It Can Get Very Cold in December

December 13, 2005, 9:11 am
Posted by J.B. Elliott in Winter Weather
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Did you know that 43 years ago this morning, December 13, 1962, the temperature was sitting on 1 above zero in Birmingham?

The day before, December 12, it was 4 above.

Probably the most interesting thing about that severe cold was the high of only 13 on December 14.

That is the coldest daytime high ever in Birmingham.
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Posted by  
on December 13, 2005, 11:29 am
J.B.,

Was that high of 13 the coldest for that date, or ever? I remember a cold outbreak in January 1985 (I think) when the high was 7, I believe. It was an arctic express that came straight from north of us. There was a band of snow with it, and we got about an inch at our house in Hueytown.

Matt

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Posted by  
on December 13, 2005, 12:55 pm
Matt...
That January, 1985 bitter cold outbreak was a major one. However, the coldest day that month was January 22. Even though the morning low was 6 below zero, the afternoon high "recovered" to 22.

Thanks for your input...

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Posted by Matt Marshall  
on December 13, 2005, 1:19 pm
I remember having the electric blanket on its highest setting, plus a quilt or two, and we were still cold! Furnaces in Alabama just aren't sized for that kind of cold.

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Posted by rusty Pitts  
on December 13, 2005, 2:22 pm
Now that is one that I can remember..... In 85 ... Im not sure which tv station didi this, but they took a coffee cup of boiling water and threw it outside, and it evaprated and refroze, or something like that ..all I know , and I remember at 13 years old was a huge white cloud .... It was cool...I did it all night....

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Posted by  
on December 13, 2005, 2:25 pm
OK, JB, I remember this one also. This was my junior year at Auburn, and my brother and I shared a 1957 Triumph TR-3 convertable with a 'rag' top. We left Auburn headed to our home in Memphis about 1:00 after final exams were over. Got to Birmingham where it was all ready WELL below freezing. Stopped at a relatives house in Mt. Brook, and then left for Memphis about 5:00. The top on the Triumph didn't quite meet the removable side panels so there was VERY cold air pouring in on both of us. The little car drank oil, so when we got up to about Florence we had to pour in a quart which had been sitting in the jump seat behind us. I, to this day, remember that the oil was so thick it took several minutes to 'leave' the can. I believe it was about zero at the time. We stopped in Iuka, MS to thaw our feet which were literally blue. Then on to Memphis where it was a balmy 25 degrees. We were both lucky not to have frost bite! That was probably the coldest I've ever been.

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