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Harlan County escaped serious impact due to a winter storm from Sunday, Jan.5, through to Monday Morning, Jan. 6.

While the county is still under a winter storm warning as of this writing on Monday morning, the county has reportedly escaped major storm related issues so far.

Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley provided an update early Monday on his social media outlet.

“We’re very fortunate this morning,” Mosley wrote. “Currently there are 85,000 power outages statewide. There are 0 power outages in Harlan County at this time. Pray for the electric crews out in difficult conditions trying to restore power to folks who are out, some even in our neighboring counties of Leslie, Letcher, and Perry.”

Mosley pointed out the winter storm warning was still in effect.

“A winter storm warning remains in effect for Harlan County until 7:00 a.m. Tuesday morning,” Mosley said. “This storm has definitely been a weird one and we have experienced precipitation of all types here in Harlan County, snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain. Fortunately, not as much as our neighbors to the north, where there are still significant issues this morning.”

A temperature climb through the night helped remove some of the snow threat.

“Last night, we finally got above freezing and temperatures actually climbed overnight to 42 degrees,” Mosley said.  “A heavy band of rain (over an inch) came through between 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. and helped wash away a lot of the slush that still existed late (Sunday) evening on roadways. There is still slush in some places this morning but nowhere near the amount as last night.”

Harlan County Emergency Management reported on their Facebook page Harlan County roadways are in passable condition as of Monday morning.

“It appears that overnight we had roughly 1.5 inches of rain fall across the county, and no reports of power outages with either KU or CVE. Roadways appear to have been treated well, and with the 42-degree temps outside, it appears we made it through the worst of the storm with very little impact,” states the Harlan County Emergency Management page.

Mosley advised the situation was not over as of Monday morning.

“Now, we prepare for round 2,” Mosley said. “Another swath of snow is expected to move into our area later this morning.”

Mosley noted temperatures were expected to drop throughout Monday morning, with more snowfall predicted.

 “Winds will pick up to 20-25 miles per hour with gusts over 30 miles per hour possible, as temperatures drop into the mid 20s,” Mosley said. “Another 1-2 inches of snow is possible. Also, given the moisture that still exists on surfaces, a light glaze of ice is possible.”