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Home of Storm Chaser Videographer Jeff Gammons.

Total news: 118
Last news: October 28, 2008 02:42:10

Discussions, thoughts, and comments from the ABC 33/40 team of meteorologists. Updated often daily, 7 days a week!

Total news: 3075
Last news: 10 hours 56 minutes ago

Most major rivers in Alabama will be in flood for many days… here is the warning for the Black Warrior River at Tuscaloosa:

…FLOOD WARNING EXTENDED UNTIL LATE FRIDAY NIGHT…THE FLOOD WARNING
CONTINUES FOR THE BLACK WARRIOR RIVER AT OLIVER LOCK AND DAM.
* UNTIL LATE FRIDAY NIGHT…
* AT 6:00 PM TUESDAY THE STAGE WAS 127.7 FEET.
* MINOR FLOODING IS FORECAST.
* FLOOD STAGE IS 129.0 FEET.
* FORECAST…RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE BY THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE TO
RISE TO NEAR 135.8 FEET BY TOMORROW EVENING . THE RIVER WILL FALL
BELOW FLOOD STAGE BY EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.
* IMPACT…AT 135.0 FEET…NUMEROUS CAMPHOUSES AND SOME PERMANENT
RESIDENCES SOUTHWEST OF TUSCALOOSA BECOME CUTOFF

See all of the flood warnings here.

(See James’ post of flooding pictures below). In addition to the reports of wind damage (and a possible tornado near Oxford and the waterspout on Weiss Lake), flooding is still a big story with this system, and unfortunately will continue even though the severe weather threat has shifted south of a line from Anniston to Demopolis. Take a look at the radar from 725 pm.

The moderate to heavy rain, with rain rates sometimes near 0.50″ per hour, will continue in BHM through 9 or 10 pm, and in east Alabama maybe until way after midnight, as the front is moving very slowly. The additional rain may cause additional problems with flooding, as streams and creeks are full. If you have to drive anywhere tonight, please be very careful, and if you come up to a part of the road that is covered with water, even if it looks like you can cross it, DON’T. This is a common cause of flood deaths each year…especially at night. As the NWS says, “Turn around, don’t drown.”

Here is the radar estimated storm-total precipitation since Sunday evening, and it shows very large amounts.

Even though it shows rainfall amounts from 3 to 6″ from Lamar County to Morgan County, and 1-3″ over much of Jefferson County, rain gage reports indicate that the radar may be underestimating the rain, especially in areas where the beam is blocked partially by Shades mountain (to the north of the Calera radar). The radar indicates 2.5″ in Trussville, but Sid Coleman in Tutwiler Farm in Trussville (my Dad with new rain gage for Christmas) had received 4.29″ as of 7 pm.

The widespread nature of the heavy rain may lead to river flooding also in the coming days. Smith Lake has really filled up, rising 15′ since early December, and now at 512 ft., 2 ft. above normal summer full pool. No more drought now! The normally stable Bankhead Lake on the Black Warrior River has risen to 255.02 ft., slightly above full pool, and is likely higher at locations upstream from the dam (Birmingport, Gorgas, Bluff Creek, Taylor’s Ferry). There may be some flooding along the Warrior River to the west of BHM for the first time in a while.

FROM THE LAMAR COUNTY EMA UPDATED ASSESSMENT
* 38 Lamar County roads affected by flooding
* 10 roads washed out

OTHER REPORTS
* Brookhighland/Greystone 1.56 inches of rain today and 1.57 yesterday
* Vic Bell, Scrougeout, reports over 7 inches of rain since 9 o’clock last night

TO GET OUR MINDS OFF FLOODING AND RAIN
* 79 inches of snow so far this season at Spokane.
* 24 inches is normal by this date
* 22 inches now on the ground

ALASKA
* High in Fairbanks today -42 and low this morning -47
* 14 inches of snow on the ground
* -57 low at Beaver Creek, lowest in the USA today

Thanks to Josh New for this video taken today. Quite a contrast to the drought of 2007 when hardly any water was going over the falls!

Thanks to a number of viewers for these images of damage in Oxford, which occurred around 5:15… seems like it was a small tornado based on reports from readers…

And… a couple of eyewitness reports:

“Jim Walter Homes 201 Hwy 78 E Oxford had the sign blew out - shingles off the roof of both buildings - both the front and back of the houses
We are 1 blk E of Hwy 78 and Hwy 21 (Quintard Mall intersection).

Power Lines down one block east of us on hwy 78 and the line was burning on the ground.

The rain and wind hit very fast w/o warning - and was coming across our parking lot horizonally - totally side ways.”

“I am interested to find out more info on a storm that came thru Oxford about 5pm. We had just went to Sunny King Toyota and picked up my husbands BRAND NEW SHINEY TUNDRA with all the bells & whistles. The clouds looked quite ominous on the ride home. We were stopped at a traffic light at 78 & Barry St and I was watching a particularly low deep gray cloud over I-20. No rain or lightning but some wind. When the light changed we drove about a half block when all of a sudden we could only see swirling debris & signs flying. We were pummeled by gravel or something similar. We could see nothing…. not even the road. Our windshield is cracked in about 6-7 spots and the entire truck has chunks out of the paint all the way down to the metal.
As heartbreaking as it is for my husband, I am thankful that we were safe. (though I felt far from it as the time)
Please let me know if you get any confirmations of what went thru.”

The Calhoun County EMA reports damage in the Oxford area near Anniston.

Occurred at 4:53 pm

* Numerous large trees snapped off

* Damage at Shell station

* Damage around Quintard Mall and at high school

* Several eateries and fuel stations sustained significant roof and structural damage

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
509 PM CST TUE JAN 6 2009

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR…
JEFFERSON COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA…
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF…IRONDALE…HUEYTOWN…GARDENDALE…
FULTONDALE…FAIRFIELD…BIRMINGHAM…
WALKER COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA…
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF…SUMITON…JASPER…DORA…CORDOVA…
CARBON HILL…
MARION COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA…
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF…WINFIELD…HAMILTON…
WINSTON COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA…
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF…LYNN…HALEYVILLE…ARLEY…
FAYETTE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA…
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF FAYETTE…
LAMAR COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA…
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF…VERNON…SULLIGENT…MILLPORT…
PICKENS COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA…
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF…REFORM…PICKENSVILLE…GORDO…
CARROLLTON…ALICEVILLE…
NORTHERN TUSCALOOSA COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA…

* UNTIL 800 PM CST

* AT 507 PM CST…RAIN RATES HAVE DECREASED CONSIDERABLY…BUT SOME
FLASH FLOODING WILL STILL OCCUR ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. RAIN AMOUNTS
ARE EXPECTED TO BE ONE TENTH TO ONE HALF OF AN INCH THE NEXT FEW
HOURS…BUT RUNOFF WILL REMAIN A PROBLEM.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO
AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. FLOOD WATERS ARE USUALLY
DEEPER THAN THEY APPEAR. JUST ONE FOOT OF FLOWING WATER IS POWERFUL
ENOUGH TO SWEEP VEHICLES OFF THE ROAD. WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED
ROADS MAKE THE SMART CHOICE…TURN AROUND…DONT DROWN.

