that time frame, and mention that it is pretty low confidence at this point.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z TUESDAY/

Issued at 646 PM EST Sun Jan 25 2026

Snow is tapering off from west to east but there could be a few lingering light snow showers now through 06z. Lingering MVFR and IFR flight categories are likely overnight before we start to see improvement towards daybreak. My CIGS and timing may be a little pessimistic, will admin if necessary. Winds will remain WNW through the forecast with improving conditions through the day. The only thing we could see is some light snow or flurries overnight.

LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

KY...Winter Storm Warning until 7 AM EST /6 AM CST/ Monday for KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067-070>078-081-082. Cold Weather Advisory until 7 PM EST /6 PM CST/ Monday for KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067-070>078-081-082. Extreme Cold Warning from 7 PM EST /6 PM CST/ Monday to 11 AM EST /10 AM CST/ Tuesday for KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057- 061>067-070>078-081-082. IN...Winter Storm Warning until 7 AM EST /6 AM CST/ Monday for INZ076>079-083-084-089>092. Cold Weather Advisory until 7 PM EST /6 PM CST/ Monday for INZ076>079-083-084-089>092. Extreme Cold Warning from 7 PM EST /6 PM CST/ Monday to 11 AM EST /10 AM CST/ Tuesday for INZ076>079-083-084-089>092.