Light snow fell behind a cold front atop the Cumberland Plateau. Three tenths of an inch fell at the University of the South in Sewanee located in Franklin County.
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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 HUN wrote it up.
Light snow fell behind a cold front atop the Cumberland Plateau. Three tenths of an inch fell at the University of the South in Sewanee located in Franklin County.
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 Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 2, 5:45 AM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 545 AM CST MON FEB 2 2009 .UPDATE...FOR 12Z TAFS. && .AVIATION...MVFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AT KHSV AND KMSL AS A LINE OF SHOWERS ACCOMPANIES A COLD FRONT MOVING ACROSS THE AREA. A FEW WET SNOWFLAKES MIXING IN WITH THE SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL BE POSSIBLE AT KHSV...AND IS THE REASONING FOR THE TEMPO FROM 12-15Z. AS SHOWERS END FROM WEST TO EAST DURING THE LATE MORNING/EARLY AFTN HOURS...VFR CONDITIONS WILL RETURN TO KMSL ARND 15-16Z...AND AT KHSV ARND 17-18Z...WITH SKIES BECOMING CLEAR BY 00Z. && .DISCUSSION.../ISSUED AT 415 AM CST/... LATEST /09-10Z/ SFC OBSERVATIONS INDICATE COLD FRONT HAS MADE IT THROUGH NORTHWEST ALABAMA AND MUCH OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE... MARKED BY AN ABRUPT WIND SHIFT TO THE NORTH AND TEMPS COOLING SEVERAL DEGREES PER HOUR. SHOWERS ARE BECOMING MORE WIDESPREAD ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WITH LOCALLY MODERATE/HEAVY RAIN SEEN ACROSS AREAS SOUTH OF TN RIVER ATTM. EARLIER...SHALLOW INVERSIONS ALLOWED TEMPS TO FALL TO THE MID 30S AROUND FT PAYNE AND ALONG THE I-59 CORRIDOR...BUT K4A9 HAS NOW WARMED UP TO 41F. AHEAD OF THE FRONT... TEMPS ARE GENERALLY IN THE MID/UPR 40S. && .SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY)... PRECIP WILL CONTINUE TO OVERRUN THE COLD FRONT AS IT SAGS SOUTH/EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING. THE MAIN QUESTION BECOMES...WILL THE AIRMASS BE COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT A BRIEF MIX/CHANGEOVER TO SNOW BEFORE PRECIP ENDS LATER THIS MORNING/EARLY AFTN? MANY OF THE CURRENT UPSTREAM OBS HAVE NOT SHOWN ANY FROZEN PRECIP /WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A BRIEF MIX OF RASN AT KBNA/...BUT TEMPS HAVE COOLED TO THE MID/UPR 30S ACROSS MUCH OF TN AND THIS AIRMASS WILL LIKELY OVERSPREAD MUCH OF NRN AL THROUGH THE MORNING. OPERATIONAL NAM SHOWS A SWATH OF SNOW MOVING ACROSS THE AREA BTWN 12-18Z BUT THE MODEL DOES NOT INITIALIZE WELL WITH PTYPE AND FEEL IT IS A BIT OVERDONE WITH SNOWFALL. THAT SAID...NAM BUFR SOUNDINGS SUPPORT RAIN MIXING WITH OR BRIEFLY CHANGING TO SNOW FOR AREAS MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF I-65 BETWEEN 14-18Z. THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF SRN TN AND NE AL STAND THE BEST CHANCE OF SEEING THIS POTENTIAL CHANGEOVER...WITH PERHAPS A LIGHT DUSTING UP TO 1/2 INCH OF WET SNOW ACCUMULATING ON MAINLY GRASSY SURFACES. WILL ADDRESS THE SNOW THREAT IN THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK /HWO/ PRODUCT. DUE TO RELATIVELY WARM GROUND TEMPS...FEEL ROADS WILL REMAIN JUST WET WITH ANY SNOW THAT DOES FALL. PRECIP WILL END WEST-TO-EAST THIS AFTERNOON FOLLOWED BY DECREASING CLOUDS AS DRIER AIR WORKS ACROSS THE AREA FROM THE WEST. POST-FRONTAL AIRMASS WITH CLEARING SKIES AND GENERALLY LIGHT WINDS WILL ALLOW FOR A SEASONALLY COLD NIGHT TONIGHT AS TEMPS GENERALLY FALL TO THE MID/UPR 20S. PATCHY GROUND FOG WILL BE A GOOD POSSIBILITY AS RESIDUAL BNDRY LYR MOISTURE INTERACTS WITH SHALLOW INVERSIONS. TUESDAY...A SURGE OF ARCTIC AIR WILL PLUNGE ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY LATE IN THE DAY AND THROUGH THE NIGHT. AN UPR WAVE AND ASSOCIATED SPEED MAX WITH THE ARCTIC FRONT WILL CROSS THE AREA DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. DESPITE