Here is a collection of flooding and thunderstorm images across North Alabama from our readers and viewers taken today… rain continues to fall across North Alabama and flooding issues will continue to be a problem. Most major Alabama rivers are now under flood warnings as well. Thanks to dozens of readers/viewers for these images… if you have some to add; the address is pictures@abc3340.com.

NWS Birmingham just cancelled the tornado warning…

The cell is moving into Georgia…

A long line of thunderstorms extends from DeKalb and Calhoun Counties in East Alabama through St. Clair, Shelby, Bibb, Hale, Perry and into Marengo and Choctaw Counties.

Dangerous looking storm near Marion in Perry County. Would not be surprised to see it become severe.

The airmass ahead of the line is very warm and moist. Storms have had a hard time getting started out in front of the line because of warm air aloft. But the warm moist air will be high octane fuel for the line of storms as it spreads southeast.

Candace Williams in Brookwood in eastern Tuscaloosa County says this is the definition of “cats and dogs.”

I am sure you can identify if you live across Central Alabama today. Thanks Candace and everyone who sent photos.

Tornado warning continues for eastern DeKalb and Cherokee Counties.

This warning does include Cedar Bluff, Centre and Collinsville.

The most dangerous part of the storm is west of Centre. It still shows signs of rotation.

The storm over St. Clair County has become better organized from Ashville down to moody. It shows signs of strong winds. It has signs of rotation northeast of Moody.

A little further south along the line, storms are intensifying from southern Jefferson County into Shelby, Bibb, Perry, southern Hale and Marengo Counties. A SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR DALLAS, GREENE, HALE, MARENGO, PERRY AND SUMTER COUNTIES UNTIL 400 PM CST.

A tornado watch continues until 7 p.m. for a large swath of Alabama generally either side of I-59 for a couple of counties.

These storms are capable of producing strong winds.

Numerous flash flood warnings are in effect for North Central into East Alabama. Cherokee County was just added to the list…the FF Warning goes until 745 p.m. for them.

LATE REPORTS
Willis Dr. Vestavia Hills tree on house and tree across roadway. Also, Jefferson co. closed Litteton Sayre Rd. and Alexander Rd. due to flooding. Tree down in Shelby County on Eastern Valley Rd.

1.54 inches at Argo
3.50 Tri-County area (where Jefferson-Blount-St Clair join
0.71 Lincoln
0.67 Bear Creek
1.80 Concord/Hueytown

Extensive rain continues late tonight across most of the north half of Alabama.

There has been a decrease in the intensity near I-20 in the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham part of the state. The heaviest rain has shifted northward a bit–into North central Alabama. The heaviest rain now over NE Alabama.

Little or no lightning, just an old-fashioned soaker! (Don’t ask me what a “new-fashioned” rain event is.

Flash Flood Watch continues the rest of tonight and into Tuesday in most areas along and north of I-20, including the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham-Anniston area northward. Some areas will get 2 to 4 inches of rain.

Another round of showers and thunderstorms will arrive tomorrow and the Storm Prediction Center has outlined a slight risk of severe weather from roughly Birmingham southward. Better chance south if I-20.

Some additional rain amounts not previously reported:

1.72 Downtown Birmingham Skycam
1.67 Fayette
0.63 Southside/Fayette
1.07 Jasper Skycam
0.61 Cullman Skycam
1.17 Gadsden Skycam
1.67 Concord/Hueytown
1.77 Walnut Grove
1.50 Southeast Trussville
1.45 Hayden
1.25 Oxford

Widespread moderate to heavy rain continues over nearly the north half of Alabama late tonight.

The rain is extensive and a real soaker.

At 10 pm the heaviest rain had shifted a bit northward intoNorth Central Alabama. Not quite as heavy at this time in the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham area.

Still lots of rain off to the west of Alabama. Flash Flood watches continue for numerous counties in Mississippi and almost all of North Alabama generally north of I-20. Many areas have received close to two inches of rain.

The Flash Flood Watch continues well into Tuesday. There is also a slight risk of severe thunderstorms at some point Tuesday, most of those south of I-20

Some rain reports as of 10 pm from 3340 Skywatchers:

1.22 Roebuck
2.70 Remlap
2.05 Gardendale
1.65 Meadowbrook
1.58 Inverness
1.31 Jemison/Union Grove
1.12 Oxford
0.51 Muscadine
1.60 Munford
1.57 Concord/Hueytown
1.83 Palmerdale
1.32 Hayden
1.44 Odenville

This past weekend, I spent a day walking in the infamous footsteps of the most destructive hurricane in United States history. I spent the day in the Lakeview neighborhood, bounded on the west by the 17th Avenue Canal and the east by the London Avenue Canal.

Of course, the 17th Street Canal was breeched when substandard soils washed out from under the sheet metal pilings, which had not been sunk to a sufficient depth. The walls failed catastrophically along a 200 foot stretch of floodwall and Lake Ponchartrain flowed into the bowl of New Orleans under equilibrium was reached.

Please make sure to click on he photographs as they go by in the slideshow to read my captions.

While a soaking rain falls on Alabama tonight, serious winter weather problems are not too far away….

ARZ026>028-MOZ113-115-TNZ001>003-019-020-048-051-060900-
/O.UPG.KMEG.WW.Y.0002.000000T0000Z-090106T1500Z/
/O.NEW.KMEG.IS.W.0001.090106T0051Z-090106T1500Z/
CRAIGHEAD-POINSETT-MISSISSIPPI-DUNKLIN-PEMISCOT-LAKE-OBION-
WEAKLEY-DYER-GIBSON-LAUDERDALE-CROCKETT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…JONESBORO…HARRISBURG…BLYTHEVILLE…
KENNETT…CARUTHERSVILLE…UNION CITY…MARTIN…DRESDEN…
DYERSBURG…HUMBOLDT…MILAN
651 PM CST MON JAN 5 2009

…ICE STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CST TUESDAY…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED AN ICE STORM
WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CST TUESDAY. THE WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

MODERATE FREEZING RAIN WILL OCCUR OVER PARTS OF NORTHEAST
ARKANSAS…THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL AND NORTHWEST TENNESSEE THROUGH
THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. TOTAL ICE ACCUMULATIONS BETWEEN ONE QUARTER
TO ONE HALF INCH ARE LIKELY THROUGH 9 AM TUESDAY. ROADS AND
ESPECIALLY BRIDGES WILL BECOME HAZARDOUS. THERE MAY ALSO BE SOME
DOWNED TREES AND POWER LINES ACROSS THE WARNING AREA.

