Christmas Day Snow 2010

2010 Christmas Day Snowfall

A surface low in the Northern Gulf of Mexico along with an upper level disturbance moving southeastward from the Great Plains contributed to an observation of heavy snowfall on Christmas Day, 2010. The snowfall blanketed much of Northern and Central Alabama. Some locations saw the first White Christmas on record, while others just missed out on a White Christmas. See the map below for the preliminary totals gathered from Co-Op Observers, CoCoRaHS observers, and Local Storm Reports.

The snow first began throughout Northwestern Alabama early on Christmas morning. Locations such as Byrd and Hamilton in Marion County received between 2 to 2.5 inches, while areas just east of Hackleburg recieved as much as 4 inches. Locations in the Huntsville County Warning Area were the big winners on snowfall, with most locations around the city of Huntsville receiving up to 3 inches of snowfall, and up to 6.5 inches of snowfall atop Monte Sano Mountain by a CoCoRaHS observer.

As the precipitation developed over Central Alabama later that morning, higher elevations saw all snow at the onset. Many areas to the east of the city of Birmingham received up to 2 inches of snowfall. The highest elevations in East Alabama saw up to 4 inches, which was reported from atop Mt. Cheaha. The Birmingham metro area saw the precipitation begin as rainfall for much of the morning, where up to 3 tenths of an inch of rainfall was reported at the Birmingham International Airport and the Shelby County Airport. See the daily precipitation plot that presents the liquid equivalent of all precipitation on Christmas Day here.

The wet, warmer ground conditions in the city of Birmingham and points southward along the Interstate 65 corridor contributed to most of the snow melting as it made contact with the ground. Only a trace of snow was recorded at the Birmingham International Airport with no snow to measure on the snowboard. The city of Birmingham has therefore still never recorded a white Christmas since records have been kept, which is nearly 100 years. You can view the white Christmas history throughout Central Alabama by clicking here.

As the precipitation continued to move southeastward through the evening hours, many locations across Southeast Alabama observed the rain change over to snow, where areas as far south as Auburn University observed an inch of snowfall. Areas as far south as Evergreen in Conecuh County, Eufaula in Barbour County, and Ozark in Henry County observed a trace of snowfall as well.

Listed below are snowfall reports across the state, from the highest amounts to the lowest:

LOCATION	COUNTY	SNOWFALL (Inches)
Huntsville 5.8 ENE	Madison	6.5
Monte Sano Mt.	Madison	6.0
Meridianville	Madison	4.5
Jacksonville 2.8 SE	Calhoun	4.0
Florence 1.2 S	Lauderdale	4.0
Phil Campbell	Franklin	4.0
Ider	Dekalb	4.0
Valley Head	Dekalb	4.0
Peeks Corner	Dekalb	4.0
Vinemont	Cullman	4.0
Tessner	Marion	4.0
Muscadine	Cleburne	4.0
Mt. Cheaha	Cleburne	4.0
Athens	Limestone	3.8
Holly Tree	Jackson	3.8
Moulton	Lawrence	3.5
Harvest	Madison	3.5
Madison	Madison	3.5
Owens Crossroads	Madison	3.5
Paint Rock	Jackson	3.5
Boaz	Marshall	3.5
West Point	Cullman	3.5
Littleville	Colbert	3.0
French Mill	Madison	3.0
Scottsboro	Jackson	3.0
Stevenson	Jackson	3.0
Hackleburg	Marion	3.0
Attalla	Etowah	3.0
Sand Rock	Cherokee	3.0
Anniston	Calhoun	3.0
Hampton Cove	Madison	2.9
Hamilton	Marion	2.5
Huntsville Airport	Madison	2.5
New Market	Madison	2.5
Hartselle	Morgan	2.5
Ashland	Clay	2.5
Fyffe	Dekalb	2.5
Beaverton	Lamar	2.5
Walnut Grove	Etowah	2.5
Wilsonia	Etowah	2.5
Glencoe	Etowah	2.5
Chalafinee	Cleburne	2.5
Malone	Randolph	2.5
NWS Huntsville	Madison	2.4
Priceville	Morgan	2.3
Anderson COOP	Lauderdale	2.25
Byrd	Marion	2.25
Centre	Cherokee	2.25
Rogersville	Lauderdale	2.0
Holly Pond	Cullman	2.0
Addison	Winston	2.0
Steele	St. Clair	2.0
Lincoln	Talladega	2.0
Grant Tour	Talladega	1.7
Vernon	Lamar	1.5
Oneonta	Blount	1.5
Hokes Bluff	Etowah	1.5
Oxford	Calhoun	1.5
Fosters Crossroads	Randolph	1.5
Highland Lakes	Shelby	1.5
Remlap	Blount	1.25
Millport	Lamar	1.0
Bluff Park	Jefferson	1.0
Hueytown	Jefferson	1.0
Killen	Lauderdale	1.0
Sylvan Springs	Jefferson	1.0
Bessemer	Jefferson	1.0
Trussville	Jefferson	1.0
Moody	St. Clair	1.0
Pell City	St. Clair	1.0
Saks	Calhoun	1.0
Ashland	Clay	1.0
Wedowee	Randolph	1.0
Auburn University	Lee	1.0
Townley	Walker	1.0
Springville	St. Clair	1.0
Palmerdale	Jefferson	0.75
Roanoke	Randolph	0.50
Red Level	Chambers	0.50
Jasper	Walker	0.50
Maylene	Shelby	0.50
Berry	Fayette	0.50
Santuck	Elmore	0.50
Seale	Russell	0.30
Alexander City	Tallapoosa	0.25
Shelby Co. Airport	Shelby	Trace
Birmingham Airport	Jefferson	Trace
Wetumpka	Elmore	Trace
Montgomery	Montgomery	Trace
Troy	Pike	Trace
Tuscaloosa	Tuscaloosa	Trace
Eutaw	Greene	Trace
Boligee	Greene	Trace
Greensboro	Hale	Trace
Chelsea	Shelby	Trace
Meadowbrook	Shelby	Trace
Abbeville	Henry	Trace
Evergreen	Conecuh	Trace
Ozark	Dale	Trace

Temperatures remained at or below the freezing mark on December 26th across the northern half of the state, which lead to little or no snow melt. The snowpack was still visible from satellite on the morning of December 27th. The following is a MODIS satellite image from the NASA SPort Center in Huntsville, AL.

1 km MODIS Natural Color Image (1633 UTC 12/27/10)

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