Winter Storm in Alabama, January 1, 2001

Name: Winter Storm in Alabama, January 1, 2001
Start: 2001-01-01T03:00
End: 2001-01-01T09:00
Location: Alabama

January 1, 2001 · NWS MOB · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

A Winter Storm produced a band of snow across portions of Southwest Alabama. One-half to one inch of snowfall accumulated generally along and north of a Chatom to Camden line.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MOB wrote it up.

A Winter Storm produced a band of snow across portions of Southwest Alabama. One-half to one inch of snowfall accumulated generally along and north of a Chatom to Camden line. Some locations between Butler and Thomasville reported snowfall accumulations of about one inch. The wintery weather resulted in no injuries, and travel across the region was not significantly impacted.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 1, 2:58 AM CST, 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 1, 2:58 AM CST, 2 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
245 AM CST MON JAN 01 2000

DAY 1 PICTURE BREAKS OUT LIKE THIS.  CURRENT SWAVE IS MOVING ACROSS
NE AL AND IS DEPARTING REGION.  AS EXPECTED...THE AFOREMENTIONED
NEVER COUPLED WITH SFC LO PRES IN THE SW GLFMEX EARLIER TODAY.  THUS
EXPECT CURRENT AREA OF PCPN TO SPLIT NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AS UPPER
ENERGY DEPARTS.  AT THE MOMENT...CURRENT BAND OF S- IS DUSTING
VEHICLES IN WASHINGTON...CHOCTAW AND CLARKE AL COUNTIES AS IT MOVES
EAST.  REPORTS INDICATE THAT BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES ARE GETTING
SLICK...BUT RADAR TRENDS INDICATE THAT MUCH LESS THAN A HALF INCH
CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH DAY BREAK.  THUS...CURRENT ZONE WORDING LOOKS
GOOD FOR LITTLE OR NO ACCUMULATION.  LATER TODAY...SHORT TERM
LIGHT WINTER PCPN THREAT WILL SHIFT SWD INTO COASTAL ALABAMA AND
PERHAPS AS FAR EAST AS SOUTHERN SANTA ROSA COUNTY FL.  REGARDING
LATTER SCENARIO AND GIVEN PRESENT RADAR AND SATELLITE TRENDS...FEEL
THAT SCATTERED PATCHES OF LIGHT SNOW AND PERHAPS SLEET WILL OCCUR
THROUGH MIDDAY OVER SW 1/4 CWA.  00Z ETAAVN NOW KEEP BULK MAJORITY
OF PCPN OFFSHORE THIS AFTERNOON AS WEAK SFC LOW GETS INTO ACT AND
MOVES SLOWLY E ACROSS CENTRAL GLFMEX.

VIEWING SATELLITE AND SFC DATA...DO FEEL THAT NEITHER MODEL DID A
GOOD JOB INITIALIZING THE SFC LOW IN SW GLFMEX.  THUS...SOME
ADJUSTMENT OF THE PCPN TO THE N IS IN ORDER.  AT BEST AND LOOKING AT
UPSTREAM REPORTS AND MODEL FORECAST SOUNDINGS... GENERALLY LESS THAN
.03 INCHES OF LIQUID EQUIVALENT IS EXPECTED AT BEST.  ALL SAID
...WILL KEEP CURRENT WWA GOING THROUGH 15Z IN SE MS...AND WILL NOT
EXTEND ANY FURTHER E DESPITE CURRENT REPORTS AND DSPTG RADAR TRENDS
ON W EDGE OF PCPN AREA.  WILL MENTION LITTLE OR NO ACCUMULATION
REMAINDER OF ZONES.  WILL MENTION FLURRIES OVER REMAINDER OF CENTRAL
AND NE CWA SINCE DYNAMICS ARE LIFTING NE SO FAST AND MUCH DRIER AIR
IS PRESENT TO THE NE.  FOR DAY 2 AND BEYOND...SPRAWLING ARCTIC HIGH
WILL BUILD AND DEVELOP INTO REGION WITH NLY FLOW THROUGHOUT DAY 3.
NEXT MID TROP SWAVE IMPENGES ON REGION LATE TUE...BUT IS VERY
MOISTURE STARVED.  MAY INCREASE MIDHIGH CLOUDS LATE DAY TUE OVER
NRN CWA.

WILL MAKE DOWNWARD ADJUSTMENTS TO MOS TEMPS FOR TODAY.  MAV MINS
APPEAR TO COOL FOR TNT AT THIS POINT.  WILL LOOK AT THIS IN MORE
DETAIL LATER.

ON MARINE...SCA EXERCISE CAUTION TNT GMZ-670-675.

THANKS FOR COORD JAN...TLH AND NEW.  HAPPY NEW YEAR

23

.MOB...
AL...NONE.
FL...NONE.
MS...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MSZ067-075-076-078-079 UNTIL 15Z MONDAY.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Choctaw

When: January 1, 3:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
Where: Choctaw forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 32.020, -88.263 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Clarke

When: January 1, 3:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
Where: Clarke forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 31.677, -87.831 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Marengo

When: January 1, 3:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
Where: Marengo forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 32.248, -87.789 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Monroe

When: January 1, 3:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
Where: Monroe forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 31.571, -87.365 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Washington

When: January 1, 3:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 31.408, -88.208 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wilcox

When: January 1, 3:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
Where: Wilcox forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 31.989, -87.308 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alabama in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, January 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5228044, 5228045, 5228046, 5228047, 5228048, 5228049.