On Wednesday, February 25, 2015, many Alabamians across the northern one-third of Alabama experienced a significant snowstorm. Much of northern half of the state experienced snow during the afternoon and evening hours of the 25th, with totals of 1 - 2 inches along the Interstate 20 corridor, increasing to 5 - 12 inches across the far northern tier of central Alabama counties.
Every event with a place to put it; 14 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 BMX wrote it up.
On Wednesday, February 25, 2015, many Alabamians across the northern one-third of Alabama experienced a significant snowstorm. Much of northern half of the state experienced snow during the afternoon and evening hours of the 25th, with totals of 1 - 2 inches along the Interstate 20 corridor, increasing to 5 - 12 inches across the far northern tier of central Alabama counties. The highest snowfall measurement came from Guin, Alabama, with 12.7 inches.
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 25, 10:49 AM CST, 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1049 AM CST WED FEB 25 2015 .UPDATE... MORNING UPDATE. && .DISCUSSION... HAVE REPLACED THE WINTER STORM WARNING ALONG THE SOUTHERN EDGE WITH A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. CURRENT OBSERVATIONS AND MODEL TRENDS SUGGEST A GREATER SURGE OF WARM AIR AT 850-700MB ESPECIALLY ACROSS OUR EASTERN HALF. SNOW TOTALS ALONG THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE WINTER STORM WARNING WILL LIKELY BE CUT DOWN BY PRECIPITATION WAFFLING BETWEEN RAIN...SLEET...AND SNOW. FOR THE SOUTHERNMOST COUNTIES CURRENTLY LEFT IN THE WARNING AREA...ONLY THE NORTHERNMOST PORTIONS OF THOSE COUNTIES ARE EXPECTED TO REACH WARNING CRITERIA. SIGNIFICANT SNOW OR SLEET REMAINS LIKELY FROM THOSE AREAS NORTHWARD...WHERE PROFILES ARE ALREADY COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT THOSE P-TYPES. THINGS WILL GET INTERESTING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING NEAR THE BACK EDGE OF THE PRECIPITATION AS THE 500MB VORT MAX APPROACHES. INTENSE RATES COULD CAUSE RAIN AND SLEET TO SWITCH TO HEAVY SLEET OR SNOW ALONG THE I-20 CORRIDOR. 87/GRANTHAM && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 700 AM CST WED FEB 25 2015/ TAKING A LOOK AT THE MORNING SOUNDING...WE CAME IN A BIT WARMER ALOFT THAN EXPECTED. HOWEVER...WE WERE DRIER AS WELL...SUGGESTING THAT THE WET BULBING EFFECTS WILL BE CRITICAL TO THE FORECAST. THIS IS NOTHING NEW...BUT MOST PROJECTIONS ALOFT STARTED AT ABOUT +4...WHERE OUR SOUNDING CAME IN AT +8 AT 800MB. SINCE THERE IS LITTLE TO NO COLD AIR ADVECTION PROCESSES TO HELP OUT THE FROZEN PRECIP...WE WILL HAVE TO RELY COMPLETELY ON DYNAMICAL OR MECHANICAL COOLING...THAT IS FORCING COLDER AIR ALOFT DOWNWARD THROUGH HEAVY PRECIP PROCESSES. OTHERWISE...THE START TIME TO THE MOISTENING IS LOOKING QUICKER THAN EXPECTED WHICH WILL POSSIBLY NOT ALLOW ALL THAT MUCH IN THE WAY OF SURFACE WARMING. BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EET AT 35/23 AND BHM 32/22...AS BHM WOULD WET BULB SEVERAL DEGREES BELOW FREEZING AS LONG AS ANY PRE-PRECIP WARMING IS NOT TOO DRAMATIC. WE ARE MOVING FROM THE MODELS TO OBSERVATIONS. WE WILL LAUNCH 1 OR 2 SPECIAL BALLOON RUNS TO TRY AND ASSESS MOVING FORWARD. FORECAST WILL REMAIN THE SAME...BUT WITH WARMER TEMPS ALOFT AND COOLER SURFACE WET BULBING...BE EXTREMELY WEARY OF SLEET AT THE ONSET AND POSSIBLY SLEET FOR THE DURATION IN SOME LOCATIONS ALONG THE SOUTHERN END OF THE WARNING. MY TWO RULES FROM HERE GOING FORWARD WILL BE TO WATCH SURFACE AND 850MB TEMPS AND DEWPOINTS...WHICH ARE BEST ASSESSED THROUGH OBSERVATIONAL DATA. LAST POINT...THE PRECIPITATION IS EXTREMELY HEAVY...CONVECTIVE IN SOME CASES...SO THE DYNAMICAL PROCESSES WILL BE AMPED SIGNIFICANTLY COMPARED TO OUR TYPICAL WINTER EVENTS. KEEP THIS IN MIND...THAT COOLING THE COLUMN WILL OCCUR QUICKLY AND IT WILL LIKELY MODIFY ANY FORECAST SOUNDINGS PROJECTED. USING FORECAST SOUNDINGS WILL BE A VERY DANGEROUS PROPOSITION FROM HERE FORWARD. 