Some of the coldest weather this year across Alabama this morning with some near zero temperatures over the north. The coldest in the state was 1 above zero three miles southeast of Hazel Green!
ALABAMA (Updated at 1 pm to add 10 additional reports)
1 three miles SE of Hazel Green (the state low)
2 at Decatur Airport, lowest in the state
3 Broomtown
4 Hartselle
5 Russellville Airport, Sardis Springs
6 Hamilton, Meridianville
7 Muscle Shoals, Valley Head
8 Hokes Bluff, Lincoln, Huntsville, Courtland, Crossville, Fort Payne, Addison, Collinsville at base of Lookout Mountain,
9 Moulton, Owens Crossroads, Cullman Airport
10 Hanceville, Hayden, Scottsboro Airport, Moody, Lookout Mountain near Collinsville, Madison
11 Russell Cave National Moument, Cherokee, Hytop, Muscle Shoals/TVA, Bankhead National Forest
12 Pinson, Livingston, Munford, Millport (west of) Cottondale, Concord/Hueytown
13 Boaz, Camp Hill, Centreville, Sylacauga, Fayette (9 miles north of) McCalla
14 West Trussville, Anniston, Albertville Airport, Dora, Pleasant Grove, Noccalula Falls, Weaver
15 Bessemer, Coker, Troy
16 Alexander City, Bessie, Birmingham Airport
17 Cahaba Heights, Evergreen, Clayton
18 Tuscaloosa, Selma
19 Auburn, Thomasville, Florala, Shelby County Airport
20 Fairhope, Dothan
22 Mobile/Brookley Field
23 Mobile Regional Airport
24 Bay Minette, Gulf Shores Airport
29 Dauphin Island
USA EXTREMES
80 yesterday afternoon at Santa Ana, California.
10 below zero this morning at Springfield, Massachusetts on a heavy blanket of snow.
42 below zero at Ft. Yukon, Alaska. (Getting colder in Alaska again.)
PICK CITY FOR TODAY WHERE YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO BE
* Good old Deadhorse, Alaska, 15 below zero, visibility only 1/2 mile in freezing fog. Wind chill 31 below zero. Sea level pressure 30.90 inches as a big high-pressure area builds near the Arctic Ocean, but no immediate signs of coming to my house.
SNOW COVER
60% of the lower 48 covered with snow this morning. Only 38% a month ago. I received an e-mail this morning asking if there was ever a day when all 50 states had at least some snow cover. The recent news reports saying that 49 of the 50 had some snow with only Florida having none has created a lot of interest. I feel sure (although I cannot prove it) that there have been a few cases where all 50 had some snow. I am thinking of the grandfather of all cold waves in 1899 and a vicious cold wave in 1940. (there were probably others)
RECORD LOW IN HUNTSVILLE
At 2:32 this morning, the thermometer dropped to a frigid 8 above zero at Huntsville Airport. It has never been any colder than that on January 14. The previous record was 9 in 1963.
HIGH COUNTRY WEATHER IN THE SOUTH
* On Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains this morning, it was 5 above zero with 32 inches of snow on the ground. Also in the Park, it was 4 above on Newfound Gap with 16 inches of snow. It was 4 above in Cades Cove with 5 inches and Gatlinburg, at the Park Headquarters, had 7 degrees and 6 inches of snow.
* In the North Carolina Mountains, Mt. Mitchell had a frigid zero temperature this morning with 30 inches of snow on the ground. On Beech Mountain, it was 3 above zero with 30 inches of snow. Grandfather had a temperature of 3 above, but their snow depth report was not available.
CHEAHA STATE PARK
One of the most beautiful spots in Alabama, but it is still closed today. We got a note that Highway 281 and the Park roads were a sheet of ice. That place was our choice of a resort when our kids were growing up. We have consumed a lot of chili, soaked a lot of coffee and played a lot of Rook on that mountain.The elevation is 2,407 feet and the vistas are hard to match.
MY FINAL NOTE
Sometimes at the official reporting stations, the temperature may drop a bit after 6:00 a.m. The lows are reported at 6:00 a.m. but not again until 12:00 noon. We will check and see if there are changes. Meanwhile, we will also get some additional reports from the NWS in Huntsville.
MY TINY CORNER OF THE WORLD: Thanks to Tim Coleman for covering for me on the Seven Day Forecast this afternoon. Our daughter had major surgery yesterday at UAB and the results were good, so there will be no Miss Molly story this afternoon, but I did want to briefly mention this morning when we went on a long walk on the north track. Our backyard is still a solid snow cover and frozen solid on top. When we stepped out the door, that little teenage squirrel was hopping around under our Bradford pear tree. Molly was going to catch him for sure this time, she thought, but her paws started spinning on the ice like a car trying to go up an ice-covered hill. She looked around at me very puzzled and finally her claws caught in the ice and she took off like a rocket. It was too late. Life goes on and life is good regardless of weather.