AN ICE STORM WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF ICE ACCUMULATIONS
WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. TRAVEL IS STRONGLY
DISCOURAGED. COMMERCE WILL LIKELY BE SEVERELY IMPACTED. IF YOU
MUST TRAVEL…KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT…FOOD…AND WATER IN YOUR
VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. ICE ACCUMULATIONS AND WINDS WILL
LIKELY LEAD TO SNAPPED POWER LINES AND FALLING TREE BRANCHES THAT
ADD TO THE DANGER.

Widespread rain over the entire north half of Alabama early this evening.

A soaking rain

The rain extends westward across the north half of Mississippi, North Louisiana and all of Arkansas.

At 6:40 pm, some of the heaviest rain in Alabama was across South Jefferson, Shelby and Chilton County. Heavy rain reported in Hoover and traffic is bad.

A Flash Flood Watch continues tonight and much of Tuesday for North Alabama, generally along and north of Interstate 20. This, of course, includes the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham-Anniston areas northward.

2 to 4 inches of rain possible.

A Flash Flood

Our pal Kevin Selle out in the Dallas/Fort Worth area (this is the famous Kevin Selle that is a regular on WeatherBrains) sent this photo to us this afternoon… and he writes:

“Many many things in DFW looking like this….”

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here. NO DULL MOMENTS: The highlights are the potential for strong to severe storms late tomorrow and tomorrow night, and an Arctic blast next week. We need [...] - [Read more]

On January 5, 1998, the worst ice storm in United States history was getting underway.

An arctic front was pushing through New York and Maine, bringing temperatures well below freezing across a all of northern New York and Maine. The cold air would overspread much of the Northeast before the front stalled.

Over the next five days, abundant moisture from the Gulf of Mexico would overspread the shallow cold airmass, a perfect setup for freezing rain. Between January 5th and 9th, periods of freezing rain would coat all exposed surfaces resulting in an unprecedented ice storm for New England and Quebec. Ice accumulations would be as much as three inches thick across parts of New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Tens of thousands of trees collapsed under the crushing weight of the ice. Travel was nearly impossible over a wide area. Power transmission towers and power lines would fall, leaving over three million people in the dark, some for as long as two weeks.

Even two weeks later, over 500,000 people would be without power in Quebec. The city of Montreal was especially hard hit. At one point, 80 percent of the homes and businesses in the state of Maine had no electricity.

Rainfall amounts over New England were the most ever observed during the first two weeks of January. This led not only to the unprecedented ice glaze, but combined with early snowmelt to produce historic flooding in parts of New England. Over 1,000 homes would have to evacuate in the face of the rising waters as the Black River reached a record crest in Watertown, NY.

The final toll for the severe ice storm and flood of 1998 was 7 deaths and $500 million in damage. Other deaths were attributed indirectly to the storm from carbon monoxide poisoning in homes without power.

It would be the worst ice storm in the United States since the 1994 ice storm across the southern states that caused $1 billion in damage.

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here. First off a big thank you to Brian Peters, Ashley Brand, J.B. Elliott, and Bill Murray for handling the Internet/TV/Radio duties while I was on [...] - [Read more]

Shortly after 2 am (when the whole world should be snoring) the strongest storms have now moved east out of these counties:

Cullman
Blount
Jefferson
Tuscaloosa
Pickens
Greene
Hale

The line of strongest storms and locally heavy rain was across these counties:

Etowah
St. Clair
Calhoun
Talladega
East and South Shelby
Bibb

Still producing locally heavy rain and enough lightning and thunder to keep you awake and frighten the dogs.

Only 0.29 rain at Birmingham Airport with these storms and 0.42 at Shelby County Airport. As much as 1.85 fell in parts of the City of Tuscaloosa.

These storms will continue eastward toward the Georgia border and they “should” continue to weaken.

This may be our last update but IF the storms do flare stronger, we will be back.

Gotta get up at 5 because that is when the coffee will be ready (first pot)

Interesting weather ahead for Alabama for the next two days (Monday/Tuesday) so stay tuned!

They are still marching eastward across North and Central Alabama.

Not a warning situation and we don’t think it will be. Last Severe Thunderstorm Warning with this family of storms was Sunday afternoon from NWS in Jackson.

At 1 am, the main storms were from Cullman and Blount County down across Jefferson, North Bibb, SE Tuscaloosa, South Pickens and NW Hale.

Moving almost due east. Heaviest rain was in these areas:

* North Jefferson from Downtown Birmingham north up I-65
* Along the Tuscaloosa/Bibb County border
* North Bibb County around Woodstock and West Blocton

Other storms were passing north of Fort Payne in NE Alabama.

Overall, a slow decrease in the intensity of these storms.

A band of moderate to strong thunderstorms now moving eastward through West Alabama.

Producing downpours of rain, gusty winds and considerable lightning.

As midnight approached the storms were mainly from Eastern Pickens County eastward across Winston, Walker and Tuscaloosa County.

Approaching West Jefferson County.

ABC 33/40 Skywatchers report 0.63 of an inch of rain in about 15 minutes at Taylorville, just south of Tuscaloosa on the Moundville highway. At Coker, in West Tuscaloosa County, rain was falling at the rate of 1.15 of an inch per hour, although only 0.15 actually measured so far.

33/40 Skywatcher reported a separate thunderstorm at Alabaster in Shelby County, down from the high school with heavy rain and lightning.

A line of rain and storms is over Northwest Alabama at this hour. It extends down into East Central Mississiippi, where it is poised to enter Marion, Lamar and Pickens Counties shortly.

The activity is just ahead of a cold front that will be pushing into Alabama overnight.

Columbus MS was reporting a thunderstorm at this hour. MSL reports lightning to the SE from the storms over Lawrence County.

There is some cold air right behind the front.

Columbus was 61F
Tupelo was 49F
Oxford was 43F
Olive Branch was 37F

No severe weather is anticipated overnight, although you could experience some lightning and thunder.

Thanks to ABC 33/40 Skywatcher Steve Smith for these images taken yesterday. He writes:

“James. Took this yesterday afternoon around Shorter on I-85. Looked a lot worse than what it really was! ”

Fog is becoming quite dense across Central and North Central Alabama tonight.

Some clearing right at sunset has allowed for rapid condensation of the moist air near the surface.

Visibilities have been reduced to less than a mile in several locations. Haleyville and Cullman all have visibilities of 1/4 mile. Albertville is down to 1/2 mile.

Officially at the Birmingham Airport, the visibility at 6 p.m. was 4 miles, but we are encountering visibilities of less than one mile along I-459 near Derby Parkway.

Be careful if you are going to be driving this evening. Slow down and use low beams if you encounter dense fog.

