The week of December 18, 1989 was a cold one across much of the United States. The powerful cold front that signified the arrival of the Arctic air reached Alabama on the 21st. News reports and weather forecasts warned of extreme cold ahead for the Deep South and Alabama, warning of the threat of frozen pipes and other hazards.
On Friday, December 22nd, the high at the Birmingham Airport only made it to 15F. That night the mercury plummeted toward zero in Birmingham. By morning, the thermometer read 1F. The Magic City was in for another day in the teens.
Meanwhile, record lows were being racked up in mass quantities. On the 23rd, 122 cities across the central and eastern United States were reporting record low temperatures for the date. 41 of the cities also record lows for the month of December, some which had only been set the day before. The temperature fell to 11 degrees at New Orleans and Lake Charles LA, 4 below zero at San Angelo TX and 26 below zero at Topeka KS, all establishing all-time record lows for those locations.
The pressure at the center of the anticyclone was just north of Fort Smith, Arkansas. The high reached an amazing 1061 millibars. Meanwhile, a strong storm moving across the Florida peninsula produced heavy snows along the Carolina coast. An amazing 15 inches of snow fell at Wilmington NC and 13.3 inches at Cape Hatteras NC. It was the first white Christmas of record from Florida to North Carolina.
