Patchy black ice developed, especially on bridges and overpasses, during the early morning hours. This resulted in very slippery conditions in some areas during the morning commute.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
Patchy black ice developed, especially on bridges and overpasses, during the early morning hours. This resulted in very slippery conditions in some areas during the morning commute. Multiple accidents occurred on Interstate 565 in Limestone into Madison Counties between Decatur and Huntsville.
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 3, 3:57 AM CST, 3 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Huntsville AL 357 AM CST Fri Feb 3 2023 ...New NEAR TERM, SHORT TERM, LONG TERM... .NEAR TERM... (Today) Issued at 356 AM CST Fri Feb 3 2023 Cloud cover remains in place near and east of the I-65 corridor primarily. This is mainly due to isentropic lift that is in place still north of the stalled front over the northern Gulf Coast states that has been bringing the area the on and off rain over the past few days. Drier air courtesy of an approaching colder airmass that is dropping southeast from the Upper Midwest is eroding this cloud cover from the northwest. Expect this trend to continue for a few more hours, but then some low stratus to reform along the front ahead of the afore-mentioned airmass as it moves southeast into the area around daybreak before dissipating during the mid-morning hours. Very strong cold air advection is shown in the low levels of the atmosphere behind this front. Thus, despite decent sunshine, highs today should struggle to reach the upper 30s near and north of the Tennessee River. Northerly winds of 10 to 15 mph are expected during the day with some gusts to around 20 mph possible. This will make it feel even colder, like highs will reach the lower 30s to upper 20s across northern Alabama and southern middle Tennessee. So make sure to dress warmly, wear layered clothing, and a windbreaker if outside today. An outlying model or two is showing winds possibly a tad higher even with some sustained around 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph, but kept closer to the lower average of most of them. && .SHORT TERM... (Tonight through Monday) Issued at 356 AM CST Fri Feb 3 2023 A much colder night in store tonight, as the southwestern portion of a large area of high pressure settles over the region. Light winds and clear skies should allow temperatures to drop into the upper teens to lower 20s in most areas. This area of high pressure continues to slide southeast into the weekend. During the day on Saturday, most models have the center of it as far east as just off or around the Mid-Atlantic coastal region. This will allow more moist and warmer air to return to the region via low level return flow around the backside of the area of high pressure quickly Saturday night. With morning sunshine, despite increasing clouds later in the day, temperatures should be able to climb back into the lower 50s. A weak frontal boundary quickly races from the Pacific northwest into the Midwestern CONUS early Saturday afternoon. Several models produce a large area of high cloudiness that spreads over the Tennessee Valley well ahead of this feature then. Although some lower level moisture does develop as this front races further east and approaches the area early Sunday evening, the boundary layer still looks to be very dry. Thus, although an extend period of mostly cloudy conditions are expected again Saturday afternoon into Sunday, no precipitation is expected. Overnight lows with low clouds should only drop into the 35 to 40 degree range. Highs on Sunday should climb even higher into the lower 60s, as cloud cover moves east of the area behind the departed front. High pressure moves quickly into the area behind this weak departed cold front Sunday night into Monday morning. Not much colder air seen with this weak front, so it should be even warmer on Monday (mid 60s) with similar lows expected as the previous night. && .LONG TERM... (Monday night through Thursday) Issued at 356 AM CST Fri Feb 3 2023 By Monday night, another frontal boundary begins to develop quickly over the Upper Midwest extending back into northwestern Texas. Most guidance shows upper level ridging amplifying to the east of this feature markedly into Tuesday morning. Deeper southwesterly flow develops over the southeastern CONUS. This will advect warmer and more moist air into the region. On Tuesday morning, the southwestern portion of this area of high pressure remains in place over much of the Tennessee Valley region. This should keep the better moisture advection and any precipitation along/ahead of this next front and just west of the area as it moves east into the Mississippi Valley Tuesday morning. However, by Tuesday afternoon/evening, better forcing and deeper moisture near the front should produce isolated to scattered rain as it moves into northern Alabama. A very stable airmass continues to be shown in models as this occurs. So, light to moderate rain showers look to be the main result ahead of this front then. As we move into the Wednesday timeframe, synoptic models are very different. ECMWF develops a much stronger area of low pressure along this front that moves northeast and produces quite a bit more precipitation and possibly thunderstorm activity. The GFS20 has a very weak low that develops that quickly falls apart along the front as it moves through the area during the day on Wednesday. For now, went with NBM and sort of an average of the two for now. This solution gives the area scattered shower chances Wednesday through the remainder of the extended through Friday. It definitely will be much warmer next week with highs topping out into the mid to upper 60s possibly most of those days. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1025 PM CST Thu Feb 2 2023 Light precip/ra has now tapered off to the east of the two main terminals this late Thu evening, as drier air begins to filter into the area from the NNW. This has translated into low clouds beginning to diminish/sct, with just mid/high clouds lingering across much of the area. The back edge of the cloud shield is crossing the MS River to the east and will spread into the area going into the early morning hrs Fri. As such, VFR conds are now generally expected thru the TAF period. Light/var winds will also turn north around 12-14kt with higher gusts in the wake of a cold frontal passage. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...None. TN...None. && NEAR TERM...KTW SHORT TERM....KTW LONG TERM....KTW AVIATION...09
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Multiple accidents occurred during the morning commuting period along Interstate 565 between Decatur and Huntsville in Limestone and Madison Counties. Patchy black ice developed, especially on bridges and overpasses.
Multiple accidents occurred during the morning commuting period along Interstate 565 between Decatur and Huntsville in Limestone and Madison Counties. Patchy black ice developed, especially on bridges and overpasses.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, February 2023
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: 1081338, 1081339.