037
WFUS54 KJAN 042134
TORJAN
MSC021-029-042215-
/O.NEW.KJAN.TO.W.0001.090104T2134Z-090104T2215Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
334 PM CST SUN JAN 4 2009

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR…
NORTHWESTERN COPIAH COUNTY IN CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI…
EAST CENTRAL CLAIBORNE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI…

* UNTIL 415 PM CST

* AT 335 PM CST…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 7 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF CARPENTER…OR 24 MILES SOUTH OF VICKSBURG…MOVING
EAST AT 10 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR…
CARPENTER BY 410 PM CST…
CARPENTER AND 7 MILES WEST OF DENTVILLE BY 415 PM CST…

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE…SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES…EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE…LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT…LON 3205 9055 3190 9051 3194 9082 3203 9083
TIME…MOT…LOC 2135Z 263DEG 8KT 3199 9077

Fog and low clouds still have the northern half of the state fairly well socked in this afternoon.

A few showers are across the diagonal middle of the state

A decent shower was over St. Clair County from south of Ashville to near Pell City. Some brief heavy rain was located near the core of that cell.

Looking to the west, we see showers developing over Central Mississippi. Storms were developing over southwestern Mississippi into Louisiana, where the air was more unstable. They are forming ahead of a cold front that will move into Alabama tonight.

Those current showers will continue through the afternoon with the pre-frontal showers moving into the state overnight.

The front will stall over Central Alabama and come back north late Monday night or Tuesday morning as a warm front, setting the stage for a potential severe weather event Tuesday afternoon and evening across the state. We will be monitoring this situation carefully as it appears that the dynamics will be a big problem, creating the possibility of storms with damaging winds and even tornadoes.

Behind the front, there is also a chance that we could see a changeover to snow over parts of North and North Central Alabama late Tuesday night. We don’t anticipate any problems, but this type of system can potentially lay down an inch of snow. Stay tuned.

NEW ORLEANS DRENCHING LAST EVENING
4.98 at Armstrong International Airport as of 6 am today
4.87 New Orleans/Audubon
3.32 New Orleans/Lakefront

PLEASANTLY COOL
61 below zero this morning, Chalkyitsik, Alaska
5 above at Skagway, steady snow, gusts 52 mph, Wind chill-21

The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here. We’re just plain stuck with a weather pattern that will keep us cloudy and wet through early Wednesday before we rush back into winter. With a [...] - [Read more]

A line of thunderstorms has been oriented west to east across the River Parishes and the Greater New Orleans area since early this evening.

4.33 inches of rain has fallen officially at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport since 6 p.m.
Doppler radar estimates show a widespread area of 4 to 5 inch amounts from north of Thibodeaux to Hahnville to Kenner.

Several parishes are under flash flood warnings.

Rain continues to be heavy in the downtown area, with lots of thunder and lightning. The rain is diminshing to the west, thankfully.

Most of the thunderstorms had shifted eastward into Georgia and North Florida late tonight.

However, an area of rain lingered over North Central and Northeast Alabama generally from Fayette and Walker County northeastward.

Also, some new patches of generally light rain has developed further south over Greene, Hale and Bibb County southeastward to Montgomery.

We are also watching a separate west to east line of thunderstorms near the Mississippi Coast. The movement of those storms was more eastward and they may miss most of Central Alabama.

Rich moisture remains and other showers could form at anytime during the rest of tonight.

A line of storms is moving through the BHM metropolitan area right now. The NWS Doppler radar at Calera shows winds above 50 mph just 1,000 feet or so off the ground, so a few spots, especially on ridge tops may see some very gusty winds, and trees down. NWS reports a tree down on Park Avenue and 50th St in BHM a few minutes ago. These winds may also affect Walker, St. Clair, Blount, and Cullman counties in the next 30 minutes or so.

That line of thunderstorms continues to move north and NE through Central Alabama.

At 5:30, the leading north edge of thunderstorms was from just south of Tuscaloosa, to just north of Centreville and to near Jemison and Rockford.

Now approaching Shelby County and South Talladega County. Several counties came under Severe Thuinderstorm Warnings earlier this afternoon. Several reports of small hail, largest I have seen was 1/2 inch in diameter.

The storms seem to have weakened just a bit but too early to write them off.

NWS/Birmingham issued a Significant Weather Alert for Bibb and Tuscaloosa County until 6 o’clock. This is short of a warning. They were tracking a strong thunderstorm 8 miles south of Tuscaloosa near McFarland Mall and moving NE at 25.

Still considerable lightning in these storms. That has not decreased much.

Based on radar estimates, parts of Extreme South Alabama has received about three inches of rain.

Most of the north half of Alabama was dry at 3:45 this afternoon, but showers and storms were widespread over the southern counties, except extreme SE.

A lot of communities are getting big rain amounts from these storms as they move toward the NE. For a time, South/Central Dallas County was under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning.

The Storm Prediction Center maintains a Slight Risk of severe weather over the SW part of the state for the remainder of this afternoon and tonight. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was in effect for much of the day over SE Louisiana and Southern Mississippi. Around 2:35 this afternoon, hail up to the size of pennies was reported 4 miles SE of Carthage, Mississippi in Leake County.

The showers and storms were moving toward the NE steadily and those will be spreading into North/Central and North Alabama later this afternoon and tonight.

Lots of lighting over SW Alabama with these storms.

Here in Central Alabama, with intermittent groups of storms moving across, we could get over 3 inches of rain in the next 2 or 3 days. That will give us a big jump start on the 2009 total.

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH ALABAMA
How about that 62 below zero today at Chalkyitsik, Alaska? That will make the most warm-natured person in the world bundle up. It is extremely dangerous cold. These other temperatures:
51 below at Northway and Bettles, Alaska
53 below McGrath
56 below Eagle
54 below Dawson Creek, The Yukon
56 below at Mayo in the same general area

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
306 PM CST SAT JAN 3 2009

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR…
SOUTH CENTRAL DALLAS COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA…

* UNTIL 330 PM CST

* AT 302 PM CST…THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PENNY SIZE HAIL. THIS STORM WAS
LOCATED 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BELKNAP…OR 14 MILES NORTHEAST OF
CAMDEN…AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR…
BELKNAP AND DALLAS LAKE BY 320 PM CST…

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH…PREPARE
IMMEDIATELY FOR DAMAGING WINDS…HAIL…AND DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER…PREFERABLY
INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER…
CALL 1-800-856-0758.

The visibility as JB noted is horrible over much of North Alabama - a quarter of a mile or less in many location. But it should be improving as a warm front was moving slowly north and northeast across the state. As best I can tell, the warm front stretched from about Columbus, MS, to Tuscaloosa, to Alexander City to about Auburn based on 10 am observations. Visibility will improve dramatically as soon as the front passes your location.

My wife and I plus Cheyenne just got back from our morning walk and the visibility has gone way up in the 30 minutes or so that we walked.

Plus the temperature should climb about 6 degrees or so as the wind comes around to a more direct southerly wind.

Just lots of stuff happening in the weather today!!

-Brian-

It is only January 3rd, and already there is a severe weather watch out - number one! And it covers part of the Southeast US. Still watching the severe weather potential which SPC extended further east after I did the Weather Xtreme Video. It still looks pretty wet for us with 2 inches of rain possible over the next 24 hours or so.

