Snow

Alice Barton Newton Hillman Snow, 102, died Oct. 18 at Hahn Manor in Wilmore. She was born in Illinois to the late James Madison and Mary Frances Webb Newton and was the widow of Richard Hillman and Harvey Snow. Alice had been a bookkeeper at Asbury Seminary for 30 years before her retirement, was the oldest member of Wilmore United Methodist Church, a member of Wilmore Homemakers Club, Wilmore Woman's Club and was a Kentucky Colonel. On her 90th birthday, Judge Neal Cassity proclaimed Oct. 15 as Alice Snow Day in Jessamine County.

It’s 4 a.m. on a cold winter morning and snow is falling silently on the yards and streets in front of your house. As you lie in your bed snuggled up under the quilts and flannel sheets, dreaming of snow days or maybe a nightmare of how you’re going to dig out your car and drive to work, the men of the Nicholasville city streets crew are already up and at ‘em. It doesn’t matter if the snow falls at 4 p.m. or 4 a.m.; when it comes, the guys who man the salt trucks and snowplows are out and about, working to clear your streets — even if they just worked a full 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift earlier that day. That’s why there’s always a big pot of coffee going at the streets office, Public Works Superintendent Gary Goldey said.

Punxsutawney Phil may have predicted a short winter and an early spring when he failed to see his shadow a couple of weeks ago, but if any more snow falls on Jessamine County between now and then, even one more week of winter could be too many. And that’s because just about everyone is out of road salt. The city crews for Wilmore and Nicholasville ran out of salt Wednesday night, and the county crew was scraping the bottom of the barrel after Thursday morning’s routes. Thanks to the large amount of snow Kentucky has received this winter, it’s not surprising.

The snow and bright sunshine created a silhouette of Joel Wilson as he cleaned the snow from his vehicle on College Street Thursday morning. The sunlight was deceiving with temperatures in the single digits Thursday morning. A preview of spring is expected beginning this weekend with temperatures forecast to soar near 50 degrees Sunday and into the 60s next week. James Mann/jmann @winchestersun.com

What is the name of the creature that hides from snowflakes? I don’t think it’s the birds. I saw them hard at work this wintry Wednesday morning. They were flitting from feeder to feeder, pretending to be hungry, but really just cheerful at being alive and able to fly. As for the dogs lucky enough to be off the leash, they leave their tracks in the fresh snow, too. They have not forgotten how to play, even though they cannot fly. They want to get off the leash. In this regard, dogs and birds are superior to us: They know that joy of being outside.

After early snow in December and persistent wintry weather in January shut the doors of schools for many more days than anticipated, the Kentucky Department of Education has granted districts some flexibility in how to make up instructional time for the remainder of this year. Jessamine County may take advantage of the option to extend school days to make up time lost to snow days. Jessamine County Schools had eight make-up days in its original schedule, with the last day of school falling as late as June 3. The combination of eight and a half snow days and the Jessamine County Board of Education’s request to remove Memorial Day from the school schedule will likely leave the district with at least a day and a half to make up in addition to the scheduled make-up days.

Snow began falling late Monday morning in Jessamine County after rain Sunday night. The county is under a winter weather advisory along with Bourbon, Boyle, Fayette, Franklin, Harrison, Marion, Mercer, Nicholas, Scott and Woodford counties. A slushy accumulation of 1 to 2 inches of snow is expected through Monday evening, according to the National Weather Service. While above-freezing temperatures this afternoon will likely keep the roadways warm, colder air moving into the region in the evening could quickly freeze wet roadways, according to the advisory.

As I write this, we still have quite a bit of snow on the ground. The nighttime temperatures have been in the single digits. Even though winter is in full swing, some of the Boyle County Farmers Market vendors already have planted seeds in greenhouses for the upcoming growing season. We have onion seed planted so far. A few people have even planted tomato seeds. I think it’s still a bit early for those. I do want to plant a few herbs. I particularly miss having fresh basil. It grows well in the house.

Students waking up to the news of yet another snow day may have rejoiced, but administrators are becoming irritated with Mother Nature's wintry wrath. Schools in Boyle, Mercer, Lincoln and Garrard counties have accumulated about 10 snow days apiece, and Casey County is out for the 15th time today.   “It’s frustrating this weather,” Garrard Superintendent Donald Aldridge said. “We normally miss about nine or 10 days a year, but we already have 11, and we’re not even through January.

At the risk of repeating previous weather forecasts, snow is again headed to Kentucky. And the National Weather Service is warning that this will be heavy and wet snow that will make roads slick and could be harmful to trees and power lines because of the snow's weight. A winter weather advisory has been issued by the NWS beginning tonight and continuing through Wednesday. In western Kentucky, the weather service office in Louisville is predicting 1.5 to 3 inches of snow.