17/KLAWS && .AVIATION... 12Z TAF DISCUSSION. BIG CHANGES COMING TO TAF SITES ACROSS THE AREA AS THE STORM SYSTEM CROSSES MISSISSIPPI AND MOVES INTO ALABAMA THIS MORNING. RIGHT NOW VFR CONDITIONS ARE PRESENT AT ALL SITES. AS A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES ALONG THE NORTHERN GULF COAST WITH PRECIPITATION MOVING INTO THE TERMINALS AFTER 15Z. A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED AT THE NORTHERN SITES WITH JUST RAIN AT KMGM AND KTOI. THE NORTHERN TERMINALS WILL BE RIGHT ON THE TRANSITIONS FROM RAIN TO SNOW AND HAVE KEPT A MIXTURE IN THE TAFS. REGARDLESS...IFR CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE AT ALL THE TERMINALS SITES AFTER 17-18Z. CEILINGS WILL LOWER EVEN MORE AFTER 3Z TO LIFR CONDITIONS...BUT THE RAIN/SNOW WILL BE ENDING. 16 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GADSDEN 35 29 42 25 40 / 100 100 10 10 10 ANNISTON 35 30 43 26 41 / 100 100 10 10 10 BIRMINGHAM 34 28 43 26 41 / 100 90 10 10 10 TUSCALOOSA 35 29 45 26 42 / 100 60 10 10 10 CALERA 36 30 44 28 43 / 100 80 10 10 10 AUBURN 43 34 47 31 47 / 100 100 10 10 10 MONTGOMERY 43 34 47 31 49 / 100 80 10 10 10 TROY 45 35 47 32 50 / 100 90 10 10 10 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: BLOUNT...CALHOUN...CHEROKEE...CLEBURNE... ETOWAH...FAYETTE...JEFFERSON...LAMAR...MARION...PICKENS...ST. CLAIR...TUSCALOOSA...WALKER...WINSTON. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: BIBB...CLAY...RANDOLPH...SHELBY...TALLADEGA. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: GREENE...HALE...SUMTER. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 430 AM CST WED FEB 25 2015 ALZ011>015-017>050-261330- MARION-LAMAR-FAYETTE-WINSTON-WALKER-BLOUNT-ETOWAH-CALHOUN-CHEROKEE- CLEBURNE-PICKENS-TUSCALOOSA-JEFFERSON-SHELBY-ST. CLAIR-TALLADEGA- CLAY-RANDOLPH-SUMTER-GREENE-HALE-PERRY-BIBB-CHILTON-COOSA-TALLAPOOSA- CHAMBERS-MARENGO-DALLAS-AUTAUGA-LOWNDES-ELMORE-MONTGOMERY-MACON- BULLOCK-LEE-RUSSELL-PIKE-BARBOUR- 430 AM CST WED FEB 25 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A WINTER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH AND HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE ACCUMULATING SNOW AND SLEET WITH 2 TO 6 INCHES POSSIBLE...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS...ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF CENTRAL ALABAMA BY TONIGHT. THE GREATEST IMPACTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE COUNTIES NEAR AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 20 BEGINNING LATE THIS MORNING AND CONTINUING THROUGH TONIGHT. GIVEN THE EXPECTED TRACK AND INTENSITY OF THIS SYSTEM...THERE WILL LIKELY BE A TIGHT GRADIENT IN ACCUMULATING WINTER PRECIPITATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WILL BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
926 AM CST WED FEB 25 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0913 AM SLEET BIRMINGHAM 33.53N 86.80W
02/25/2015 E0.00 INCH JEFFERSON AL AMATEUR RADIO
SLEET NOW FALLING ACROSS THE BIRMINGHAM METRO...INCLUDING
SYLVAN SPRINGS...HOMEWOOD...CAHABA HEIGHTS.