First severe thunderstorm watch of 2009

And I could not help but add the satellite image below to the post. The bubbling tops in the storms over Louisiana are just fascinating to me. Great image.

Visible Satellite Image of Southeast US on January 3, 2009

-Brian-

Thick fog drapes alarge part of Alabama this morning.

Like a big wet blanket.

Mid morning visibility was only 1/4 mile at these locations among others:

Huntsville
Haleyville
Shelby County Airport
Auburn
Mobile

And a mere 1/8th of a mile at Birmingham Airport. (Translation: visibility is nil.)

Take it from me. I just got back from driving in several locations around NE Jefferson County. On the upper part of Chalkville Mountain Road near the Trussville WalMart and Sam’s Club, you could hardly read the license plate in front of you.

Same story all the way across Deerfoot Parkway. May not be a great improvement until around noon in some areas. Those two areas are “in the clouds”

And, would you believe that driving across Deerfoot in extremely poor visibility, that I had a tailgater all the way. Looks like I am going to have to launch a national campaign to “Stamp Out Tailgaters” (SOT)

You may also detect that I have not had enough sleep so I am outta here . . .

The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here. As the title implies, it looks like 2009 will start pretty wet with wet weather forecast from today through early Wednesday. This morning Central Alabama was [...] - [Read more]

Thanks to ABC 33/40 Skywatcher Mike Wilhelm for this image taken within the hour… he writes:

“James….Great wx outside the Superdome at 4:53. Mike Wilhelm”

Blog reader Bryan Perry sent in a picture after he read the Wednesday story about the 1963 New Years Eve snowstorm across the South.

I believe this is a picture from the 1964 snow that you wrote about yesterday. I’m not exactly sure when it was taken, but it looks like it says 64 on the car tag. I do know that’s my Great-Grandfather Harry Morris at the soybean processing plant where he worked, which was somewhere near Foley, AL.

With warm, moist air returning by tomorrow, and an upper-level disturbance approaching, it is possible that we could see a few strong thunderstorms, especially in areas south of I-20, tomorrow night.

With any sunshine, temperatures may rise into the 70s as far north as Tuscaloosa tomorrow, with mid to upper 60s in BHM. It will also be cool enough aloft so that the air will become unstable over central and southern Mississippi and Alabama tomorrow afternoon, and a line of storms could form.

Wind fields won’t be strong with this system, so the threat for tornadoes or straight-line winds should be isolated. However, the threat is high enough that SPC has placed south Alabama under a slight risk for severe weather tomorrow night. So, have a source of weather information handy tomorrow afternoon/overnight.

It’s a long way out there, but the models really show a shift toward a colder pattern next weekend, and with upper-level disturbances, we could see a little snow 7-10 days from now. We’ll see.

Light showers speckle the radar this afternoon across Central Alabama from Greene and Sumter Counties down to Choctaw and Marengo Counties, east northeastward through Chilton and Autauga Counties then over to Cleburne, Randolp and Chambers Counties on the Georgia border.

The heaviest showers extend from east of Wetumpka to Dadeville to Wedowee and down to Lafayette.

Other moderate to occasionally heavy showers are over South Alabama from Evergreen to east of Camden to south of Montgomery then down to Ozark and back to Evergreen.

Temperatures are in the lower and middle 50s from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham, with upper 40s over eastern Alabama.

Showers will continue over Central sections for the next few hours, but rainfall amounts will be light. Skies will remain mostly cloudy. Temperatures will be sort of steady state through the afternoon and even tonight. Look for lows to be in the 50s.

Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy and warm, with temperatures rising to around 70F. Showers and storms will return Saturday night. Severe weather will be possible Saturday night over southwestern Alabama, down around Mobile, Jackson, Monroeville and Evergreen.

No, we don’t have too much time on our hands…

We came across this list on the Environment Canada website listing the top weather events of the year north of the border.

The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here. The pattern has shifted a bit as Central Alabama goes into what is expected to be a fairly wet pattern for the next four or five days [...] - [Read more]

Here is my list of the top International Weather Events of 2008.

10. Australian Heat: Parts of Australia were experienced their longest heat wave on record in March. Adelaide suffered through its fifteenth consecutive day of temperatures of at least 95F. The previous record was 8 days! On March 14th at Adelaide, the overnight low was 86.4F, which was the warmest night ever there. Trains had to have their speeds restricted for fears that the heat would buckle tracks.

9. Middle Eastern Snow: On January 11th snow fell for the first time in living memory as extremely cold temperatures enveloped the Middle East and Central Asia. Up to 22 inches of snow fell in Iran. On January 30th, Jerusalem picked up eight inches of snow. Amman, Jordan received a foot!

8. Tiny Tropical Cyclone: Perhaps the smallest tropical cyclone on record Atlantic, Tropical Storm Marco sprang to life in the Bay of Campeche on October 6th. Before it made landfall the next morning in Mexico, its radius of tropical storm force winds was less than 10 miles, making it perhaps the smallest Atlantic named storm on record.

7. Earliest London Snow: London experienced its first October snow in over 30 years on October 28th. 1.2 inches of snow fell in High Wycombe. Flights were cancelled in Luton. There were several accidents on motorways. Flights were canceled.

6. Venice Flooding: Venice experienced its worst flooding since 1872 as a strong low pressure system drove water levels to 5.1 feet above normal. Venice continues to slowly sink even as water levels continue to rise as we move further and further away from the last Ice Age. A barrier system is being constructed that will protect the city from ocean intrusions, but it will not be completed until 2012.

5. Philippines Ferry Sinking: On June 21st, a ferry capsized off Sibuyan Island in the Philippines during Typhoon Fengshen, killing over 800 people. It is the worst martime disaster in the Philippines since 1987.

4. World Record Wind: As Hurricane Gustav crossed Cuba on the afternoon of August 30th, a wind gust of 212 mph was measured at the Paso Real de San Diego weather observatory. The anemometer was blown down, so gusts were actually higher. It is the highest gust ever measured in a hurricane and the highest wind reading ever made at a non-mountainous location, second only to the world’s highest reading, 231 mph atop Mt. Washington in New Hampshire on April 12, 1934.

3. Intense Tropical Cyclone Ivan: Ivan struck Madagascar on February 17. It was one of the largest tropical cyclones ever to strike Madagascar. A total of 83 people died.

2. Busy and Destructive North Atlantic Hurricane Season: The 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season was the third most costly on record. Total damage exceeded $45 billion. It was the sixth busiest season since 1851…with 16 named storms, 8 hurricanes and five major hurricanes. Cuba was hit by three major hurricanes. Six straight named storms made landfall in the U.S. Haiti had a terrible year, with four storms that brought torrential rains, floods and mudslides. Over 800 people died in Haiti.