LIMITED MOISTURE...UPR LVL DYNAMICS COUPLED WITH STEEPENING LOW/MID LVL LAPSE RATES COULD SUPPORT A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS/FLURRIES ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE AFTN/EARLY EVNG. HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF SRN TN/NE AL WILL AGAIN BE THE FAVORED LOCATIONS FOR ANY SNOWFALL AS OROGRAPHICALLY- ENHANCED PRECIP IS POSSIBLE WITHIN STRONG NW FLOW. DUE TO THE CONVECTIVE NATURE OF THE SNOW...EXACT SNOW ACCUMS ARE DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE...HOWEVER BRIEF HEAVIER BURSTS COULD PRODUCE A QUICK DUSTING TO 1/2 INCH OF SNOW. WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...DRY WITH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL EXIST DURING THIS TIME. COLDEST MORNING WILL LIKELY BE WEDNESDAY AS H85 TEMPS DROP TO BTWN -16C AND -18C. LOCALIZED HIGHER ELEVATIONS COULD SEE MIN TEMPS DROP TO THE SINGLE DIGITS...WITH TEENS EXPECTED ELSEWHERE. TEMPS WILL STRUGGLE TO REACH FREEZING WEDNESDAY AND AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE AREA...LOOK FOR ANOTHER VERY COLD NIGHT WEDNESDAY NIGHT/THURS MRNG WITH WIDESPREAD TEENS AGAIN EXPECTED. DEEP LONGWAVE TROUGH WILL GRADUALLY PUSH OFF THE EAST COAST ALLOWING TEMPS TO MODIFY SOMEWHAT ON THURSDAY. .LONG TERM (FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY)... UPR RIDGE WILL GENERALLY DOMINATE THE WEATHER PATTERN ACROSS THE TN VLY DURING THIS PERIOD. THIS WILL RESULT IN MAINLY DRY AND MILD TEMPS. BY THE END OF THE WEEKEND...A STORM SYSTEM ORGANIZING AROUND THE FOUR CORNERS WILL MIGRATE EAST. THIS WILL AMPLIFY THE SOUTHWEST FLOW ACROSS THE AREA...PUSHING MAX TEMPS BACK ABOVE 60F SUNDAY. DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL. DJN.83 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... HUNTSVILLE 46 28 43 20 35 / 80 0 20 20 0 SHOALS 48 28 44 19 36 / 60 0 10 10 0 CULLMAN 49 28 45 20 36 / 100 0 20 20 0 FAYETTEVILLE 46 24 40 18 32 / 80 0 20 20 0 ALBERTVILLE 47 27 46 21 33 / 100 0 20 20 0 FORT PAYNE 45 25 45 19 33 / 100 0 20 20 0 && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && DISCUSSION...DJN.83 AVIATION...12
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 448 AM CST MON FEB 2 2009 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-021915- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 448 AM CST MON FEB 2 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SHOWERS WILL ACCOMPANY A COLD FRONT AS IT PASSES THROUGH THE REGION TODAY. AS THE COLD AIR BEHIND THE FRONT BEGINS TO FILTER INTO THE AREA...RAIN MAY MIX WITH OR BRIEFLY CHANGE TO SNOW BEFORE ENDING. THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND NORTHEASTERN ALABAMA WILL HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF SEEING THIS POTENTIAL CHANGEOVER...WITH PERHAPS A LIGHT DUSTING OF SNOW ON MAINLY GRASSY SURFACES. NO TRAVEL PROBLEMS ON AREA ROADWAYS ARE EXPECTED DUE TO THE RELATIVELY WARM GROUND CONDITIONS. PRECIPITATION WILL END WEST OF I-65 BY LATE MORNING...AND EAST OF I-65 BY MID TO LATE AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. A STRONGER COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY ON TUESDAY. SCATTERED FLURRIES OR LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE TUESDAY AFTERNOON AS AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM INTERACTS WITH THE COLD AIRMASS. GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH VERY COLD TEMPERATURES TUESDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL RESULT IN WIND CHILL VALUES DROPPING IN THE ZERO TO 10 ABOVE ZERO RANGE. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. CA/DJN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Three tenths of an inch of snow was measured at the University of the South in Sewanee.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, February 2009
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: 156085.