On this date in 1982, Birmingham and much of Alabama was in the deep freeze as an Arctic blast was engulfing much of the eastern half of the nation. As temperatures were tumbling across Alabama, a surprise dropped from the sky on to Highway 31 in Fultondale. As temperatures fell steadily during the day through the twenties and teens into the single digits, a single engine Cessna had to execute an emergency landing on the roadway. The plane’s engine failed because of carburetor ice. Several tractor trailer trucks had to brake suddenly to avoid the plane. The mercury fell to 2F just before midnight to establish a new record or the date. The temperature eventually fell to –1F during the early morning hours on the 11th to break the record for that date also.

The record cold set the stage for one of the Magic City’s worst winter storms. It would occur between the 12th and 14th as a low pressure system spread moisture up and over the dome of cold air, producing snow that changed over to freezing rain during the late morning hours. The storm system arrived earlier than expected, catching many local residents off guard. As a result, thousands of motorists were stranded in local shelters as they tried to get home on highways that became ice skating rinks. Many Alabama residents awakened on the 13th to no electricity and the sound of tree limbs breaking and crashing to the ground. A second disturbance spread a four inch snow across Central Alabama on the evening of the 13th, putting a beautiful post script on a bad situation. Up to 750,000 Alabamians were without power at the height of the storm. A total of twenty Alabamians died and three hundred were injured.

The airmass was one of the coldest observed in the United States during the twentieth century. According to an index used by NOAA, January 10-11 were the most uncomfortable days recorded east of the Rockies in the last century. Forty one cities established new records lows for the date. Chicago fell to minus –26F at O’Hare (all time record) with 20 mph winds that made the wind chill factor drop as low as –77F (old system.) Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Rockford, Illinois recorded their all-time record cold temperatures with readings of -25F. Bimidji, Minnesota was the cold spot in the country with -37 degrees.

Getting set to do the Monday morning radio feed...

Data from both the 12Z and 18Z GFS really show some true Arctic air in here next weekend. MOS numbers are too warm. Forget em... they don't work very well in this kind of set-up.

I would expect much of north Alabama to stay below freezing much of the coming weekend, with lows by either Sunday or Monday morning in the 8 to 15 degree range. Coldest so far this season.

No serious ice or snow threat, but a nice vort max rounding the base of the trough could squeeze out some snow flurries at some point during the cold snap.

I will have much more early tomorrow morning after I post the Monday morning video update....

The video update for Sunday, January 9, is now posted to the web page. Looks like our weather pattern will stay warm for a few more days but the whole pattern becomes progressive as the long wave trough migrates east and sets up over the eastern US. So winter will make it's return to Alabama late this coming week. We will all get some rain on Thursday - at least that appears to be the timing right now.

In case you did not catch it, I've pasted to this posting the statement released by the Birmingham NWS office on the storm survey of damage in Hale County. Not only were we in Tornado Watch Number 1 as JB noted below but we've also ended up with our first tornado of the year. Bad omen? I don't think I'd go that far, but this event is one of the earliest tornadoes since January, 1997. There were 30 tornadoes in the state that year.

Before that, early tornadoes (first week of January) occurred in 1985 and 1982 and there were 42 and 22 tornadoes in those years, respectively.

Interesting food for thought.


...FIRST TORNADO OF 2005 IN ALABAMA...
...STORM SURVEY OF HALE COUNTY F0 TORNADO ON FRIDAY...JANUARY 7TH...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS CONDUCTED A STORM SURVEY TODAY CONCERNING DAMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH THE F0 TORNADO THAT OCCURRED IN HALE COUNTY AROUND 1112 PM CST FRIDAY...JANUARY 7TH.

THE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN JUST 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GREENSBORO AND MOVED NORTHEAST. THE PATH LENGTH WAS 3/4 OF A MILE AND THE MAXIMUM WIDTH WAS 75 YARDS.

THREE STORAGE STRUCTURES RECEIVED MAJOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE...ALONG WITH MINOR DAMAGE TO THE ROOF OF A HOME. TWO WOOD PILLARS THAT SUPPORTED THE FRONT PORCH OF THIS HOME WERE BLOWN OUT. METAL PIECES OF STORAGE STRUCTURES WERE SPREAD OUT ACROSS A WIDE AREA...BLOWN INTO TREES...AND BLOWN INTO NEARBY FENCING. NUMEROUS TREES WERE DOWNED...WITH SEVERAL OTHER TREES SNAPPED OFF.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WAS IN EFFECT FROM 1105 PM TO 1130 PM ON FRIDAY...JANUARY 7TH FOR HALE COUNTY. A TORNADO WATCH WAS ALSO IN EFFECT FROM 845 PM FRIDAY...JANUARY 7TH TO 200 AM ON SATURDAY...JANUARY 8TH FOR 27 COUNTIES IN ALABAMA INCLUDING HALE COUNTY.

-Brian-