A winter storm paralyzed travel across many parts of north Alabama and southern Tennessee on the afternoon and evening of the 20th. Snow and some sleet began during the late morning and early afternoon depositing one half to one and one half inches of snowfall.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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.
A winter storm paralyzed travel across many parts of north Alabama and southern Tennessee on the afternoon and evening of the 20th. Snow and some sleet began during the late morning and early afternoon depositing one half to one and one half inches of snowfall. Freezing rain would then accumulate a light glaze atop the snowfall during the late afternoon and early evening hours. This created impassible roadways. Numerous motorists were stranded on area roads and many cars slid off roads into ditches. Local area emergencies were declared in many counties because of the severe travel conditions. Temperatures were slow to warm during the night of the 20th. Eventually temperatures warmed above freezing during the early morning hours of the 21st in northwest and north central Alabama, but road conditions remained treacherous to impassible until after sunrise on the 21st. Conditions were slower to improve in southern Tennessee and northeast Alabama and the higher elevations of the Cumberland Plateau until late morning on the 21st. Ironically, temperatures warmed to afternoon highs in the upper 40s to upper 50s on the 21st, melting any remaining snow, ice and slush rapidly.
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 20, 11:37 AM CST, 53 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1137 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015
.UPDATE...
FOR 18Z TAFS
&&
.DISCUSSION...
/ISSUED 1019 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015/
THE 16Z SURFACE OBSERVATIONS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA INDICATED THAT
TEMPS WERE SLOWLY WARMING TO THE LOW TO MID 20S IN NORTH ALABAMA AND
INTO THE UPPER TEENS/AROUND 20 IN SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. RECENT
88-D IMAGES ALSO INDICATED THAT A BAND OF LIGHT SNOW/FLURRIES WAS
MOVING NORTHEAST THROUGH NORTH ALABAMA TOWARD SOUTHERN MIDDLE
TENNESSEE. HAVE BEEN RECEIVING REPORTS OF SOME SLIGHT ACCUMULATIONS
MAINLY AROUND A DUSTING IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA WITH THIS INITIAL BAND
OF LIGHT SNOW. EXPECT MORE BANDS OF LIGHT SNOW TO PUSH NORTHEAST INTO
THE FORECAST AREA INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON.
12Z AREA SOUNDINGS/FORECAST SOUNDINGS AND HRRR/RAP SHORT TERM MODELS
INDICATED THAT IT MAY STILL TAKE UNTIL SHORTLY AFTER 18Z BEFORE THE
LOWER LAYERS BELOW 850 MILLIBARS BECOMES SATURATED ENOUGH FOR MORE
WIDESPREAD PRECIP. HAVE SLIGHTLY ADJUSTED SNOWFALL TOTALS DOWNWARD
INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS. THIS SLIGHT ADJUSTMENT
WILL NOT HAVE ANY AFFECT ON THE EXISTING WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORIES/WINTER STORM WARNINGS CURRENTLY IN EFFECT. THE CURRENT
TRENDING/TIMING OF THE SNOW BECOMING MIXED WITH SLEET/FREEZING RAIN
FOR THE FORECAST AREA STILL LOOKS TO BE IN GOOD SHAPE AND WILL NOT
ADJUST AT THIS TIME. HAVE ONLY MADE SOME VERY SLIGHT ADJUSTMENTS TO
AFTERNOON TEMPS BASED UPON CURRENT TEMPS/TRENDING. THE FORECAST
UPDATE WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY.
TT
&&
.AVIATION...
FOR 18Z TAFS...
WILL INITIALLY KEEP VISIBILITIES AND CEILINGS IN THE VFR RANGE WITH
LIMITED VISIBILITIES IN THE 6 MILE RANGE DUE TO -SNPL AT HSV AND MSL
UNTIL AROUND 01Z. EXPECT THE PRECIP TO TRANSITION OVER TO -FZRA BY
AROUND 01Z AT HSV AND OVER TO PREDOMINANT LIQUID PRECIP AT MSL BY
AROUND 03Z WITH MVFR VISIBILITIES DURING THE SAME TIME PERIOD. WILL
LOWER CEILINGS INTO THE MVFR RANGE AT MSL EARLIER THAN HSV DUE TO THE
ORIENTATION OF THE STORM SYSTEM BY AROUND 10Z...COMPARED MORE TO THE
15Z TIMING AT HSV.
