Frigid temperatures were hard on livestock but created beautiful winter scenes all around the county.
Meterologists say a “polar vortex,” an air current that typically circles the North Pole, slipped south at the beginning of the week, dragging with it some of the coldest temperatures Estill County has seen in a decade.
On Sunday the temperatures rose to near 60 degrees, but on Sunday night gusty winds ushered in the cold. By Monday morning, temperatures had slipped into the single digits, and by Monday evening they were below zero.
Schools were closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Teresa Sparks, executive secretary with the Estill County Judge-Executive’s office, said weather-related problems have been minimal. The majority of problems were reported on Friday after Thursday night’s brief rapid cool-down.
Sparks said a water line in the courthouse froze on Friday afternoon and caused a water line break that forced offices to close until it was repaired.
Roy Arvin, supervisor with the State Highway Road Department, said the road department put down calcium chloride pellets on Monday after temperatures plummeted.
“Salt just won’t do the job when it gets this cold,” Arvin said.
He also said he didn’t know of many wrecks on Monday, but there were two on Friday morning because of a couple of patches of black ice that caught drivers unsuspecting.
Although thermometers on the highway trucks read 38 degrees, a slick spot on Miller’s Creek cause a wreck and a patch of black ice at the bottom of Drip Rock mountain caused vehicles there to slide out of the road.
Arvin said the mountain itself was not iced that morning, but he thinks the wind blowing across the hollows probably caused the moisture on the water to freeze.
The weather rolllercoaster is predicted to continue with more snow forecasted for mid-week then another warm-up to follow.
