An Arctic airmass overspread the region after the recent snowfall. North winds combined with the very cold temperatures to produce dangerous cold weather from the 15th into the 17th.
Every event with a place to put it; 18 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.
An Arctic airmass overspread the region after the recent snowfall. North winds combined with the very cold temperatures to produce dangerous cold weather from the 15th into the 17th. During the mornings of the 15th and 16th, wind chill values dropped into into the 0 to -10 degree range. During the overnight of the 16th into the morning of the 17th, temperatures dropped into the 0 to -12 degree range for morning lows. Although winds were light, wind chill values dropped briefly (less than an hour) into the -10 to -15 degree range.
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 Jan 15, 5:50 PM CST, 10 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
550 PM CST Mon Jan 15 2024
...New AVIATION...
.NEAR TERM...
(Tonight)
Issued at 302 PM CST Mon Jan 15 2024
Heavy snow has been observed over the northwestern portion of our
area today, with some spots seeing 4-8 inches! Additional
accumulation through early this evening of snow/sleet ranges
between 1-2 inches. Meanwhile, observations as well as model
guidance indicate the presence of a stout warm nose aloft
(especially for the southeastern portion of the local area). This
has resulted in a wintry mix (sleet and freezing rain) generally
from Russellville to Huntsville to Stevenson this afternoon. As
precipitation ends from northwest to southeast, anticipating more
of a wintry mix/freezing rain this evening for our southeast with
ice accumulations to around a tenth of an inch. Overall, the Winter
Storm Warning will continue tonight, and for now remains in effect
through 6 AM Tuesday morning.
The other concern will be wind chills overnight. Northerly winds
between 10-15 mph tonight and lows dipping into the single digits
will result in dangerous wind chill conditions later tonight into
Tuesday morning. We recently issued a Wind Chill Warning for the
northwestern portion of the CWA for wind chills as low as 10 to
15 below zero. A Wind Chill Advisory was issued for the remaining
southeastern areas for wind chills as low as 5 to 10 below zero.
&&
.SHORT TERM...
(Tuesday through Wednesday Night)
Issued at 302 PM CST Mon Jan 15 2024
As surface high pressure builds into the region behind the
aforementioned precipitation, strong cold air advection will
result in VERY frigid conditions through at least midweek. With
the snowpack from today, model guidance is suggesting that highs
Tuesday will struggle to warm past the upper teens in our
northwest. Highs in the southeast meanwhile are expected to merely
reach the lower to mid 20s. Some of the coldest conditions of the
season (and perhaps the coldest in decades for some spots) will
then come Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning. Guidance is
coming into agreement with lows nose-diving to near zero to even
negative 5 below zero in the northwest. Single digits lows are
then forecast in the southeast. Although winds look to be a bit
less than tonight into Tuesday morning, wind chill values still
dip into the -5 to -12 degree range in the northwest and to near 0
to -8 degrees in the southeast. A Wind Chill Warning/Advisory
will likely be needed to account for this. Please take these
dangerous and extreme cold conditions seriously! Limit time
outdoors, but if you must go outside, dress in layers! If you must
travel, take caution. Make sure to have a winter safety kit in
your vehicle.
With sunny skies on Wednesday, a slight warm up is anticipated
with highs topping out in the upper 20s to mid 30s and lows
Wednesday night in the teens.
&&
.LONG TERM...
(Thursday through Monday)
Issued at 302 PM CST Mon Jan 15 2024
Thursday, temperatures will be relatively warm-- with highs
peaking in the upper 30s to upper 40s (with warmer temperatures
east of I-65). These values are 20-30 degrees warmer than the
forecast temperatures Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
Models are beginning to agree on an upper level low forming in the
Great Lakes region while an upper level ridge forms along the
western US. An increased pressure gradient between the two
features will result in gusty conditions up to 20-25 mph Friday
into Saturday-- causing an increased concern for wind chills. We
have high confidence that subfreezing, dangerous cold will
continue to be a threat in the extended period as low temperatures
in the single digits to teens remain in the forecast Friday and
Saturday night.
Another hazard we are watching, but feel less confident in at
this time, is a second round of wintry precipitation moving
through Thursday night into Friday. As an upper level trough moves
into the TN Valley, medium to high chances (40-75%) of
precipitation are possible. In what form will this precipitation
fall? This depends on surface temperatures and moisture
availability in the snow growth region (-10 to -20 degree layer).
Model soundings currently favor the potential for freezing rain
transitioning to snow by the morning hours. LREF ensemble guidance
has higher freezing rain accumulation potential (prob of
accumulations greater than 0.01") remaining in NW AL with chances
between 40-50%. Elsewhere, they remain 10-30%. Our official
forecast has ice accumulation totals around 0.03" in NW AL. In
addition to this, we have snowfall totals remaining less than 0.1"
in NW AL and southern middle TN. We will be watching this system
closely as we approach the mid week as this is a low confidence
forecast.