&&
HAPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
928 AM CST WED FEB 25 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0920 AM SLEET WESTOVER 33.35N 86.54W
02/25/2015 E0.00 INCH SHELBY AL EMERGENCY MNGR
SLEET NOW FALLING ACROSS PORTIONS OF SHELBY COUNTY,
INCLUDING WESTOVER AND CALERA
&&
HAPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
930 AM CST WED FEB 25 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0835 AM SLEET MILLPORT 33.56N 88.08W
02/25/2015 E0.00 INCH LAMAR AL BROADCAST MEDIA
SLEET FALLING ACROSS LAMAR COUNTY.
&&
HAPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1034 AM CST WED FEB 25 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1030 AM SNOW WINFIELD 33.93N 87.80W
02/25/2015 E0.0 INCH MARION AL EMERGENCY MNGR
&&
HAThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
14 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 10-12 inches of snow across Marion County. The highest snow depth reported in Marion County was 12.7 inches in the town of Guin.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 5-12 inches of snow across Lamar County. The highest snow depth reported was 12.5 inches, located seven miles northeast of the town of Sulligent.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 9-12 inches of snow across Winston County. The highest snow depth reported in Winston County was 12.5 inches in the town of Delmar.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 3-10 inches of snow across Fayette County. The highest snow depth reported in Fayette County was 10.0 inches, located five miles southeast of the town of Winfield.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 2-11 inches of snow across Walker County. The highest snow depth reported in Walker County was 11.0 inches in the town of Nauvoo.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 2-8 inches of snow across Blount County. The highest snow depth reported in Blount County was 8.5 inches in the town of Oneonta.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 5-10 inches of snow across Etowah County. The highest snow depth reported in Etowah County was 10.0 inches in the town of Hokes Bluff.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 2-8 inches of snow across Cherokee County. The highest snow depth reported in Cherokee County was 8.0 inches in the town of Cedar Bluff.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 1-3 inches of snow across Pickens County. The highest snow depth reported in Pickens County was 3.0 inches, located 1 mile southeast the town of Ashcraft Corner.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 1-2 inches of snow across Tuscaloosa County. The highest snow depth reported in Tuscaloosa County was 2.0 inches, located four miles east of the town of New Lexington.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 1-4 inches of snow across Jefferson County. The highest snow depth reported in Jefferson County was 4.0 inches in the town of Warrior.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 1-5 inches of snow across areas north of Interstate 20. The highest snow depth reported in Calhoun County was 5.0 inches in the town of Piedmont.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 2-6 inches of snow across areas north of Interstate 20. The highest snow depth reported in St. Clair County was 6.0 inches in the town of Steele.
A major snowstorm hit portions of north central Alabama Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing 1-2 inches of snow across areas north of Interstate 20. The highest snow depth reported in Cleburne County was 2.5 inches in the town of Borden Springs.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, February 2015
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: 563249, 564294, 564296, 564303, 564304, 564316, 564326, 564329, 564310, 564313, 564315, 564330, 564317, 564333.