When you talk to people in Nashville about winter storms, they immediately bring up the Great Blizzard of 1951. The storm was not a blizzard, but rather an ice storm. It still ranks as the worst winter storm in the history of Tennessee’s capital city.
The storm began on January 29th. Just the day before, the high had been 59F, with three tenths of an inch of rain falling. Temperatures fell all afternoon and evening, dropping to freezing by midnight. A wintry mix began to fall after midnight. On the morning of the 29th, it was 31F in Nashville with freezing rain and a chilly northwest wind of 15 mph. By the end of the day 1.6 inches of snow, sleet and freezing rain had fallen. .
The 30th was dry. The real action began on the 31st when a total of five inches of snow and freezing rain fell. On the morning of February 1st, it was 67F in Montgomery, 40F in Birmingham and 21F in Nashville with freezing rain. Low pressure was moving along a cold front that was located over eastern Alabama. An additional 5.2 inches of snow and freezing rain fell in Nashville on February 1st. By the end of the day, the city lay buried under eleven inches of ice and snow.
As cold air poured into the East, temperatures in Nashville plummeted, adding insult to injury. On the morning of February 2nd, the mercury plunged to –13F, which is the coldest temperature ever officially recorded in the city.
Power failed across most of the area when the main part of the ice storm began on the 31st. It started off as a storm of sleet. Then as the atmosphere warmed just a bit above the surface, the precip began to fall in a liquid form, and froze on contact with surface temperatures of 31F. 80,000 people were without power at the height of the storm. Miles of telephone and power lines had to be replaced. The entire city was shut down for three days. Flights were grounded and trains stopped. Dozens of people were injured in falls and automobile crashes. Snow and ice were still visible on February 12th.
The storm began on January 29th. Just the day before, the high had been 59F, with three tenths of an inch of rain falling. Temperatures fell all afternoon and evening, dropping to freezing by midnight. A wintry mix began to fall after midnight. On the morning of the 29th, it was 31F in Nashville with freezing rain and a chilly northwest wind of 15 mph. By the end of the day 1.6 inches of snow, sleet and freezing rain had fallen. .
The 30th was dry. The real action began on the 31st when a total of five inches of snow and freezing rain fell. On the morning of February 1st, it was 67F in Montgomery, 40F in Birmingham and 21F in Nashville with freezing rain. Low pressure was moving along a cold front that was located over eastern Alabama. An additional 5.2 inches of snow and freezing rain fell in Nashville on February 1st. By the end of the day, the city lay buried under eleven inches of ice and snow.
As cold air poured into the East, temperatures in Nashville plummeted, adding insult to injury. On the morning of February 2nd, the mercury plunged to –13F, which is the coldest temperature ever officially recorded in the city.
Power failed across most of the area when the main part of the ice storm began on the 31st. It started off as a storm of sleet. Then as the atmosphere warmed just a bit above the surface, the precip began to fall in a liquid form, and froze on contact with surface temperatures of 31F. 80,000 people were without power at the height of the storm. Miles of telephone and power lines had to be replaced. The entire city was shut down for three days. Flights were grounded and trains stopped. Dozens of people were injured in falls and automobile crashes. Snow and ice were still visible on February 12th.
on January 29, 2006, 5:58 pm
That -13 temp stood as the lowest temp recorded here in Nashville all the way until Jan 21, 1985, when a severe arctic outbreak plunged the thermometer down to -17 here in Nashville. That figure still stands as Nashville's all-time low...
Will be interested in watching the weather over the next 7 to 10 days as the long wave trough develops here in the east. It looks like we're finally going to see some cold weather over much of the south!
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