Otherwise, highs are forecast to reach the mid 30s to low 40s
Sunday and will be even warmer Monday-- peaking in the mid 40s.
Overnight lows Sunday night are forecast to be in the low to mid
20s. After the potential system on Thursday night, we are set to
remain dry through the remainder of the weekend, with low chances
(20%) of rain moving back in Monday afternoon.
&&
.AVIATION...
(00Z TAFS)
Issued at 550 PM CST Mon Jan 15 2024
A band of lgt PL/SN/FZRA will continue across northern AL early
in the TAF period, but should shift steadily southeastward this
evening in conjunction with a cold front at the 850-mb level. At
this point, we have advertised the ending time for light wintry
mixed precip (and MVFR vsby reductions) at 3Z/MSL and 6Z/HSV. Low
stratus clouds (based arnd 1500 ft AGL) will remain intact thru
8-10Z, before temporarily scattering as drier air is advected into
the region. However, by mid/late morning, we expect a broken
layer of cold air stratocu to return and bring cigs arnd 2500 ft
for the rest of the TAF period. Sfc flow will remain from NNW at
speeds arnd 10 knots, before becoming lgt/vrbl late tomorrow aftn.
&&
.HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AL...Winter Storm Warning until 6 AM CST Tuesday for ALZ001>010-016.
Wind Chill Warning from midnight tonight to noon CST Tuesday for
ALZ001>006.
Wind Chill Advisory from midnight tonight to noon CST Tuesday
for ALZ007>010-016.
TN...Winter Storm Warning until 6 AM CST Tuesday for TNZ076-096-097.
Wind Chill Warning from midnight tonight to noon CST Tuesday for
TNZ076-096-097.
&&
NEAR TERM...26
SHORT TERM...26
LONG TERM...HC
AVIATION...70/DDPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
104 PM CST Mon Jan 15 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0103 PM Snow 5 WNW Underwood-Petersv 34.89N 87.79W
01/15/2024 M6.0 inch Lauderdale AL Public
Via social media.
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
116 PM CST Mon Jan 15 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0115 PM Snow 6 ESE Rogersville 34.80N 87.18W
01/15/2024 M1.5 inch Limestone AL Emergency Mngr
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
144 PM CST Mon Jan 15 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0143 PM Snow 3 SSE Petersburg 35.28N 86.63W
01/15/2024 E8.0 inch Lincoln TN Emergency Mngr
On Old Petersburg Pike. Visibility less than
100 yards.
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
147 PM CST Mon Jan 15 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0139 PM Snow Lexington 34.97N 87.37W
01/15/2024 M7.5 inch Lauderdale AL Broadcast Media
Social media reported measurement from
Lexington, AL.
&&
HCPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
155 PM CST Mon Jan 15 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0155 PM Snow 1 W Lynchburg 35.28N 86.37W
01/15/2024 E6.0 inch Moore TN Emergency Mngr
Snowfall of 4-6 inches throughout the
county. Road conditions are very hazardous.
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
247 PM CST Mon Jan 15 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0143 PM Snow 3 SSE Petersburg 35.28N 86.63W
01/15/2024 M7.0 inch Lincoln TN Emergency Mngr
Corrects previous snow report from 3 SSE
Petersburg. On Old Petersburg Pike.
Visibility less than 100 yards.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
18 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind chills of zero to 6 below were observed, especially across western and northern portions of Lauderdale County.
Wind chills of zero to 5 below were observed.
Wind chills of zero to 4 below were observed.
Wind chills of zero to 4 below were observed.
Wind chills of zero to 4 below were observed.
Wind chills of zero to 5 below were observed.
Wind chills of zero to 5 below were observed.
Wind chills of zero to 3 below were observed.
Wind chills of zero to 1 below were observed.
The low temperature in Lexington dropped to -7 degrees on the morning of the 17th. Many snow covered areas of western through northern Lauderdale County dropped to zero or below zero for morning lows. Winds were rather light at 5 mph or less, but at times, dropped the wind chill to zero to 5 below.
Wind chills of around zero were observed.
Wind chills of around zero were observed.
Wind chills of around zero were observed.
Wind chills of around zero were observed.
Wind chills of around zero were observed.
Wind chills of around zero were observed.
Wind chills of around zero were observed.
Wind chills of zero to -1 were observed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, January 2024
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: 1157856, 1157858, 1157860, 1157861, 1157862, 1157863, 1157865, 1157866, 1157867, 1157855, 1157868, 1157869, 1157859, 1157870, 1157871, 1157872, 1157873, 1157874.