As a major winter storm unfolded across parts of Mississippi, Tennessee, and North Alabama, Central Alabama saw a quick warmup prior to a steep temperature fall as a surface low moved across the Birmingham area. On January 24, freezing rain was observed with light ice accretion across Marion and Winston counties.
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 BMX wrote it up.
As a major winter storm unfolded across parts of Mississippi, Tennessee, and North Alabama, Central Alabama saw a quick warmup prior to a steep temperature fall as a surface low moved across the Birmingham area. On January 24, freezing rain was observed with light ice accretion across Marion and Winston counties. As the low moved through the state by the morning of January 25, a sharp warm sector developed generally south and east of the I-59 corridor. A line of thunderstorms developed during the mid-morning hours and moved eastward across Central Alabama. These storms briefly turned severe in the Montgomery area, producing an EF-1 tornado along the Lowndes/Montgomery county line as well as considerable straight-line wind damage in a swath along the I-85 corridor within the city of Montgomery.
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 24, 5:09 AM CST, 51 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Birmingham AL 509 AM CST Sat Jan 24 2026 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 506 AM CST SAT JAN 24 2026 - A Level 1/5 Marginal Risk for severe weather is in place Sunday afternoon across southern portions of Central Alabama. Damaging winds and tornadoes are the primary threats. - A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for northern counties of Central Alabama. - Very cold air arrives late Sunday into early next week. Cold weather hazards will be needed for Sunday night through Tuesday as lows reach the teens and single digits. && .DISCUSSION... (Through Friday) Issued at 104 AM CST SAT JAN 24 2026 I feel like I have large shoes to fill this morning trying to follow up on some excellent forecast discussions the last few days. In an effort to keep things simple, I will opt to explain major changes to the forecast tonight, instead of going over the same things my counterparts have been in excellent detail. Winter Weather through Sunday: The threat for winter weather still seems to be isolated to a handful of our north zones through Sunday morning. In fact, we had enough confidence tonight to go ahead and cancel the existing Winter Storm Watch early for Calhoun and Cleburne counties. While some wintry mix is certainly possible here at higher elevations, temperatures in general don't seem all that supportive for widespread winter weather and impacts. Otherwise, no other changes were made to the Winter Weather Advisory, and it remains in effect until 00z Monday. Depending on how the low pressure progresses, it may end up getting canceled early as well. It's also worth noting here given the temperature trends, some of these counties may end up coming out of this with little to no impacts, and the highest confidence for winter weather remains in our NW. Severe Weather Sunday Afternoon/Evening: Afternoon guidance continues to shift the deepening surface low to the north into the afternoon hours on Sunday. This would allow for warmer air from the Gulf to work farther north, and allow for higher instability values. For the most part, it still looks like a narrow corridor of CAPE along the lines of 500-700 J/Kg could work as far north as Elmore county and east, continuing to trek east as the front works through the region. Given forecast wind profiles, and proximity to the low pressure, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes remain the main threats, but these threats remain very conditional. Thus, the Marginal Risk (Level 1/5) remains in place. Very Cold Air Behind the Front: Incredibly cold air behind the front remains almost certain, but there's an interesting caveat here that would dictate just how cold the region gets. A key factor in this cold air advection was the air having to travel over all of the snow to our north. This would have aided in keeping the cold airmass even colder. Well, as the threat for a large snowpack to our north decreases, as does the ceiling for overnight lows Monday and Tuesday. With all that being said, the floor for these lows remains very high, and this may ultimately result in a difference of only 2-3 degrees when it's all said and done. However, it's worth mentioning just in case the forecast starts to "warm" the next few days, even with these temperatures remaining the least conditional impactful weather in the forecast. Because of this, the Extreme Cold Watch remains in effect, with future upgrades likely to come in the next 24-hours or so. Wednesday Onward: Temperatures will remain well below average into the weekend, with the rest of the workweek remaining dry. I'm sure some of you have seen some of the guidance output for next weekend, and yes, it's entirely possible we see additional winter weather next weekend given well below average temperatures. With that being said, that's another forecast that will entirely depend on the placement of a low pressure, which is why it's important to not lock onto any one model output this far out. As we're currently experiencing, winter weather events need time to evolve, and we'll have a much better picture of what things could look like here in a few days. /44/ && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 506 AM CST SAT JAN 24 2026 Widespread clouds and rain are expected for most of this TAF period, with most terminals eventually falling into IFR or LIFR category. Reduced VIS will also be possible with any of the heavier rainfall. Expect like conditions for most of the upcoming weekend given widespread expected rainfall. /44/ && .FIRE WEATHER... Widespread rain is still expected through the weekend, with most locations seeing between 2-4 inches by Monday. Dry air will quickly work into the region by the new workweek, with MinRH values dropping back between 30-40%. Given the wet fuels, fire weather concerns will remain little to none through the middle of next week. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Gadsden 48 37 55 16 / 60 90 100 30 Anniston 50 39 58 20 / 40 90 100 30 Birmingham 48 42 56 19 / 60 100 100 20 Tuscaloosa 48 41 52 19 / 80 100 100 20 Calera 53 42 59 19 / 60 100 100 30 Auburn 54 42 63 26 / 20 80 100 50 Montgomery 58 51 70 23 / 30 80 100 40 Troy 60 53 71 23 / 20 70 90 50 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 6 PM CST Sunday for the following counties: Blount-Cherokee-Etowah-Fayette-Lamar-Marion-Walker- Winston. Extreme Cold Watch from late Sunday night through Monday morning for the following counties: Autauga-Barbour-Bibb-Blount-Bullock- Calhoun-Chambers-Cherokee-Chilton-Clay-Cleburne-Coosa-Dallas- Elmore-Etowah-Fayette-Greene-Hale-Jefferson-Lamar-Lee-Lowndes- Macon-Marengo-Marion-Montgomery-Perry-Pickens-Pike-Randolph- Russell-Shelby-St. Clair-Sumter-Talladega-Tallapoosa-Tuscaloosa- Walker-Winston. && DISCUSSION.../44/ AVIATION.../44/
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:17 UTC.
