Winter Storm in Alabama, February 5 to 6, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Alabama, February 5 to 6, 2002
Start: 2002-02-05T23:30
End: 2002-02-06T16:00
Location: Alabama

February 5 to 6, 2002 · NWS BMX · 16 events in 16 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 16 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: $30,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 16

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.

A weak winter storm occurred across northern Alabama mainly during the early morning hours of February 6th. The precipitation began as rain during the evening of February 5th and changed over to a mixture of freezing rain, sleet, and snow just after midnight in many locations. The precipitation changed back to rain before ending the afternoon of the 6th. One quarter inch of ice accumulated on many elevated surfaces such as trees, bridges, and power lines as the temperatures dipped below freezing. Most of the western counties received only a brief accumulation of ice and snow before the temperature rose above freezing. The hardest hit areas included Jackson, Dekalb, and Cherokee counties where the freezing precipitation lasted longer at higher elevations. In these counties, one quarter inch of ice accumulated on many elevated surfaces along with an inch of snow. Several tree limbs, trees, and power lines fell due to bearing the extra weight of the ice. Many elevated road surfaces and bridges were iced over briefly causing several accidents. Around 11:50 PM, a 21 year old woman was killed in Morgan County when she was ejected from a vehicle and thrown into the Tennessee River. The accident occurred when vehicles lost control on the icy roads. The impact of this winter event was not extensive because it lasted only a short period of time and the icy conditions occurred during the late night hours in most locations.

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 Feb 5, 11:14 PM CST, 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 5, 11:14 PM CST, 16 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL
1114 PM CST TUE FEB 05 2002

WILL PRETTY MUCH CONTINUE WITH THE CURRENT ADVISORY/WARNING AREA.
HOWEVER...I WILL BREAK THEM UP A LITTLE MORE.  EXTREME SOUTHERN
AREA OF THE ADVISORY AREA WILL WORD AS RAIN/SLEET MIXTURE.  THE
NORTHERN HALF OF THE ADVISORY WILL BE WORDED AS A RAIN/FREEZING
RAIN/SLEET MIXTURE.

EVEN THOUGH OBSERVATIONS IN THE ADVISORY AREA ARE JUST ABOVE
FREEZING...WITH DEWPOINTS CLOSE TO 32 DEGREES...THERE ARE OUTLYING
AREAS THAT ARE BELOW AT OR JUST BELOW FREEZING.  THIS IS THE
REASONING FOR CONTINUING THE ADVISORY AREA EVERYWHERE.

FOR THE WARNING AREA...THE BREAKUP WILL BE AS FOLLOWS:  FOR
NORTHEASTERN ALABAMA...PLAN ON MIXTURE OF SLEET...FREEZING RAIN...AND
SNOW.  WILL ALSO ADD RIDGETOP WORDING FOR POSSIBLE HIGHER
ACCUMULATIONS OF ICE.  THE REMAINDER OF THE WARNING AREA WILL BE
WORDED WITH SLEET...FREEZING RAIN...AND SNOW ALSO...BUT WITH LOWER
TOTALS.

IN THE WARNING AREA...ONCE AGAIN...OUTLYING AREA COULD BE BELOW THE
FREEZING MARK.  WEVE HAD REPORTS ACROSS NORTHEASTERN ALABAMA ON
THE RIDGETOPS OF TEMPERATURES AT 34 DEGREES.  THOSE SHOULD BE BELOW
FREEZING BY MORNING.

UPDATES WILL BE OUT BY MIDNIGHT WHEN THE CURRENT WSW FOR
SOUTHWESTERN AREAS EXPIRES.

.BHM...ALZ001>011-014-016>021-026 WINTER STORM WARNING OVERNIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY MORNING
ALZ012-013-015-022>025-027>029-034>038-047 WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY
OVERNIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING

73

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

16 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Colbert

When: February 5, 11:30 PM CST to February 6, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Colbert forecast zone
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.700, -87.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dekalb

When: February 5, 11:30 PM CST to February 6, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Dekalb forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.460, -85.804 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Franklin

When: February 5, 11:30 PM CST to February 6, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Franklin forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.442, -87.844 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jackson

When: February 5, 11:30 PM CST to February 6, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.779, -85.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lauderdale

When: February 5, 11:30 PM CST to February 6, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Lauderdale forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.901, -87.654 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Limestone

When: February 5, 11:30 PM CST to February 6, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Limestone forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.810, -86.981 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Madison

When: February 5, 11:30 PM CST to February 6, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Madison forecast zone
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.763, -86.550 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Morgan

When: February 5, 11:30 PM CST to February 6, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Morgan forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.454, -86.853 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lawrence

When: February 6, 12:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where: Lawrence forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.522, -87.311 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cherokee

When: February 6, 12:30 AM CST to 3:00 PM CST
Where: Cherokee forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.176, -85.604 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Marion

When: February 6, 1:00 AM CST to 4:00 AM CST
Where: Marion forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.137, -87.887 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Calhoun

When: February 6, 2:00 AM CST to 4:00 AM CST
Where: Calhoun forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.771, -85.826 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cleburne

When: February 6, 2:00 AM CST to 4:00 AM CST
Where: Cleburne forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.675, -85.519 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cullman

When: February 6, 2:00 AM CST to 4:00 AM CST
Where: Cullman forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.132, -86.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Etowah

When: February 6, 2:00 AM CST to 4:00 AM CST
Where: Etowah forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.045, -86.035 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Winston

When: February 6, 2:00 AM CST to 4:00 AM CST
Where: Winston forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.149, -87.374 (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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, February 2002

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: 5283179, 5283181, 5283183, 5283184, 5283185, 5283187, 5283188, 5283190, 5283186, 5283177, 5283189, 5283176, 5283178, 5283180, 5283182, 5283191.