Thanks to Jerry, a reader from Sylacauga who sent in this note and some pictures…
“Hi James,
I wanted to mention some things about the current concerns about global warming. I would like to point out that we have not had a lay-down snow here in central Alabama since January 2, 2002. There have been some of the warmest January’s & February’s that I remember. Usually, January & February are our coldest Months around these parts. I remember growing up in & around the South Talladega County area that we got at least a small snow almost every year. I’m 60 years old & remember play football games in early Octobers when ice was spewed up on the football fields! Now I have been cutting grass into December for the past 5 years! The change in the weather around here is very noticeable.
Attached are some of the photos that I rounded up from snows that we had in the past years. The snow of 1963-64 & the last snow we had here of any significance in 2002.”
You can see Jerry’s pictures below, but I wanted to make a few comments about his thoughts.
My opinion on “global warming” is well known; you can read my “famous” blog post on the subject here. I stand behind that post and feel even stronger about it today. Interesting to note there are over 1,200 comments on that post.
I always suggest that folks actually go back and look at the weather records for Alabama… you can see them here. Some of the warmest temperatures in Alabama weather history have come in the 1890s, the 1920s, the 1930s, and the 1950s. Anyone remember the heat wave of 1980? The hottest period in our history actually came in September 1925; on September 5 that year the mercury hit 112 in Centreville. We tend to have a short memory; looking at actual data really tells a story!
