Alabama, 2001

Extreme Cold in Alabama, May 23, 2001

May 23, 2001 · NWS BMX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 extreme cold/wind chill, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 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 May 23, 2:20 AM CST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 2:20 AM CST, 3 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL
320 AM CDT WED MAY 23 2001

BIG UPPER LOW WILL CONTINUE TO SPIN ACROSS EASTERN HALF OF THE
COUNTRY THROUGH THE SHORT RANGE.  SERIES OF SHORTWAVE TROFS WILL
BRING WAVES OF CLOUDINESS AND PRECIP TO TN VALLEY.  ONE AREA OF
RAIN LOOKS LIKE IT WILL SKIM NORTH OF AL TODAY...ALTHOUGH A FEW
SPRINKLES MAY SLIP AS FAR SOUTH AS ALS TN VALLEY.  STRONGER (AND
FARTHER SOUTH) SHORTWAVE APPROACHES AREA TONIGHT...WHICH WILL MEAN
GOOD RAIN CHANCES FOR NORTHERN HALF OF STATE.  GIVEN STRENGTH OF
COLD POCKET ALOFT...AND OTHER POINTS IN THE SPC SWODY1...WILL
MENTION POSSIBILITY OF TSTMS IN NORTH TONIGHT.

REST OF FORECAST LOOKS SIMILAR...AS LOW DOESNT GET KICKED OUT
UNTIL EARLY NEXT WEEK.

HSV 076/055/073/051 1533
BHM 078/056/076/053 0533
MGM 083/056/080/056 0233

.BHM...NONE.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Madison

When
May 23, 6:00 AM CST
Where
Madison forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
34.763, -86.550 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The low temperature of 47 degrees tied the record low for this date which was first set in 1963.

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alabama in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, May 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: 5244752.