The weather looks pleasant for Thanksgiving Day this year, but we’ve seen some real swings over past Thanksgivings. 

This year’s Thanksgiving won’t be as warm as last year, but it still looks very nice overall. We can experience a lot of different weather in late November across the Commonwealth, so it should come as no surprise that we have seen some pretty extreme weather across the state in past years.

Let’s start with a look at Louisville. Last year, our state’s largest city had a high of 65 degrees. While it won’t be as warm this year, temperatures will still be above average. Check out some extremes over past Thanksgivings in Louisville.

The coldest one on record was in 1930, when we saw the mercury fall down to 8 degrees above zero. The warmest temperature ever reached on Thanksgiving Day is 73 degrees, which occurred all the way back in 1896.

Snow is not common in late November, but it does occasionally happen. The snowiest Thanksgiving was back in 1938 when 1.2 inches of snow fell.

Lexington has seen even colder and snowier Thanksgivings than Louisville, but not last year when the high was 69 degrees on Thanksgiving Day.

Lexington made it down to 3 degrees on Thanksgiving Day in 1930. The snowiest Thanksgiving was the same day as Louisville in 1938, except Lexington picked up 4.2 inches of snowfall. The warmest Thanksgiving was in 1896 when the temperature peaked at 71 degrees.

With Covington being our northernmost climate site, you’d expect the coldest and snowiest conditions to be found there, but that is not the case according to climate records.

The coldest temperature on Thanksgiving in Covington was 17 degrees, while the warmest was 71 degrees in 1896. Last year’s high temperature was a comfortable 64 degrees. The snowiest Thanksgiving was in 1938, but Covington only measured 2.1 inches of snowfall that year, which was only half of what Lexington saw that Thanksgiving.

One of the warmest readings in the state on Thanksgiving Day in 1896 occurred in Bowling Green when a high of 75 degrees was reached. Thanksgiving Day last year wasn’t quite that warm, but managed to hit 69 degrees. 

The coldest temperature on Thanksgiving in Bowling Green was 15 degrees, which occurred in 1912 and 1950. The latter was also the snowiest Thanksgiving Day in Bowling Green’s history when 2.1 inches of snow fell.

When you are thinking about what you are thankful for this year on Thanksgiving, don’t forget to think about the weather, because it could be a lot worse than what we are getting this year. 

Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.