The morning low temperature observed at the Huntsville International Airport was 18 degrees. This temperature established a new record low temperature.
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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.
The episode as NWS BMX wrote it up.
The morning low temperature observed at the Huntsville International Airport was 18 degrees. This temperature established a new record low temperature. The previous record low was 24 degrees set in 1993.Muscle Shoals reported a new record low of 18 degrees.The morning low temperature measured at the Birmingham International Airport was 17 degrees. This cold reading established a new record low temperature. The previous record low was 19 degrees set in 1935.Several other locations across central Alabama reported new record lows including Anniston at 16 degrees, Tuscaloosa at 18 degrees, and Pinson at 13 degrees.The morning low temperature recorded at Dannelly Field was 17 degrees. This cold reading established a new record low temperature.
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 Feb 28, 3:24 AM CST, 2 hours 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 324 AM CST THU FEB 28 2002 ASIDE FROM THE IMMEDIATE NEAR TERM (CLEAR AND COLD)...ANOTHER TRICKY LITTLE FORECAST. GRADUAL WARMING TREND BEGINNING THIS AFTERNOON AND LASTING THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. HOWEVER...MOISTURE RETURN AND NEXT SERIES OF SHORTWAVES WILL BRING RAIN CHANCES BACK INTO THE FORECAST. ANOTHER COLD FRONT ULTIMATELY FORECAST TO MOVE THROUGH ON SUNDAY. TIMING AND PLACEMENT ON MOISTURE RETURN IS REALLY ALL OVER THE PLACE...AS FAR AS THE MODELS GO. AVN SEEMS TO BE THE WETTEST... BOTH DURING THE INITIATING STAGES AND WINDING DOWN STAGES OF THIS PARTIULCAR SYSTEM. INITIAL THINKING IS THAT ETA IS SHOWING ITS RECENT BIAS OF NOT BRINGING IN OVERRUNNING PRECIP QUICK ENOUGH. AVN MAY BE A BIT OVERDONE AT FIRST...BUT I THINK WITH SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FROM AT GEM...NOGAPS...AND UK MODELS...THAT LIKELY POPS ARE JUSTIFIED FOR SATURDAY. THINK THAT MAIN THRUST OF PRECIP WILL COME AHEAD OF FROPA...SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. HOWEVER...WITH BIG POSITIVELY TILTED VORT LOBE LAGGING BEHIND...AND NOT FORECAST TO MOVE THROUGH UNTIL SUNDAY... WILL HAVE TO HANG ON TO POPS THROUGH SUNDAY AS WELL. STRENGTH OF COLD AIR COMING IN ON THE TAIL END OF THE SYSTEM JUSTIFIES KEEPING MENTION OF SNOW IN NORTHERN SECTIONS. CONFIDENCE FACTOR IN THE FORECAST DROPS OFF RAPIDLY AFTER TONIGHT...SO USERS CAN EXPECT QUITE A FEW TWEAKS AND ADJUSTEMENTS IN THE FORECAST BETWEEN NOW AND THE WEEKEND. HSV 046/025/056/042/053 0016 BHM 048/025/057/045/055 0026 MGM 050/025/060/047/058 0026 .BHM...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
The morning low temperature observed at the Huntsville International Airport was 18 degrees. This temperature established a new record low temperature. The previous record low was 24 degrees set in 1993.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, February 2002
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: 5283169, 5283170, 5283171, 5283172, 5283173, 5283174, 5283175.