1. Killer Cyclone: Tropical Cyclone Nargis became the strongest tropical cyclone to strike Asia since 1991 when it made landfall in Myanmar (Burma) on May 2nd. Peak winds were 115 knots or 130 mph. A 12 foot storm surge swept the Irrawaddy delta region and pummeled the country’s largest city, Yangon. The death toll was at least 146,000, but certainly was much greater because thousands were never found.

It has been an amazing month in Spokane. They have broken their record for most snowfall in ANY month.

NOUS46 KOTX 010842
PNSOTX

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
1240 AM PST THU JAN 01 2009

…DECEMBER 2008 SNOWIEST MONTH ON RECORD FOR SPOKANE…

AS OF DECEMBER 31TH AT MIDNIGHT…THE MONTHLY SNOW TOTAL FOR THE
SPOKANE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WAS 61.5 INCHES. THIS SNOW TOTAL RANKS
FIRST ON THE LIST OF SNOW TOTALS FOR ANY MONTH AND BREAKS THE PREVIOUS
RECORD OF 56.9 INCHES SET IN JANUARY OF 1950. SNOWFALL RECORDS HAVE
BEEN KEPT IN SPOKANE SINCE 1893.

THE TOP FIVE MONTHLY SNOW TOTALS FOR SPOKANE ARE…

1. DEC 2008 61.5 INCHES
2. JAN 1950 56.9 INCHES
3. JAN 1969 48.7 INCHES
4. JAN 1954 46.5 INCHES
5. DEC 1996 42.7 INCHES

Our Michelle Miklik forwarded these pictures from friends in Spokane…

Temperatures will fall quickly after sunset from the middle 50s that we experienced this afternoon.

We think they will fall into the lower 40s or so before they turn around and head up overnight as southeasterly wind start advecting warmer and more moist air into the state and clouds thicken.

If they get a little colder in some eastern sections, we could be looking at a little sleet or even light freezing rain in the hours after midnight.

So don’t be surprised to hear the snap, crackle and pop of a little sleet late tonight or early on Friday morning.

We don’t really anticipate travel problems, but please monitor temperatures and weather conditions if you will be driving late tonight or early in the morning.

The Spanish have a bit of interesting weather folklore. They believe that the weather on the first twelve days of January foretells the weather for the twelve months of the coming year. For example, if January 1st dawns cool and clear, then warms up during the day, then it rains that night, January will start off cool and clear, warm up at mid-month and be rainy toward the end of the month. The period is called the Cabanuelas, from the Spanish word cabana or small cabin. The twelve cabanas house the weather.

So, if you believe this piece of interesting folklore, here is a prediction of the weather for the coming 12 months in Central Alabama based on the forecast for the next twelve months:

JANUARY: should start out cool, then seasonable for the remainder of the month (yeah right…)

FEBRUARY: A wet start with seasonable temperatures, but dry for the second half of the month.

MARCH: Seasonable temperatures with above average precipitation.

APRIL: Warmer and wetter than normal.

MAY: Stormy and wet.

JUNE: Near normal temperatures and normal precipitation.

JULY: Wet and cool.

AUGUST: Cool.

SEPTEMBER: Cool with a wet start.

OCTOBER: Cool and wet.

NOVEMBER: Cool and dry.

DECEMBER: Cool and dry.

So that’s a tongue in cheek look at what 2009 looks like in Birmingham according to the Spanish Cabanuelas weather folklore. Kind of our own little Farmer’s Almanac, huh?

We will have to wait for the real results January 1-12 to update our predictions, as a lot will likely change in the real weather over the next twelve days.

As we head toward the noon hour, temperatures are climbing into the 50s across Central Alabama.

Skies are clear with near total sunshine.

Winds are picking up out of the southeast, and this is a precursor to changes that are ahead in Alabama’s weather.

Clouds will thicken late this afternoon, into the afternoon. Temperatures will fall into the lower 40s generally this evening before they stabilize, or maybe come back up a degree or two. Some light showers will develop overnight as moisture levels increase.

There has been some concern that temperatures might get cold enough for some wintry precipitation, but that looks extremely remote. We will be watching for the possibility that temperatures could get a little colder during the early evening hours before clouds move in, mainly over eastern sections.

There certainly could be a little sleet, especially on the onset of the precipitation overnight, but no problems are anticipated.

Expect a few showers tomorrow, but the best rain chances will be Saturdaynight and Monday night.

The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here. Happy New Year! 2009 is here! And it looks like it is shaping up to start relatively wet over the next week or so. [...] - [Read more]

Bear Bryant said later that the only thing that could have messed up his eighth ranked Alabama team’s chances in the 1964 Sugar Bowl against 6th ranked Ole Miss in New Orleans would have been if it were to snow.

Well, much to his chagrin, it did snow the night before the January 1st game in the Crescent City. It snowed an amazing 4 ½ inches. This picture shows snow covering the field at Tulane Stadium (site of the game before the Superdome was built) on the morning of January 1, 1964.

Photo from New Orleans Public Library

The “New Year’s Eve Snow” in the Deep South also dumped an incredible 19.2 inches at Muscle Shoals (still a record for the state of Alabama), 17.1 inches of snow on Huntsville. Much of Northwest Alabama was buried under 15-17 inches of snow. Roofs and awnings collapsed under the weight of the snow. The snow paralyzed much of the area for up to three days, closing schools and businesses.

To the south, 15 inches of snow fell at Meridian, and over 10 inches at Bay. St. Louis MS.

Mobile picked up two inches. Birmingham picked up 8.40 inches of snow, the fifth biggest snowstorm in the city’s history.

Oh, Alabama won the game by a 12-7 margin.

William Brennan, Acting Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has announced a long list of awards for the various components of that organization.

Among the awards were Bronze medals to three National Weather Service (NWS) offices in the Southeast US. These included:

WFO Huntsville, AL
For partnering with NASA and the University of Alabama to transition unique research application tools into operational decision support systems and for transferring these capabilities to other NOAA/NWS offices.

WFO Melbourne, FL
For providing life-saving severe weather outlooks and accurate tornado warnings for east central Florida during the 2006-07 severe weather season.

WFO Atlanta, GA
For performance widely acknowledged to have saved many lives during a seven-hour tornado outbreak in central Georgia on March 1, 2007.

Our congratulations go out to all the folks in those offices who have worked so hard to make these accomplishments happen!!

-Brian-

* 55.09 is going to be the final rain total for Birmingham Airport for 2008.

* 1.26 is the SURPLUS for the year

* 28.86 inches is how much we got last year, so we almost doubled that!

* 11.95 is how much rain Huntsville has received just this month. This brought the 2008 total to 48.30, not enough to prevent a 9.03 deficiency for the year.

* 57 below zero in Beaver Alaska this morning. That is awfully close to the dreaded 60 below zero mark.

* 54 below was the low this morning in Fort Yukon, Alaska, and I think it is ironic that that place once officially recorded 100 degrees, the all time high for the entire state of Alaska.

* 43 below was the low in Fairbanks after a “high” of 35 below yesterday. They have 15 inches of snow on the ground.