TT
&&
.HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AL...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 AM CST SATURDAY FOR ALZ006-009-010.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT FOR ALZ001>005-
007-008-016.
TN...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 AM CST SATURDAY FOR TNZ076-096-097.
&&
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE
AT WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE.HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 1137 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-210200- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 1137 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE HALF TO ONE INCH ARE POSSIBLE BEFORE THE TRANSITION TO FREEZING RAIN BY LATE AFTERNOON AND INTO EARLY EVENING. ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE GREATEST IN SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND NORTHEAST ALABAMA WHERE 2 TO 3 TENTHS OF AN INCH ARE POSSIBLE. ELSEWHERE...A LIGHTER GLAZE OF ICE IS EXPECTED. THE FREEZING RAIN IS EXPECTED TO SLOWLY TRANSITION TO LIGHT RAIN TOWARD MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... AFTER A COLD FRONT PASSES SATURDAY NIGHT...LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY. BY SUNDAY NIGHT...COLDER AIR MOVING IN WILL ALLOW THE RAIN TO MIX WITH AND EVENTUALLY CHANGE TO LIGHT SNOW. MINOR SNOW ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... DUE TO IMPACT WINTER WEATHER...ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NEEDED FOR THE AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT AND INTO EARLY SATURDAY. TT
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1007 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0915 AM SNOW CHEROKEE 34.76N 87.97W
02/20/2015 U0.0 INCH COLBERT AL EMERGENCY MNGR
LIGHT SNOW REPORTED
0918 AM SLEET RUSSELLVILLE 34.51N 87.73W
02/20/2015 E0.00 INCH FRANKLIN AL EMERGENCY MNGR
LIGHT SLEET/SNOW REPORTED
0958 AM SLEET WATERLOO 34.92N 88.06W
02/20/2015 E0.00 INCH LAUDERDALE AL EMERGENCY MNGR
LIGHT SLEET/SNOW REPORTED
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1026 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1021 AM SLEET RED BAY 34.44N 88.14W
02/20/2015 E0.00 INCH FRANKLIN AL EMERGENCY MNGR
LIGHT SLEET/SNOW REPORTED
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1141 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1139 AM SNOW 1 ENE CULLMAN 34.18N 86.82W
02/20/2015 E0.2 INCH CULLMAN AL TRAINED SPOTTER
DUSTING OF SNOW COVERING GROUND ALONG HWY 278 AND ST.
BERNARD DRIVE. SLEET MIXING IN AS WELL.
&&
DJNPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1152 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1125 AM SNOW ALBERTVILLE 34.26N 86.21W
02/20/2015 U0.0 INCH MARSHALL AL EMERGENCY MNGR
LIGHT SNOW BEING REPORTED AROUND THE ALBERTVILLE AREA.
&&
DJNPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1219 PM CST FRI FEB 20 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1216 PM SNOW 2 NNE FLORENCE 34.83N 87.66W
02/20/2015 E0.1 INCH LAUDERDALE AL TRAINED SPOTTER
ONE TENTH OF AN INCH OF SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATION
REPORTED.
&&
KWEBERThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter weather, 3 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A combination of light snow and then later light sleet resulted in a half of an inch to an inch across the county. Low level temperatures warmed later in the event, with around three quarters of an inch of freezing rain occurring.
A combination of light snow and then later light sleet resulted in a half of an inch to an inch across the county. Low level temperatures warmed later in the event, with around three quarters of an inch of freezing rain occurring. A 73 year old male died of hypothermia on the morning of the 20th.
A combination of light snow and then later light sleet resulted in a half of an inch to an inch across the county. Low level temperatures warmed later in the event, with around a half of an inch of freezing rain occurring.
Three quarters of an inch of freezing rain occurred, resulting in very hazardous conditions across the county.
Three quarters of an inch of freezing rain occurred, resulting in very hazardous conditions across the county.
A half of an inch of freezing rain occurred, resulting in very hazardous conditions across the county.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather, Moore | 2015-02-20 | 73 | Male | Unknown | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, 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: 563235, 563237, 563233, 563236, 563238, 563234.