WQXE News
After a brief respite from precipitation Monday, another round of winter weather appears to be on its way to the area.
“We’ve got another snow event coming through, probably in the E-Town area between about 6 and 8 p.m. Tuesday evening, probably somewhere between 4 and 6 inches of snow by Wednesday morning,” said Meteorologist John Gordon with the National Weather Service in Louisville. “It will be a dry snow, and the worst snow will be from about probably 9 p.m. to about 3 in the morning.”
Impacts to Wednesday morning travel are expected, and Gordon said cold temperatures mean freezing is likely for areas still impacted by flooding from the weekend rain.
“We’re going to be very cold during the day on Wednesday,” Gordon said. “Temperatures will be in the teens. Wind chill is in the teens. It’s just kind of an ugly time. There is good news, though, because we’ll be in the 40s by Sunday, Sunday and Monday, so we have to suffer a little but there will be some rejoicing at the end of the week.”
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District Four says area roads were pretreated ahead of the weather on Monday.
Governor Andy Beshear, who declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm, said the White House has approved an emergency disaster declaration for all 120 counties in Kentucky. During an update Monday morning, Beshear said the Team Kentucky Storm Relief Fund has been activated in order to assist families impacted by the severe weather.
“The help’s needed, because we can now confirm 11 fatalities from this event,” Beshear said. “That number may still grow. That’s an addition of two since last night. Those include an adult male in Hardin County and an adult male in Floyd County.”
State officials say as of Monday morning more than 14,000 customers across the commonwealth are without power, more than 17,000 are without water, and more than 28,000 are under boil water advisories. 344 state highways are closed due to flooding, 14 from mudslides, and three from rock slides.
A Radcliff man is in custody after a shooting incident in LaRue County.
Anthony Barth of Radcliff was charged with first degree Wanton Endangerment following his arrest Saturday.
According to the LaRue County Sheriff’s Office, on February 15 deputies responded to the Dollar General store in Magnolia following a reported possible shooting. The sheriff’s office says the victim’s vehicle was found to have been struck twice, once in the trunk area and once in the passenger door. Three individuals were in the vehicle that was damaged by gunfire.
Deputies obtained vehicle and suspect descriptions at the scene, and Barth was identified. Barth was located with the assistance of the Radcliff Police Department and placed under arrest.
Barth was lodged in the LaRue County Detention Center, where he is being held on a $50,000 cash bond. He is due to appear in LaRue District Court on Wednesday.
The sheriff’s office says the shooting was an isolated domestic-related incident. Their investigation is ongoing.
Temperatures may be cooler and conditions may be wetter at the moment, but state fire officials are reminding residents to take precautions to protect their homes and natural areas during Spring Wildfire Season, which runs now through April 30.
“During the late fall through early spring, since everything goes dormant, the leaves fall, the grass dies down and stuff, all that stuff is technically dry,” said Radcliff Deputy Fire Marshal Tommy Crane. “Yeah, we may have some rain, some snow, but the grasses and a lot of the brush are still technically dry because they’re dormant.”
During Spring Wildfire Season, burning is prohibited within 150 feet of woodland or brushland between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. If you plan to burn debris, only burn natural vegetation during evening hours when conditions are less windy, keep fire tools handy, and never leave a fire unattended.
Crane says consider alternatives to burning such as limb removal and leaf pickup services offered by the cities, and always check with your local fire department ahead of any burning.
“Anytime you’re burning, whether it’s in this restricted time or whatever time of year it is, always check to make sure with your local ordinances, and what is allowed was not allowed because we want to take care of our neighbors and we want to make sure that we don’t burn down anybody else’s wooded area or anything like that,” Crane said.
More information on Kentucky Spring Wildfire Season is available on the Kentucky Division of Forestry’s website.