Light freezing rain produced a light glaze on trees, powerlines, and other elevated objects atop Lookout Mountain during the morning and early afternoon of the 15th.
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The episode as NWS HUN wrote it up.
Light freezing rain produced a light glaze on trees, powerlines, and other elevated objects atop Lookout Mountain during the morning and early afternoon of the 15th.
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 15, 3:16 AM CST, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 316 AM CST MON FEB 15 2016 .DISCUSSION... AS OF 09Z...MUCH OF THE CENTRAL U.S. WAS DOMINATED BY A BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH...AS A FAIRLY AMPLIFIED UPPER RIDGE WAS SITUATED OVER THE WESTERN COAST. AT THE SURFACE...A COLD FRONT WAS JUST ENTERING EXTREME NW ALABAMA...AND EXTENDED SOUTHWESTWARD INTO EAST TEXAS. MEANWHILE...A WARM FRONT WAS LOCATED JUST EAST OF A MUSCLE SHOALS TO JASPER TO TUSCALOOSA LINE. FURTHER WEST...A SURFACE CYCLONE WAS SLOWLY MOVING EAST ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS. LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN WAS OBSERVED ON AREA RADARS...GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF THE COLD FRONT AND WITHIN THE NARROW WARM SECTOR. PRECIP INTENSITY HAS INCREASED SLIGHTLY OVER THE LAST HOUR OR SO...AS THE UPPER LEVEL VORT MAX BEGINS TO ENTER THE REGION...AND FORCING INCREASES. THE SURFACE LOW OVER TEXAS WILL MOVE NORTHEAST ALONG THE FRONT AND DEEPEN AS IT ENTERS THE FORECAST AREA DURING THE LATE MORNING THROUGH AFTERNOON. MEANWHILE...THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL AMPLIFY SLIGHTLY DURING THE DAY. RAINFALL RATES MAY BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES LATER TODAY AS THE FORCING INCREASES....AND STORM TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH INTO THE 1.5 TO 2 INCH RANGE FOR A LARGE PORTION OF THE AREA. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE...HOWEVER THE CHANCE FOR FLASH FLOODING SEEMS TO BE RATHER LOW...GIVEN THE DRY CONDITIONS THAT WERE IN PLACE. ADDITIONALLY...SURFACE TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO WARM FROM WHERE THEY ARE NOW...DESPITE THE CLOUD COVER AND PRECIP...THANKS TO THE STRONG WAA. AS THE UPPER TROUGH APPROACHES AND UPPER LEVEL HEIGHTS FALL...COOLING ALOFT WILL PROVIDE A BRIEF PERIOD OF STEEPENED LAPSE RATES AND ELEVATED INSTABILITY. THE ELEVATED CONVECTION WAS ONGOING ACROSS ARKANSAS...AND SEE NO REASON FOR THIS TO DIMINISH. THEREFORE...HAVE KEPT THE SLIGHT CHANCE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST. RAIN WILL TAPER OFF FROM WEST TO EAST AS THE THE AXIS OF THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES SLOWLY OVER THE TN VALLEY LATE THIS EVENING AND INTO THE MORNING HOURS ON TUESDAY. WINDS WILL BRIEFLY SHIFT NORTH JUST BEHIND THE AFOREMENTIONED COLD FRONT...HOWEVER SOUTHERLY FLOW IS EXPECTED TO RETURN TUESDAY MORNING. A SECOND UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE WILL DIG SOUTHWARD IN THE LONGWAVE TROUGH AND AMPLIFY OVER MISSOURI TUESDAY. THIS WAVE IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN AND SHEAR APART AS IT REACHES THE TN VALLEY...HOWEVER THERE MAY BE ENOUGH FORCING TO WARRANT SCATTERED SHOWERS...MAINLY ACROSS THE NORTH. THE PRECIP WILL BE SHORT LIVED AS WHATS LEFT OF THE WAVE MOVES EAST OF THE AREA EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE COOLEST PERIOD OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS WILL COME WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT...AS WEAK CAA OCCURS...THOUGH TEMPS WILL BE SEASONABLE FOR MID FEBRUARY. HOWEVER...SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL BEGIN IN EARNEST THURSDAY...WHILE AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE AREA. A WARMING TREND WILL BEGIN ON THURSDAY AND CONTINUE INTO THE WEEKEND...WITH HIGHS ON SATURDAY REACHING INTO THE UPPER 60S TO POSSIBLY LOWER 70S. UNFORTUNATELY...THE RIDGE WILL WEAKEN SATURDAY AND INTO SUNDAY...AND ZONAL FLOW WILL TAKE OVER ALOFT. MOISTURE WILL INCREASE OVER THE AREA...AS WEAK DISTURBANCES MOVE THROUGH THE NORTHERN PERIPHERY OF THE RIDGE. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS ON SATURDAY AND MAY CONTINUE THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE NEXT WORKWEEK. GUIDANCE IS IN A SLIGHT DISAGREEMENT AS TO THE BEST PERIODS FOR RAIN...AND WITH NO STRONG SYNOPTIC SCALE FORCING...HAVE ONLY MENTIONED CHANCE POPS FOR THE EXTENDED. 73 && .AVIATION... /ISSUED 1101 PM CST SUN FEB 14 2016/ FOR 06Z TAFS...A STALLED BOUNDARY NORTH OF THE TAF SITES WILL HAVE A COUPLE OF SFC WAVES THAT WILL MOVE ALONG THE BOUNDARY. THIS WILL INCREASE THE CHC OF RA ACROSS THE CWA OVERNIGHT AND INTO MONDAY. A CDFNT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE TAF SITES BY MONDAY AFTN. RA WILL BEGIN TO TAPER OFF FROM W TO E BEGINNING ARND 03Z. VFR CONDITIONS ATTM WILL DROP TO MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS BY 17Z AND WILL CONTINUE THRU THE END OF THE FCST PERIOD. 007 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... HUNTSVILLE 56 39 58 37 / 100 80 20 10 SHOALS 54 38 58 36 / 100 50 20 10 VINEMONT 54 39 57 37 / 100 80 20 10 FAYETTEVILLE 51 37 53 36 / 100 80 40 10 ALBERTVILLE 54 39 56 37 / 100 90 20 10 FORT PAYNE 53 38 55 37 / 100 90 20 10 && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 500 AM CST MON FEB 15 2016 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-161115- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 500 AM CST MON FEB 15 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... A STRENGTHENING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL TRACK NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE CENTRAL TENNESSEE VALLEY TODAY AND TONIGHT. THIS DISTURBANCE WILL BRING WIDESPREAD MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN AND A FEW EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS TO THE REGION TODAY...WITH THIS ACTIVITY ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST DURING THE EVENING. MOST LOCATIONS WILL RECEIVE BETWEEN 1 AND 3 INCHES OF RAIN...WHICH MAY LEAD TO PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS AND MINOR FLOODING IN LOW LYING AREAS THAT NORMALLY EXPERIENCE POOR DRAINAGE. THE MAIN THREAT FROM ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL BE BRIEF WIND GUSTS TO 30 MPH AND OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING STRIKES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... FORMAL ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...TIMELY REPORTS OF HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLOODING WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. 70/DD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Light icing on trees and power lines was reported due to freezing rain and drizzle.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, February 2016
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: 618474.