Narrow bands of snow showers and flurries redeveloped after midnight of the 26th as a strong upper upper level low dropped southeast through the Tennessee Valley. Most of the snowfall remained light, but periodic bursts of moderate to snow were reported which reduced visibility to around 3/4 mile, but in most cases ranged from 2-5 miles.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Narrow bands of snow showers and flurries redeveloped after midnight of the 26th as a strong upper upper level low dropped southeast through the Tennessee Valley. Most of the snowfall remained light, but periodic bursts of moderate to snow were reported which reduced visibility to around 3/4 mile, but in most cases ranged from 2-5 miles. New snowfall accumulations ranged from a little over a dusting up to one inch.
New daily record snowfall totals were set at Huntsville (0.3 inches) and Muscle Shoals (1.0 inches).
Already slick road conditions due to re-freezing of wet roads from the previous day's snowfall became even more slick, especially during the morning hours. Temperatures struggled to reach 30 degrees, with higher elevations even colder. Some sunshine broke through for a period during the afternoon between intermittent snow showers and flurries. This melted the snow on roadways, but also produced wet roads which would re-freeze into icy patches again during the evening and nighttime of the 26th.
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 Dec 25, 11:32 PM CST, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.
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</html>PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1117 PM CST SAT DEC 25 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1110 PM SNOW WINCHESTER 35.19N 86.11W
12/25/2010 M3.7 INCH FRANKLIN TN CO-OP OBSERVER
EVENT TOTAL. 3 INCHES STILL ON GROUND.
&&
BCCSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 1258 AM CST SUN DEC 26 2010 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-261600- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FLORENCE...MUSCLE SHOALS...RUSSELLVILLE... MOULTON...ATHENS...HUNTSVILLE...DECATUR...GUNTERSVILLE... SCOTTSBORO...FORT PAYNE...CULLMAN...LYNCHBURG...FAYETTEVILLE... WINCHESTER 1258 AM CST SUN DEC 26 2010 ...SLICK TRAVEL IS STILL POSSIBLE THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING... PERIODIC LIGHT SNOW OR FLURRIES WILL OCCUR THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. VISIBILITY IN MOST CASES WILL REMAIN ABOVE 5 MILES...BUT A FEW BANDS OF LIGHT SNOW MAY LOWER VISIBILITY TO 2 TO 4 MILES. IN MOST CASES...A DUSTING OF ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. HOWEVER...A FEW LOCATIONS COULD RECEIVE AROUND ONE HALF INCH ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN ALONG THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU IN SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND FAR NORTHEAST ALABAMA. IN ADDITION...TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN TREACHEROUS IN SPOTS THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING DUE TO RE-FREEZING OF WET AND SLUSHY ROADWAYS. THIS SITUATION WILL CREATE ICY SPOTS OVERNIGHT THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY MORNING...ESPECIALLY ON BRIDGES...OVERPASSES AND LESS TRAVELED ROADS. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE EXTREME CAUTION. KULA
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall of around one inch was reported. One report of up to 2.0 inches was received in Rogersville. One inch fell in Florence.
Snowfall of up to three tenths of an inch was reported.
Snowfall of up to 0.5 inch was reported.
Snowfall of 1 to 2 inches was reported.
Snowfall of three tenths up to 2 inches was reported.
Snowfall of up to 1.0 inch was reported.
Snowfall of up to 1.0 inch was reported in the county. The Huntsville International Airport reported 0.3 of an inch which was a daily record.
Snowfall of up to 0.3 inches was reported.
Snowfall of up to 0.3 inches was reported.
Snowfall of up to 0.6 inches was reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, December 2010
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: 273954, 273955, 273956, 273957, 273958, 273959, 273960, 273962, 273963, 273961.