On Tuesday, January 29th, 1936, Birmingham and much of the nation was in the middle of a significant cold wave. Three infants had died of exposure during the cold spell. Two of them suffocated when their mothers wrapped them in tightly to protect them against the cold in their beds. In the Birmingham Age-Herald, the U.S. Weather Bureau forecast called for increasing cloudiness with light rain in southwestern sections of Alabama. It also called for warmer weather on Wednesday. Cloudy weather was expected on Thursday, with warmer conditions in eastern and southern portions of the state.
The headlines of the day related to FDR’s veto of the veteran’s bill and the death of King George V. Huey Long’s wife planned to serve out the Kingfish’s unexpired term after his assassination. There was lots of continued debate about the New Deal. Gasoline Alley, Dick Tracy and Little Orphan Annie entertained Birmingham residents from the comic pages. Wednesday, January 30th was the President’s birthday. A celebratory ball was planned that night at Municipal Auditorium.

A full page ad in the Age Herald everyone to “buy something” in honor of FDR’ birthday. Blach’s advertised men’s suits for 18.95. Magnus’ Food Store at 10th Avenue and 20th Street South advertised fresh mixed eggs for 28¢ and a two pound can of Snowdrift for 52¢. One pound of Maxwell House coffee went for 28¢ and beef roast was 15¢ per pound.

Interestingly enough, the front page of the Age Herald that week carried an article that said one of the causes of careles driving was too much talking. Better to be a dull passenger than a dead one. Who would have thought that sixty eight years later, almost an identical debate would be going on about cell phones.

It started to snow at 7 a.m. on the 29th in the Magic City. And it would continue to snow for nearly twenty four hours. If temperatures had not been hovering just abut freezing, the snowfall might have been even greater. When it ended early on the 30th, eleven inches had fallen on the city. It was an all time record for any twenty four hour period and any single storm, both records that would stand until the 1993 blizzard. Fourteen people died across the state.

UPDATED 2 PM
A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect until 4 pm for the following counties in Central Alabama...
Cherokee... Cleburne... Randolph

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect until 4pm for the following counties in North Alabama...
Jackson and DeKalb

A mixture of light rain, sleet and light freezing rain is over these counties. Trees are already coated with ice, and roads are slippery at higher elevations.

Things appear to be winding down across much of Alabama this morning. The NWS Birmingham has removed several counties from the Ice Storm Warning.

An Ice Storm Warning is in effect until 1 pm for the following counties in Central Alabama...
Cherokee... Cleburne... Randolph...Lee and Chambers Counties.

A Winter Storm Warning is in effect until noon for the following counties in North Alabama...
DeKalb... Jackson... Marshall...

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect until noon for the following counties in North Alabama...
Cullman... Madison... Morgan

Please delay travel in ice storm and winter storm warning areas until the warnings have expired. If you must travel, use extreme caution.

Temperatures have warmed above freezing except at the higher elevations of North, Northeast and East Alabama. In areas where the temperature is below freezing, the remaining light precipitation will fall as freezing rain. Additional accumulations will be light, but will continue the icing situation. In areas where the temperatures have warmed above freezing, travel problems should be ending.

The latest observations from Central Alabama:
Birmingham airport...37F
Tuscaloosa...38F
Anniston...34F

Jerry at WEIS radio in Centre reports no travel problems in Cherokee County but still lots of icing.

NWS Birmingham says Ice Storm Warning will be extended for Cherokee... Cleburne... Randolph and Chambers Counties past its 10 a.m. expiration.

NWS Huntsville reports several road closures in Huntsville. Roads on Monte Sano iced over.

Temperatures are now above freezing at all major reporting stations across Alabama. Temperatures at or below freezing are limited Cullman County... De Kalb County... higher elevations of Madison County... Marshall County and a report of 32F at Wedowee in randolph County. As temperatures continue to warm past the freezing mark, any travel problems should begin to disappear.

It was 38F at the Birmingham Airport at 9 a.m.