* 60 inches exactly is how much snow Spokane has received this month. They now have 21 inches on the ground and expecting more. That, by far is an all-time record for the biggest city in Eastern Washington. Seattle and Portland also had a lot of snow problems this month.

* Bismarck got a record 33 inches of snow this December, breaking the old record of 31 inches for that North Dakota city.

* 61 mph was a wind gust on Mt. Mitchell, N.C., earlier today. Grandfather Mountain experienced a gust to 64 mph. (Thanks to Larry Mason for drawing attention to that. He is vacationing in the area)

* 25 pounds additional weight loss is one of my New Years’s resolutions for 2009. I strongly believe in those although, unfortunately, most of mine are recycled from year to year. I know you don’t have that problem. Pop tarts, moon pies and doughnuts will become illegal except during one event.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas…and Happy New Year. Please don’t tailgate anyone in 2009 and don’t forget to signal when you change lanes or exit. It has become almost a lost art. That is my rant for this time. I draw tailgaters like flies even when I am doing the full speed limit.

The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here. Wow, what a beautiful day we had yesterday. But today winter has returned! And for most locations, the high for the day has already occurred [...] - [Read more]

Counting down my top ten Alabama weather events for 2008… 10. February Derecho: On February 26 a damaging wind event caused a widespread swath of destruction from east of Birmingham in Central Alabama into western Georgia. Winds of 60-70 mph were estimated across a wide area with gusts to over 100 mph in some areas. [...] - [Read more]

From Reader Brian K:

Bill:

You did great on the list–you picked more or less the same weather events that I would have. But now a question–how about making up a list of the top WORLDWIDE weather events? I know it might not be of as much interest to most people as the U.S. events list. I can already think of several to put on the world list–the big blizzard in China last winter, the unusual cold wave in Australia, the tornado in northern France that killed three people, etc.

Thanks Brian! Let’s do it! Help me come up with the top list of International Weather Events. Post yours in a comment below! I will owrk on it tonight and try to get it posted on Thursday.

The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here. Sorry for the headline!! Just couldn’t resist. What a gorgeous day on tap for Central Alabama after a chilly start. We should see temperatures [...] - [Read more]

Thanks to Sherry Blankenship for these images… she writes:

“Hi James,

Just wanted to share my “first official” white Christmas, we can only dream of snow like this on Christmas Day in Alabama. These pics were taken in Spring Creek, Nevada were my husband & I now live. It’s a lot different than Springville, Alabama that’s for sure.

We wish everyone at ABC 33/40 a Happy & Properous New Year”

Ashtabula, OH is in the lake effect snow belt of Lake Erie, like Buffalo. On December 29, 1876, Ashtabula was being buried by a major snowstorm, dumping huge amounts of snow on the small town.

At about 7:30 p.m., the Pacific Express, crack passenger train #5 of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway was rushing through the wild and bitter darkness, trying to make up time that it had lost earlier in its journey. Nearly two hours late, there were one hundred and fifty six people aboard the eleven coaches and two heavy engines.

As the train approached Ashtabula, it had to cross a 70 foot high double-track iron bridge over the Ashtabula River, less than 1000 feet from the station. Winds were blowing at gale force as the engineer backed off the throttle, preparing for his stop. He felt the track beneath his steam locomotive give way as he crossed the bridge, and he opened the throttle back wide open trying the clear the bridge.

The bridge crashed into the chasm of the frozen river, taking with it the other engine, two express cars, two baggage cars, three passenger coaches, one of them the smoking car, one drawing room coach, and three sleeping coaches. The populace of the small town rushed to the rescue, but ninety two people died in the disaster. Many of the deaths resulted from the blaze that started in the wreckage from the fires that heated the train cars.

It was determined that faulty construction led to the collapse of the bridge. As a result of the disaster, no more rail bridges were built that depended solely on iron trusses for their support. Steam heat would replace the dangerous wood and coal fired stoves that caused the fire in the Ashtabula crash and in other notable train wrecks.

Sadly, the railroad’s chief engineer and the designer of the bridge would take their lives following the disaster.

- Bill Murray

bill.murray@theweathercompany.com

Follow my weather history tweets on Twitter. I am wxhistorian.

The sun sets over the water of the Gulf of Mexico only around the winter solstice on the Alabama Gulf coast. I was honored to capture these scenes this evening from Gulf Shores. God knows what He is doing, you know…

Let me add that this has been one of the most enjoyable Alabama Gulf coast visits for me in my life, and I have been down here dozens of times over the years. The beach in late December is a special place.

You guys gave great advice to Matt in Altoona about setting his weather station up on the web…

Hi Bill,

-Matt

Check it out…add it to your RSS reader…and vote on whether we will see a significant snow this winter!

Counting down my top 20 U.S. Weather Events of 2008… 20. Sale of The Weather Channel in July to NBC Universal and two private equity firms for $3.5 billion. The main attraction may have been the 40 million unique visitors who type weather.com into their browsers every month. 19. New NHC Director named. [...] - [Read more]

The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here. The stalled front is finally on it’s way out with the sky clearing from the northwest early this morning. A few sprinkles occurred very early this [...] - [Read more]

Rain is spreading east northeast tonight over West Central Alabama. It extends from Bibb and Chilton Counties back through southern Greene, Hale, southern Sumter, Marengo and Choctaw Counties.

Moderate to heavy rain extended over the southern quarter of Mississippi and back into Southeast Louisiana.

The precipitation is being caused by an upper level disturbance swinging through the Mississippi Valley.

The rain should reach to near or just south of I-59 tonight.

Some one hour rainfall amounts are approaching one half inch with some isolated amounts to 3/4 of an inch. Not seeing any lightning at this time, but there has been some over southeastern Louisiana.

Our low pressure trough/surface front is located across South and Southeast Alabama this afternoon. It got left behind by yesterday’s powerful upper trough that zipped out to the northeast.

To the north, sun is prevalent from Columbus, MS to the Tri-cities of Northwest Alabama. South of that, it is cloudy until you get to Southeast Alabama where there is some sunshine.

Showers have continued through the morning and early afternoon in the vicinity of the trough. As Brian correctly noted this morning, a second upper trough is swinging quickly east out of the Plains and into the Mississippi Valley this afternoon. It is not as strong as yesterday’s trough, but it is enhancing showers and storms over Louisiana and southern Mississippi. Storms were occurring between Baton Rouge and St. Francisville. The advance guard has spread into Wilcox, Marengo, and Choctaw Counties.

The models are picking up on this activity, bringing it into Central Alabama tonight. Model trends indicate it might get as far north as a line from Livingston to Calera to Jacksonville, but radar trends indicate to me that it will make it to about the I-59 corridor.

Showers will be likely tonight now as far north as Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Gadsden. Rain chances will decrease north of this line. Some storms will be included the further south you go, most likely south of that Livingston to Calera to Anniston line.

