Heavy Snow, Blount
- When
- March 20, 12:00 AM CST to 2:00 AM CST
- Where
- Blount forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 33.981, -86.567 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Alabama, March 20, 2001
The first day of spring brought a mixed bag of precipitation to Alabama. An upper level low pressure system caused a steady heavy rain to fall late on the 19th and into the morning of the 20th.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 12 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 12
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 BMX wrote it up.
The first day of spring brought a mixed bag of precipitation to Alabama. An upper level low pressure system caused a steady heavy rain to fall late on the 19th and into the morning of the 20th. Most locations received 2 to 4 inches of rainfall during the overnight hours. Minor urban flooding was reported with the heavy rains and caused area rivers to rise. Toward the end of the event, the rain changed to a mixture of rain, sleet, and snow in many areas. The heavy wet snow accumulated in several locations, mainly on grassy and elevated surfaces, with depths reaching up to 10 inches at some higher elevations. The snow quickly melted in a majority of the locations and was completely gone by late morning. Many of the counties affected reported heavy accumulating snow while some parts of these same counties received no snow at all. Elevation differences across the region did not appear to play a part in where snow fell or in the accumulation. Elevation differences contributed to the snow last on the ground for a longer period. Throughout the event, temperatures across the region remained above 32 degrees, except for a few higher elevations in northeast Alabama where temperatures fell to near 30 degrees. Some heavy wet snow did accumulate on roadways. Blount, St. Clair, Morgan, Jackson, Dekalb, and Etowah counties reported brief snow accumulations on the roads with many slick spots. The heavy snow knocked down some trees and power lines in Blount and Morgan counties. Many areas surrounding the counties listed did see a rain and snow mixture, but no significant accumulations were reported. Some maximum snowfall total reports included: Blount 4 to 7 inches Morgan 2 to 8 inches St. Clair 4 to 10 inches Jackson 4 to 10 inches Dekalb 4 to 10 inches Shelby 3 to 5 inches Jefferson 3 to 5 inches Talladega 3 to 5 inches Limestone, Cherokee, Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Randolph, Chambers, Tallapoosa, Coosa, Chilton, Autauga, Dallas, Elmore, Montgomery, Bullock, Macon, Lee, and Russell counties reported snowfall with accumulations less than 2 inches.
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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 19, 8:55 PM CST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 19, 8:55 PM CST, 3 hours 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 855 PM CST MON MAR 19 2001 WE HAVE BEEN RECEIVING REPORTS FROM OUR EXTREME NORTHERN COUNTIES OF RAIN MIXED WITH SLEET AND SNOW. BMX AND UPSTREAM ATL SOUNDING INDICATES AN ELEVATED SUB-FREEZING LAYER FROM 3-5K FEET AGL. LATEST MESO-ETA BRINGS A POCKET OF -3 C AT 925 MB ACROSS NORTH ALABAMA OVERNIGHT. WILL UPDATE ZONES TO INCLUDE MIXED PCPN. STEADY RAIN CONTINUES ACROSS MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA...WITH AMOUNTS AROUND ONE-TENTH OF AN INCH PER HOUR. WITH LOW LEVEL DRY INTRUSION ADVECTING IN FROM THE EAST...RAINFALL HEAVY ENOUGH TO PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING APPEARS UNLIKELY TONIGHT. SURFACE TEMPS SHOULD NOT FALL MUCH OVERNIGHT AS AIRMASS ALREADY SATURATED. .BHM...NONE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
12 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Dekalb
- When
- March 20, 12:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
- Where
- Dekalb forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 34.460, -85.804 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Jackson
- When
- March 20, 12:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
- Where
- Jackson forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 34.779, -85.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Madison
- When
- March 20, 12:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Madison forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 34.763, -86.550 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Marshall
- When
- March 20, 12:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
- Where
- Marshall forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 34.367, -86.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Morgan
- When
- March 20, 12:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
- Where
- Morgan forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 34.454, -86.853 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Cullman
- When
- March 20, 2:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
- Where
- Cullman forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 34.132, -86.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Etowah
- When
- March 20, 2:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
- Where
- Etowah forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 34.045, -86.035 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Jefferson
- When
- March 20, 2:00 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
- Where
- Jefferson forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 33.554, -86.896 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Shelby
- When
- March 20, 2:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Shelby forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 33.264, -86.661 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, St. Clair
- When
- March 20, 2:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
- Where
- St. Clair forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 33.716, -86.315 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Talladega
- When
- March 20, 2:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
- Where
- Talladega forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 33.380, -86.166 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood in South Carolina, March 20, 2001
- Flood in South Carolina, March 20, 2001
- High Wind in Georgia, March 20, 2001
- High Wind in North Carolina, March 20, 2001
- Flash Flooding in North Carolina, March 20 to 21, 2001
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in North Carolina, March 20 to 21, 2001
- Winter Storm in Tennessee, March 20 to 21, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Florida, March 20, 2001
- High Wind in South Carolina, March 20, 2001
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, March 20, 2001
- High Wind in North Carolina, March 20 to 21, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Virginia, March 20 to 21, 2001
More
Every storm in Alabama in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, March 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: 5236851, 5236853, 5236855, 5236857, 5236858, 5236859, 5236852, 5236854, 5236856, 5236860, 5236861, 5236862.