Update Tuesday, 11;54 a.m.
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokesman Keith Todd says crews are getting to work on the region’s snow-packed roadways Tuesday morning after an overnight pause. Todd says unnecessary travel is still being discouraged, however.
“The main issue you’re going to see for travel today is, even though some of the main routes are getting fairly clear, we still have a lot of snow plowed up at intersections,” Todd said.
Todd says the difficult driving conditions will persist until at least Friday or Saturday.
Update: Kentucky State Police spokesman Jay Thomas says troopers have conducted more than 112 motorist assists and responded to 11 collisions on roadways throughout Post 1 since Monday morning.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear declared a state of emergency in the commonwealth Monday to allow local officials immediate access to state resources to assist in public safety and recovery efforts.
National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Meffert says brutally cold temperatures will be an issue over the next few days.
"We’ve got another shot of brutal cold air coming in for Wednesday and into Thursday where we might see lows bottoming out near zero," Meffert said.
Meffert says those low temperatures will keep the snow from melting.
"In fact, I would not be surprised if schools were closed for the rest of the week," said Meffert. "I think we’re still going to have snow on the ground especially where the snows significant, 4 inches or more. I don’t think we’re going to get rid of it for at least a week or so.”
PREVIOUSLY:
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials want motorists to stay off the roads as the ongoing winter weather system moves through the region.
Counties in our listening area have seen as many as ten inches of snow and counting. Crews are plowing, but the fast rate of snow fall and a layer of ice under the snow is impeding work in some areas.
Spokesman Keith Todd says these conditions can make something as simple as a short commute deadly serious.
“The main reason is that if you get out and something that would normally be an inconvenience -like maybe a dead battery or a flat tire- can very quickly become a life threatening situation, particularly when temperatures get down into single digits," Todd said.
Todd says KYTC crews will continue to work on clearing the roads, but overnight temperatures this week will drop so low this week that salt and other ice-fighting chemicals won’t be effective.
“Once it gets really extreme later in the week, we may actually just be available for emergencies only, say from midnight to 5 or 6 a.m.," Todd said.
Most of our region remains in a winter storm warning effective until 6 tonight.