4 thunderstorm wind, 2 winter weather, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor ice accretion, generally less than 0.1 inches, across much of the county, leading to buildup on trees and other outdoor surfaces as well as hazardous travel conditions.
Minor ice accretion, generally less than 0.05 inches, mainly across the northwestern half of the county, leading to buildup on trees and other outdoor surfaces as well as hazardous travel conditions.
NWS meteorologists assessed storm damage along the Lowndes County and Montgomery County line, in the community of Rolling Acres, and determined it was the result of a tornado. The tornado began on the west side of Cruise Road, just north of Bibb Road, where a few snapped and uprooted trees were observed. The tornado then continued eastward to County Road 26 and Hargrove Lane, producing similar timber damage along the way. The tornado then struck a manufactured home (MH) as well as two site-built homes along Treat Road. The first site-built home sustained damage to an attached carport and associated roofing on the south side of the structure. The MH had its sheet metal roof completely removed, though the roof truss structure remained intact. Insulation from its roof was noted to have been blown southeastward while the metal roofing material was blown northward. Next door, the tornado removed from a site-built home a large section of its roof structure on the west side of the structure. A splattering of insulation was noted on the east side of the residence. This damage pattern suggest a cyclonic wind field (i.e., a tornado). Several trees were uprooted or snapped in the vicinity of the structures. The tornado then produced additional timber damage, fairly minor in nature, east to near the shoulder of Interstate 65. 99% of this tornado's path was characterized by EF-0 damage, though a maximum rating of EF-1 is assigned due to the level of damage to the site-built home, making the worst of damage very, very short-lived.
NWS meteorologists assessed storm damage along the Lowndes County and Montgomery County line, in the community of Rolling Acres, and determined it was the result of a tornado. The tornado began on the west side of Cruise Road, just north of Bibb Road, where a few snapped and uprooted trees were observed. The tornado then continued eastward to County Road 26 and Hargrove Lane, producing similar timber damage along the way. The tornado then struck a manufactured home (MH) as well as two site-built homes along Treat Road. The first site-built home sustained damage to an attached carport and associated roofing on the south side of the structure. The MH had its sheet metal roof completely removed, though the roof truss structure remained intact. Insulation from its roof was noted to have been blown southeastward while the metal roofing material was blown northward. Next door, the tornado removed from a site-built home a large section of its roof structure on the west side of the structure. A splattering of insulation was noted on the east side of the residence. This damage pattern suggest a cyclonic wind field (i.e., a tornado). Several trees were uprooted or snapped in the vicinity of the structures. The tornado then produced additional timber damage, fairly minor in nature, east to near the shoulder of Interstate 65. 99% of this tornado's path was characterized by EF-0 damage, though a maximum rating of EF-1 is assigned due to the level of damage to the site-built home, making the worst of damage very, very short-lived.
NWS meteorologists assessed damage across the Montgomery Metro and determined it was the result of straight-line wind damage. This damage began in the vicinity of Interstate 65 and Fairview Avenue and continued eastward to near Taylor Road. Numerous crossroads along this axis were affected, with many trees and large limbs downed onto residences, other buildings, vehicles, and roadways. Some power lines were also taken down, including across Interstate 85 which required a temporary closing of the roadway. Many residences suffered minor to significant damage from fallen trees and tree limbs.
Sporadic straight-line wind damage was noted in the greater Montgomery Metro area, though the most concentrated and significant damage was noted along the aforementioned areas.
Tree fall was observed to have been in a easterly direction. Additionally, radar data from KMXX showed a concentrated surge of|strong winds, in a uniform direction, on the southern side of the storm. Based on available evidence, straight-line winds is deemed the cause of these damages.
Trained spotter measured 71 mph wind gust using a home weather station with an anemometer 7 feet AGL in the Ridgefield/Vaughn Meadows area near Vaughan Rd and Perry Hill Rd.
In addition to damage south of I-85 in Montgomery, some damage was reported north of the interstate. Trees were snapped with one blocking the road near Mayfair Road in the Bellehurst area, and a large tree fell onto a house, penetrating the roof and damaging the ceiling of a home between Ann Street and Perry Hill Road.
A few trees and power lines were downed along Redland Rd, Marshell Rd, Firetower Rd, and Highway 14.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Alabama, 2026Warnings 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: 1305066, 1305068, 1304055, 1304056, 1305044, 1305058, 1305062, 1305063.