Temperatures in the mid 20s and wind chill near 20 resulted in a fatality in Walker County due partially to hypothermia.
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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.
Temperatures in the mid 20s and wind chill near 20 resulted in a fatality in Walker County due partially to hypothermia.
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 Jan 19, 10:51 PM CST, 1 hour 9 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Birmingham AL 1051 PM CST Mon Jan 19 2026 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 1051 PM CST MON JAN 19 2026 - Cold and dry conditions will continue through Tuesday night. - A cold front will bring rain to the area Wednesday night into Thursday. - Low to medium chance of a wintry mix Friday night into Sunday for portions of Central Alabama. && .DISCUSSION... (This evening through Sunday) Issued at 1212 PM CST MON JAN 19 2026 Satellite is showing a mostly clear picture across AL with some mid/upper moisture approaching from the NW. A front will move through today with minimal consequence. We are not looking at enough moisture for any rain. However, it will help to reinforce our cold airmass for another day as a ridge center sinks SEWD out of the Central Plains and into the Deep South on Tuesday. Low level flow will turn back around on Wed as the ridge center pushes EWD. In addition, the upper flow becomes zonal as the E Conus troughs cycles EWD and away. Rain chances return by late Wednesday ahead of our next frontal system and continue into Friday. An unsettled pattern sets up for the remainder of the week. An upper low moves onto the CA coast on Thursday. By Friday, this will shift our upper flow to WSW as the low digs SE into Mexico. Meanwhile in the lower levels another front will move through bringing some very cold air into the area by Friday night into Saturday. Moisture, however, will stay available post front with an overrunning precip set up. Very cold air will be in place in the lower levels with a large warm nose aloft thanks to our upper W-SW flow. This will set up for a messy winter pattern that will very different from our previous weekend's setup. The extent and amounts are still very much in question as to how far SWD and quickly the low level cold air progresses. This will determine how much wintry mix and/or possibly ice may occur. At the very least, there is a low to medium probability of impacts across the NRN 1/3 of C AL this weekend. We will be closely watching the run to run model progression as we head into the latter half of the week. 08 Previous discussion: (Through Sunday) Issued at 1239 AM CST MON JAN 19 2026 Broad mid to upper-level troughing over the Eastern CONUS will result in continued northwest flow and below-average temperatures across Central Alabama for the next couple of days. A reinforcing cold front will pass through the area today with just enough moisture for some mid-level clouds this evening, but no rain. Temperatures will drop into the teens to mid 20s tonight with mostly sunny but chilly conditions expected during the day tomorrow. There will be a slight warming trend on Wednesday as flow aloft becomes more zonal to south-southwesterly ahead of a shortwave trough axis over the Southern Plains. A surface low will lift across the Midwest towards the Great Lakes Region which will cause our rain chances to increase again Wednesday night into Thursday as another cold front moves into the region. The forecast is beginning to look more "interesting" by the end of the week and into the weekend as a strong region of high pressure builds southeast from Canada into the Midwest region on Friday, sending cold, low-level air into the Southeast. Meanwhile, a southern stream trough over the Four Corners extending into the Baja region will lead to amplification of the subtropical jet across Mexico and Texas, potentially resulting in the development of a surface low across the northern Gulf and strong isentropic lift along the Gulf Coast region. This looks to be a textbook winter overrunning setup that could certainly carry a lot of impacts this weekend if it were to occur. We note a fair amount of model agreement this far in advance regarding the overall synoptic pattern, but it's still early and there remains poor spatial and temporal consensus. We will have more details to share over the coming days as we monitor the forecast trends. 86/Martin && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1051 PM CST MON JAN 19 2026 VFR conditions are anticipated for the entire TAF period. /44/ && .FIRE WEATHER... Cold and dry conditions continue across Central Alabama over the next couple of days. A cold front will pass through the area this afternoon into tonight with no rain, but will result in northwest 20ft winds at 5 to 8 mph with gusts up to 15 mph. While minRH will drop into the 30-35% range this afternoon, values will be lower Tuesday, ranging from 20-30%. Winds will shift back to the southeast on Wednesday as another cold front moves towards the area with moisture and rain chances returning in the afternoon and evening hours. A wet pattern continues into the latter half of the week. Wintry precipitation chances return for this weekend for portions of the area. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Gadsden 19 45 20 54 / 0 0 0 10 Anniston 21 45 24 55 / 0 0 0 0 Birmingham 24 46 29 53 / 0 0 0 10 Tuscaloosa 24 48 28 56 / 0 0 0 10 Calera 24 48 27 56 / 0 0 0 0 Auburn 28 49 29 55 / 0 0 0 0 Montgomery 26 51 29 57 / 0 0 0 0 Troy 26 52 30 57 / 0 0 0 0 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && DISCUSSION...08/86/Martin AVIATION.../44/
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Temperatures in the 20s with wind chill value around 20 overnight resulted in a fatality in Jasper partially attributed to hypothermia. Individual was found on the porch of a business along 9th Ave.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold/Wind Chill, Walker | 2026-01-20 | 49 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, January 2026
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: 1302337.