UK officials are monitoring a winter storm predicted to begin Wednesday night just two weeks after a blanket of snow closed the university for nearly an entire week.

Heavy rain may accumulate in several inches Tuesday night through Wednesday morning in central Ky., with a major winter storm rolling in Wednesday night through Thursday morning, according to a National Weather Service briefing.

Sleet and freezing rain will then begin in central Ky., turning into snow Wednesday night.

The briefing states that for north-central Ky., “8-12 inches are possible with 10-13 inches possible over the northern Bluegrass. Highest snowfall could accrue up to 2 inches per hour Wednesday evening and overnight.”

According to the briefing, the weather will create dangerous travel conditions as well as scattered power outages. The storm will be followed by record low temperatures for Ky. in the month of March.

UK safety officials and facilities officials are already monitoring weather conditions in preparation, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton wrote in an email to the Kentucky Kernel.

“We’ll be meeting tomorrow, as our normal policies would dictate, to discuss the weather situation,” Blanton wrote. “Safety … will be our top priority, as it always is.”

STAFF REPORT