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The Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast States were impacted by a rather significant winter storm during the period of January 28-30, 2014. Central Alabama had it's encounter with the system on Tuesday, January 28th, when freezing rain and snow fell across much of the area. Below is a recap of the event across NWS Birmingham's county warning area.
The snow event on Tuesday, January 28, 2014, really began two days earlier on Sunday the 26th. On that Sunday afternoon, it was nearly unfathomable that conditions were going to be so radically different in just a mere 48 hours. Temperatures were near 60 degrees in the northern sections of Central Alabama, while further south, it was even warmer with temperatures rising into the middle 60s in the Montgomery area. This led to the first forecast problem, the warmer ground and especially the warmer road temperatures.
As we went into Monday, a major change was taking place as yet another arctic front was headed south across the area. Most of the region warmed rapidly during the morning through the mid afternoon hours, but just a few hours after sunset most locations had dropped well into the 20s with really dry air diving southward. In fact, several dew points registered in the negative digits. This drier air only served to re-enforce the already problematic forecast by making it difficult to determine exactly how long it would take to moisten the atmosphere on Tuesday. The issue of just how far north the winter precipitation would fall was also a huge concern considering the extrememly low dew points that were in place across portions of the area.
By early Tuesday, it was apparent that a lot of moisture was moving into the area, and those negative dew points were quickly rising. Meanwhile, the surface temperatures were dropping in conjunction with the heavy precipitation, and most surface temperatures were struggling to get past 20 degrees! This caused huge forecast headaches because the atmosphere had moistened so quickly that snow up north and sleet and freezing rain south were already beginning to reach the ground several hours earlier than anticipated. The next forecast issue was the colder than forecast surface temperatures that were allowing the snow ratios to be nearly 20:1, almost unheard of in Alabama. (Typically snow to liquid ratios are around 10:1 in our part of the country.) Thirdly, even though there was a lot of dry air across the northern half of the state, the snow rates were just heavy enough to allow snow to accumulate further north than originally forecast. Finally, and the worst impact of all - those warm temperatures from Sunday and early Monday allowed the first layer of snow to melt on contact and refreeze as a sheet of ice on all the roadways in the 20 degree weather. This led to all of the traffic nightmares across the entire area and people being stranded for many hours Tuesday!
In the end, Alabama State Troopers responded to 731 vehicle accidents across the state during the period Tuesday through Friday (Jan 28th-31st). Sadly, there were nine deaths attributed to accidents that occurred due to the icy road conditions. Snowfall totals across Central Alabama ranged from zero in the far northwest to 2-3 inches in a corridor from Chilton County northeast to Randolph County. Prior to the snowfall, some counties in the southeast half of the state reported up to 0.25 inches of ice accumulation.
Surface Analysis & Upper Air Charts
6 AM January 28th
250 mb Chart 500 mb Chart 850 mb Chart
Surface Analysis Surface Analysis & Radar KBMX Sounding
12 PM January 28th
Surface Analysis Surface Analysis & Radar
6 PM January 28th
250 mb Chart 500 mb Chart 850 mb Chart
Surface Analysis Surface Analysis & Radar KBMX Sounding
For a complete list of all snow and ice reports received during/after the event, click here.
Birmingham Area
Birmingham Area, Courtesy of Al.com Birmingham, Courtesy of Al.com Birmingham Airport, Courtesy of Al.com Kent Dairy Road in Alabaster Courtesy of Melissa Overall
Downtown Birmingham Highway 280 Interstate 65 at Highway 31 Interstate 459 North
Courtesy of @bethgregoryrn Courtesy of @mws4ua Courtesy of Al.com Courtesy of Jason Reed
Interstate 65 at Alford Ave Jefferson State Community College Chelsea Highway 280
Courtesy of Brenda Smith Courtesy of Perry Seahorn Courtesy of Scott Crane Courtesy of Fox 6 WBRC
Calera Wal-Mart Interstate 20 at Leeds Exit Pelham
Courtesy of John Barbieri Courtesy of ABC 33/40 Viewer Courtesy of Matthew Duplantis
Birmingham Area Interstate 65 at Valleydale Road Hueytown
Courtesy of Matt Layton Courtesy of Abraham Mahmoud Courtesy of Mandy Monk
West/Southwest
Bryant-Denny Stadium Gallion Area (Hale County) Selma Sprott (Perry County)
Courtesy of ABC 33/40 Viewer Courtesy of Michael Clemmer Courtesy of Selma Times Journal Courtesy of Fox 6 Viewer
Valley Grande Cuba
Courtesy of Susan Smith Courtesy of Randy Vaughan
South/Southeast
Blount Park in Montgomery State Capital Riverwalk Stadium Equality
Courtesy of Russ McKinney Courtesy of WSFA Courtesy of Box Aviation/WSFA Courtesy of Alton & Debbie John
Clanton Prattville Auburn University Troy University
Courtesy of candimims@att.net Courtesy of City of Prattville Courtesy of The Plainsman Courtesy of Troy University
East
Highway 21 in North Coosa County Highway 21 in Rockford Highway 21 in Sylacauga Tallapoosa River
Courtesy of Stephan Frank Courtesy of Stephan Frank Courtesy of Stephan Frank Courtesy of Debbie White
Lake Martin Lake Martin Talladega Superspeedway Wedowee
Courtesy of Mac McNair Courtesy of Pam Alexander Courtesy of FOX 6 Viewer Courtesy of Randolph Co EMA
Randolph County New Site Tallassee
Courtesy of Randolph Co EMA Courtesy of WSFA Viewer Courtesy of Hannelore Copeland
Northeast
McClellan Blvd in Anniston Piedmont Veterans Parkway in Anniston Donoho School
Courtesy of The Anniston Star Courtesy of The Anniston Star Courtesy of The Anniston Star Courtesy of The Anniston Star
Mt Cheaha Area Munford Oxford Hackneyville
Courtesy of Anonymous Courtesy of Stephan Frank Courtesy of The Anniston Star Courtesy of Denise Walls
Highway 77 Coosa River Bridge Interstate 20 Pell City Exit Anniston Pleasant Valley Road (Calhoun
Courtesy of Margie M. Richardson Courtesy of Susan Griffin Courtesy of Hayes Jackson County) Courtesy of Tara Hood
Gadsden Noccalula Falls Jacksonville State University
Courtesy of ABC 33/40 Viewer Courtesy of ABC 33/40 Viewer Courtesy of Fox 6 Viewer
Aerial video of south/east Birmingham (YouTube) - Courtesy of Kevin Henderson (www.SkyBama.com)
Ground Report from Birmingham - Courtesy of Robert Stevenson (FOX 6)