SPOT REPORTS
7:48am - Etowah EMA reports only travel problems at higher elevation

7:40am - 30F at Branchville on Hwy 411 in St. Clair County. Heavy coating of ice on trees, cars. Still have electricity.

7:30am: Have photos from Mentone with trees and power lines weighted down with ice and down on roads.

7:25am: Carroll County, Georgia (just across border on I-20) has extensive icing on roads and on trees and power lines.

6:55am: Cleburne County EMA...Travel very hazardous, especially bridges/overpasses...a number of trees down around the county...state route 281 closed that goes toward Cheaha State Park...15 accidents during the night on Interstate 20 within Cleburn County mostly from cars sliding off the highway

Temperatures are looking better out there. Mercury now rising at many locations, edging past that freezing point.
8 AM OBSERVATIONS
Birmingham Airport...37F
Trussville...34F
Cullman...32F...mixed precipitation
Decatur and Huntsville now both 35F with light rain
Fort Payne...cloudy and 32F
Mentone...27F at 1765 feet
Collinsville...30F at 1201 feet
Mount Cheaha...28F (2407 feet)
Anniston...34F...Light Rain
Section...31F at 1368 feet elevation
Hytop...30F at 1785 feet elevation
Atlanta...28F with heavy sleet

ADDITIONAL NOTES
It's not often that you see a Winter Weather Advisory for Savannah and Charleston. But it's happening today. Freezing rain and sleet is expected through the day in southeastern Georgia and southwestern South Carolina. at 8 a.m. CST, it was...
31F in Beaufort SC...32F in Savannah GA and 31F in Charleston. 30F in Myrtle Beach.

UPDATED AT 7:30 AM

Talked to Cleburne County EMA at 6:55 AM...Travel very hazardous, especially bridges/overpasses...a number of trees down around the county...state route 281 closed that goes toward Cheaha State Park...15 accidents during the night on Interstate 20 within Cleburne County mostly from cars sliding off the highway.

Report from Muscadine in extreme East Alabama...29 degreees with 1/2 inch of ice in trees, "nice glaze" on roads...no driving for awhile. This is as far as you can get in eastern Cleburne County without crossing the Georgia border.

It is a story of East Alabama faring much worse than the central and west part of the state. Here is a roundup of state and regional 7 am reports...

32 cloudy in Cullman
35 cloudy in Decatur
32 mixed precipitation at Fort Payne Airport
34 cloudy in Huntsville
37 cloudy at Birmingham Airport
32 freezing at Chattanooga
28 freezing rain in Atlanta, wind east 14, gusts 21, wind chill 17
36 cloudy at Columbus, Miss.
38 cloudy in Memphis
35 light rain in Nashville
37 cloudy in Tuscaloosa
33 at Prattville
28 in Anniston (at elevation of 1201 feet)
28 atop Mt. Cheaha
26 in Mentone, elevation 1841 feet
29 at Collinsville...on the ridge

Tallapoosa county reports several trees down blocking roadways in the new site/daviston/and jacksons gap areas. power outages in these same areas.

In Randolph County, significant travel problems but streets are OK in Roanoke--reported by EMA.

Other reports...32 in Grayson Valley (NE edge of BHM) with a "nice glaze of ice" driving ok...Munford layer of ice covering trees and power lines, 32 degrees...Lee County, icy bridges and overpasses but "not bad"...Centre in NE Alabama has 29 degrees...Dekalb County, widespread icing on roads in the north part of the countyu including Mentone, Ider, Henagar and on other parts of Lookout Mountain...Tallapoosa County, a few trees down from ice load in NE part of county...6 am temperature 28 in Anniston at elevation of 1201 feet...temperature on Mt. Cheaha 29, no wind report because wind instruments are locked up by ice load

THE ATLANTA STORY
Numerous roads closed including parts of the interstate system...numerous traffic accidents and news reports indicate 3 fatalities in those...at 7 AM, CST, it was 28 in Atlanta with freezing rain with east wind 14 MPH and gusts to 21 with a wind chill of 17.

