You think this weather’s been bad? Flashback to January 1994, when KY shut down
Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history - some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.
Jan. 17, 1994: Lexington residents, commuters and students woke up to the second day of one of the worst snowstorms in the state’s history.
It began with freezing rain on Sunday, Jan. 16, that turned into heavy snow. By Monday afternoon, as much as two feet of snow had fallen, forcing Gov. Brereton Jones to close every interstate highway – Interstates 71, I-75, I-65, I-64 and I-25, as well as the Bluegrass Parkway.
Unfortunately, police were too understaffed to enforce the closures, and traffic accidents blocked most state and local roads. After the snow came the arctic temperatures. By Jan. 19, the lows in Lexington had plummeted to -20 degrees.
The low temps and feet of snow paralyzed the city for days.
Even then Mayor Pam Miller, who had been vacationing with family in Utah, was stranded in Cincinnati and police forced her off the road as she and her family tried to make it back home. Eventually, after taking an icy drive via Florence, Cynthiana and Paris, she made it home on the 18th and opened the city back up.
The snow would paralyze the city for four days.
The storm essentially changed the way emergency personnel in Lexington responded to winter weather in the future. In 2019, on the 25th anniversary of the storm, city officials said that storm was one of the reasons why the government started investing in personnel and equipment to deal with future brutal storms.
This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 11:00 AM.