So, we will have to totally redo the forecast for tonight. The new package will be out shortly.

According to 9 am weather observations, the front that brought a nice rain to much of Alabama early this morning was located roughly along a line from Atlanta to Montgomery to Mobile. And the rain was south of Interstate 20 in the eastern part of the state and southeast of Interstate 20/59 in the western part of the state.

There is not a lot of punch to move the front too much further south, but a weak short wave is forecast to move through the flow this evening. This short wave could be enough to allow the front to meander back northward a tad and bring rain back into the forecast for Central Alabama tonight.

Radar at 9:30 am showed a patch of light to moderate rain over Southeast Texas, so the my dry forecast for this evening may have to be adjusted to account for these developments. As always there will be lots of eyes watching developments with updates posted to keep you informed.

-Brian-

Matt is Altoona has his new weather station up and running and on the Weather Underground site. But he is looking for an inexpensive, reliable hosting site with good tools to help him get it on the web…can anyone help?

Hey Bill, just want ya to know I finally have my weather station up
and running through Weather Underground’s website. If you’d like to
check it out, just go to www.wunderground.com and type in Altoona, AL
in the forecast search. Mine shows up as Morton’s Chapel, Altoona.

Matt in Altoona

A few iPhone shots of an incredible sunrise at Gulf Shores this morning. This is the time of the year when the sun rises and sets over the water. Spectacular! I need to visit during the cold weather season more often….

The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here. The rain over night that brought rain to just about all of Central Alabama was moving out of the area this morning. Radar continued to show [...] - [Read more]

A long day of watching the weather is coming to an end…our line of storms has mellowed into a couple of slow moving bands of showers.

As the front has become parallel to the upper flow, it has slowed down. It may be with us longer than expected in the morning. Hopefully, we will add to our rainfall totals.

The threat for severe weather is over, if there was much of a threat by the time the system got into Alabama anyway. Just some gusty winds and nice showers for the rest of the early morning hours.

Let’s catch up in the morning. Brian will have the Weather Extreme video around 8 and we will look at the week ahead, including some football weather for Birmingham and New Orleans later today.

Incredible. Unprecedented. Historic. Astounding.

These are adjectives used to describe an unbelieveable five day lake effect snow blitz in Buffalo in December 2001.

After an unprecedented November in which no snow fell in the city, December made up for it.

It started on Christmas Eve in 2001, when 25.2 inches of snow fell in 24 hours, making it the third highest 24 hour snowfall total for the city and just one tenth of an inch from second place.

After a break late on Christmas Day, the intense band of lake effect snow meandered back across the city, dumping another 29.6 inches of snow between 7pm on the 26th and 7pm on the 27th, establishing the second place mark for 24 hour snowfall.

Twelve hours later, that record would be pushed back to third place as a whopping 24 hour total of 35.4 inches was recorded, just shy of the all time 24 hour total of 37.9 inches in December 1985.

But the five day total of 82.3 inches is far and away an all-time record, more than in any other single MONTH in Buffalo and very close to their seasonal average of 93.

Lake effect snow is dry and fluffy, so the maximum amount on the ground was 44 inches, also establishing an all time record.

Even as accustomed to heavy snowfalls as Buffalo is, this snowfall event virtually closed the city. Still, residents took the snows in stride. Schools were closed for the holidays and many people were taking an extended Christmas vacation.

Canada sent additional snow removal equipment as snow had to be removed in dump trucks.

Forecasters saw the event coming over a week in advance, knowing that unseasonably warm lake temperatures near 40 degrees and a weather pattern that would bring cold winds on a long fetch over Lake Erie would result in a massive snows. As long as the lake remains unfrozen, lake effect snows can happen.

As if on cue. the line is weakening as it approaches I-59 early this morning.

We thought the system would do that as its support ran off and left it.

The leading edge now extends from just west of Albertville to 10 miles nW of downtown Birmingham to just east of Tuscaloosa.

No reports of any severe weather in the past hour or so. There was a tree down in Hamilton when the line passed, that caused a power outage. A person was struck by lightning in Northwest Alabama, but no confirmation on condition.

I think you can rest easy for the remainder of the night, but keep that Weatheradio on alert just in case.

Probably the strongest segment of our slowly decaying line is entering Jefferson and about to enter Blount counties.

Significant weather alert til 2 a.m.

Wind gusts to 40-50 mph will accompany the line along with brief torrential rains. Not noticing much lightning, although there could be some.

Temperatures will drop about 10 degrees behind the line also.

Our line of storms is progressing across North and North Central Alabama early on this Sunday morning…

It extends from Decatur to Addison to Carbon Hill to Berry to Gordo and then to Aliceville.

The southern part of the line is much weaker…particularly that portion south of Gordo.

The potent part of the line will produce 40-50 mph winds as it passes. Areas that will see the brunt of this include…
…northern Tuscaloosa County
…much of Walker County
…eastern Winston County
…Cullman County
…Morgan County
…and points eastward

The line should reach downtown Birmingham around 1:30-1:45 a.m., Gadsden around 2:00-2:15 a.m. and Anniston around 3 a.m.

The threat of severe weather is low, although we can’t rule out isolated gusts to severe limits with any bow echoes that develop.

LATE REPORTS
Rayne in Walker County reports very heavy rain and estimated gusts to 40 mph. The Walker Co. portion of the line has been showing a bit of a bow echo and could produce some stronger wind gusts around and above Jasper. Cullman County should be alert also.

Bobby Tiiney in Plantersville reported a 42 mph gust and lots of lightning as the cell in Central Alabama blew past him at 50 mph. Those cells have grown over East central Alabama from Talladega to Ashland to Rockford. Moving NE toward Carrollton GA.

Power is out to the NW side of Hamilton after a rotten tree fell on a power line.

Melissa Wilson reports a 40 mph gust in Hamilton as the line passed. Matt reported a 39 mph gust at the High School.

We have a report of a lightning victim in Lauderdale County around Zip City. EMS responding.

Our line extends from Pickensville to Macedonia to Millport to Winfield and Brilliant to Haleyville to west of Moulton.

A large cluster of heavy showers was over Central Alabama southwest of Clanton, moving rapidly NE toward Clanton, Talladega Springs and Childersburg.

With all the attention on the line of storms in Northwest Alabama….it is easy to miss the developing showers over South Central Alabama.

We have a developing storm on the Dallas/Autauga County line west southwest of Billingsley. Movement is NE at 55 mph.

Another cell was developing north of Clanton.

It is part of a broadening band of showers and developing storms from Etowah and Calhoun Counties through Talladega and Clay into Coosa, Chilton, Autuaga, Elmore, Montgomery and Lowndes Counties.

NORTHWEST LINE PROGRESS UPDATE
It extends from Leighton to Phil Campbell to Guin to west of Macedonia now. Moving east 25-30 mph. Winds will gust to 40-50 mph with very heavy rain, some lightning.

No watches or warnings right now…just significant weather alerts.