NORTHWEST SOUTH CAROLINA
You will have problems going through there today on Interstate 85. In the Greenville-Spartanburg area, 3 to 6 inches of snow and sleet is expected this afternoon.

After a nice nap we are about to go on the air at 5:00 with some live weather coverage. Temperatures have been slowly rising through the night and problems from this are minimal. Lots of reports of ice on exposed objects, but travel is not bad at all this morning. A first glance at reports shows the only road icing is above 1,500 feet, and there is some patchy ice on bridges over east Alabama. For most of Alabama it was simply a cold and rainy night....

Our crew on Mt. Cheaha is iced down... we will hear from Jason Simpson and Bill Castle on our live coverage, and Brian Peters is with me here at the station.

Somehow I feel like Country Boy Eddie... going on the air at 5:00 a.m. If only I had a fiddle and could do that mule call thing.

J.B. is up with us and will be posting updates here... he is the best. Thanks also to Bill Murray for his work during the night.

See you on ABC 33/40

* WD4LDU-8 in Anniston at 1200 ft elevation reports 26F
* Shoal Creek in Cleburne County reports 29F
* Cullman 32F. Dewpoint 28F, so could slip another degree.
* Hytop in Jackson County (NWS 88D radar site) 28F
* 25F atop Mt Cheaha...wind calm...not really...anemometer frozen
* 33F at the Birmingham Airport
* Two subfreezing reports in the Trussville area
* KD4BJW at a little over 1,000 feet in the Albertville area reports 30F temp with a DP of 19F
* Temperatures right around freezing in Madison and Morgan Counties
* Randolph County...Wedowee 29F...Wadley 31F

Precipitation increasing over Central Alabama. Some sleet mixed in.
Will create major problems in the colder air over eastern Alabama later tonight. Anniston has moderate freezing rain. Significant icing will occur over eastern, northeastern and northern Alabama in the Winter Storm Warning area.

Atlanta is in the middle of a serious icing event. The NWS Atlanta will probably change their Winter Storm Warning to an Ice Storm Warning. They also warn that temperatures may not go above freezing until Saturday night across North Georgia. Ice accumulations of more than 1/2 inch will be common. Major travel probles are expected.

From NWS Huntsvillle at 1120 pm...
Marshall County EMA reports bridges icing in Boaz area of Marshall County. Temperaures across the area range from 30F to 31F, so conditions should deteriorate further through the night.

From the NWS Birmingham...
A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THE FOLKS PHONING IN OBSERVATIONS...AND THE ONLINE BLOGS AND DISCUSSION FORUMS POSTING THEIRS AS WELL. WE APPRECIATE ALL THE GROUND THRUTH WE CAN GET.
That's you guys!

Other spot reports...
...driveway in Hartselle a solid sheet of ice...
...Collinsville...1/10 inch of ice on "everything including pavement"
...icing reported on top of Shades Mountain south of Birmingham...temp 31F...medium tree broken under weight of ice...

The Winter of 1976-77 had been a brutal one in Buffalo, New York. It was the coldest January ever in Buffalo, as well as the coldest on record for the eastern half of the country. In a city that is known for handling snow well, 28 straight days of snow had left 33 inches on the ground and even the hardiest Buffalo residents grumbling.

On this date, the Great Buffalo Blizzard was in full swing. It had started the day before, just like many other snow squalls from Lake Erie. It was Buffalo’s worst blizzard ever, but the twelve inches of snow that fell during the three day storm was not the story. Much more impressive snowfalls have buried the city, including a monstrous seven foot snowfall in five days in December 2001.

But during the 1977 storm, strong northwest winds gusting to 60 mph lifted up the snow piled on frozen Lake Erie and blasted the city with it. People were trapped wherever they were, in their cars, homes, or offices. Nine people froze to death in their stranded automobiles. Snow drifts up to twenty five feet high buried homes and buildings and allowed two reindeer from the Buffalo Zoo to walk over their fences. Wind chills dropped to –50F. Damages totaled $250 million. It was the first snowstorm to receive a Federal disaster declaration. Snow eventually fell on forty three consecutive days.