Western Kentucky remains under a wind chill advisory after an arctic cold front pushed overnight lows below zero and brought about an inch of snow to Hopkinsville.
State and local officials cautioned people to stay off the roads, and electric utilities asked residents to curtail any unnecessary power usage. Local utilities began implementing temporary outages Friday morning to avoid large-scale blackouts.
Gov. Andy Beshear stressed safety during a press conference Friday morning.
“The last-second shopping is not worth it if it would cost you your life,” he said.
He said everyone who can avoid travel should stay off roads “all day today and the first part of tomorrow.”
City officials said frigid temperatures make it difficult to clear roads.
“Street conditions will not improve today due to the single-digit temperatures,” Hopkinsville Public Works said Friday morning in a Facebook post. “Streets are passable but are very slick. If you don’t need to be out, please stay home. Salt is ineffective below 22 degrees and more than likely you will not see much improvements to streets until Christmas Day with high temperature around 26 degrees.”
Friday’s temperature will remain in single digits and the wind chill could be as low as 20 degrees, according to the National Weather Service forecast. The high on Christmas Eve will be around 20, and the overnight low could dip to 5 degrees. The high Christmas Day will be in the mid-20s.
Residents urged to reduce power usage
The Tennessee Valley Authority, which supplies Hopkinsville Electric and Pennyrile Electric, asked customers to reduce unnecessary usage during the cold spell.
“HES and TVA have cut back on power usage at their facilities by adjusting thermostats and taking other measures to reduce electricity consumption,” HES officials said. “We are asking for your help too. To help insure power is available to all TVA customers, please reduce your electricity consumption by turning off unnecessary lights, appliances or any other electrical devices.”
Both Hopkinsville Electric and Pennyrile Electric, at the request of TVA, had begun implementing 15- to 30-minute rolling outages to protect overall delivery and avoid “large-scale blackouts.” However, at about noon, Pennyrile and HES officials said that TVA’s request had been lifted, but encouraged residents to continue limiting electricity usage.
Locations offering shelter from the cold
The Salvation Army soup kitchen is an overnight warming station, open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., through Christmas. The entrance is through the rear of the soup kitchen on Eighth Street, between South Virginia and Liberty streets.
In addition, Hopkinsville’s Coffee Connection, 910 S. Main St., is open until 3 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Christmas Day.
In the event of power outages, several volunteer fire departments will open as warming stations, Christian County Emergency Management said in a Facebook post.
Those locations are:
- Crofton Tornado Safe Room, 13511 N. Old Madisonville Road
- Fairview Fire Department 10920 Jefferson Davis Highway
- LaFayette Fire Department 300 White St.
- Northwest Fire Department 7812 Pool Mill Road
- Pembroke Fire Department 118 Maple St.
- Westside Fire Department 115 Spain Lane
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
