Heavy Snow, Chambers
- When
- January 3, 5:00 AM CST to 10:30 AM CST
- Where
- Chambers forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 32.914, -85.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Alabama, January 3, 2002
A second round of snow less than 24 hours after a heavy snow affected a number of counties in eastern Alabama with five counties reporting 2 to 3 inches of additional snow. Several other counties to the west and south of these five also received snow with amounts less than 2 inches.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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
- 5
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 second round of snow less than 24 hours after a heavy snow affected a number of counties in eastern Alabama with five counties reporting 2 to 3 inches of additional snow. Several other counties to the west and south of these five also received snow with amounts 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 Jan 3, 2:56 AM CST, 2 hours 4 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 3, 2:56 AM CST, 2 hours 4 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 256 AM CST THU JAN 03 2002 UPPER LOW CENTER NEAR THE AR/LA/MS BORDER AT 3 AM WITH VORT MAX PUSHING EASTWARD INTO WEST ALABAMA. VORT MAX PRODUCING WELL DEFINED NORTH TO SOUTH RADAR REFLECTIVITY MAXIMUM...WITH SURFACE OBS REPORTING VSBYS BELOW 3 MILES. THE VORT MAX IS DOING WHAT THE MODELS PREDICTED...WITH INCREASING COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OF SNOW AS IT ENCOUNTERS DEEPER MOISTURE OVER EAST ALABAMA. SNOW ADVISORY SHOULD COVER CURRENT SITUATION...BUT WITH TEMPS A FEW DEGREES COLDER OVER EAST ALABAMA...WILL MONITOR AND DECIDE IF SNOWFALL RATES JUSTIFY UPGRADING ADVISORY. MOST OF THE SNOW SHOULD BE EAST OF ALABAMA BY 16Z...AS UPPER LOW CENTER MOVES INTO GEORGIA BY 18Z. WILL KEEP MOSTLY CLOUDY CONDITIONS EAST OF INTERSTATE 65 FOR TODAY...BUT WILL LIKELY INDICATE CLEARING OVER WEST ALABAMA. WITH CLEARING SKIES TONIGHT...AND SURFACE WINDS DIMINISHING...TEMPS WILL DROP INTO TEENS ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH ALABAMA. SOME HIGH CLOUDS WILL SPILL INTO ALABAMA EARLY SATURDAY AS NEXT STORM SYSTEM GETS GOING OVER TEXAS. APPEARS RAIN WILL ARRIVE LATE IN THE DAY...MAYBE EVEN AFTER SUNSET SATURDAY. RAIN BECOMING LIKELY WORKS FOR ME... SINCE THE FORECAST DAY RUNS UNTIL MIDNIGHT. MRF/AVN MOVING OUT MOISTURE QUICKER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS...WITH NOT AS MUCH WARP AROUND MOISTURE ON SUNDAY. THERE STILL IS THE POTENTIAL THOUGH FOR WINTRY PCPN SUNDAY MORNING ACROSS NORTH ALABAMA. HSV EU 034/018 042/025 048 58300 BHM EU 036/020 045/025 050 58300 MGM CU 037/020 048/023 055 58300 .BMX... AL...SNOW ADVISORY THRU MID MORNING ZONES 18>21..27>29.. 36>38..43>50.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Cleburne
- When
- January 3, 5:00 AM CST to 10:30 AM CST
- Where
- Cleburne forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 33.675, -85.519 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Lee
- When
- January 3, 5:00 AM CST to 10:30 AM CST
- Where
- Lee forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 32.601, -85.356 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Randolph
- When
- January 3, 5:00 AM CST to 10:30 AM CST
- Where
- Randolph forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 33.294, -85.459 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Russell
- When
- January 3, 5:00 AM CST to 10:30 AM CST
- Where
- Russell forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 32.288, -85.185 (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
- Dense Fog in California, January 3, 2002
- Winter Storm in North Carolina, January 3, 2002
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 3, 2002
- Winter Storm in North Carolina, January 3 to 4, 2002
- High Surf in Hawaii, January 3 to 4, 2002
- Heavy Snow in South Carolina, January 3, 2002
- Winter Storm in Maryland, January 3, 2002
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Virginia, January 3, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Georgia, January 3, 2002
- Heavy Snow in South Carolina, January 3, 2002
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 3, 2002
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Maryland, January 3, 2002
More
Every storm in Alabama in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, January 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: 5279985, 5279986, 5279987, 5279988, 5279989.