Much of Alabama woke up to dangerously low temperatures and cold weather advisories this morning and forecasters are warning of precipitation across the state overnight tonight, leading to potentially dangerous conditions.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for much of north Alabama after midnight tonight.
Gerald Satterwhite, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham, said precipitation is expected after 12 a.m. Friday across the state.
“The state’s going to kind of be divided,” Satterwhite told Alabama Daily News. “The southern part of the state will be all rain, and up toward the middle of the state will start off as a wintery mix, (and) some (areas) will change over to just a cold rain by mid-to-late (Friday) morning.”
Later into the day, some snow accumulations of up to two to four inches are expected north of Birmingham, Satterwhite said.
“And some places along the Interstate 20 corridor may pick up some light accumulation before it changes over to rain, and once you venture further south, it’s just cold rain,” he said.
There will likely be some travel impact in north Alabama, including Gadsden, Hamilton, Muscle Shoals and Huntsville, those areas, he said.
“The system will move out Friday night and we get another set of cold air, so even for the areas that didn’t pick up any snow accumulation but saw rain, any of that lingering rain – water on the roads or walkways – could freeze, so that’ll be something to consider Friday night and Saturday morning,” Satterwhite said.
[6 AM] A Winter Storm Warning is effect starting after midnight tonight for snowfall 2-4 inches and ice amounts up to 0.1 inch. Travel conditions will become treacherous. Take some time today to make last minute preparations and make sure you have a winter weather plan. #HUNwx pic.twitter.com/qBB3doDpmi
— NWS Huntsville (@NWSHuntsville) January 9, 2025
The Alabama Emergency Management Agency said the cold temperatures already this week will make the impact of any snow and freezing rain more significant.
“Impacts will likely begin almost immediately on roadways once the winter precipitation starts due to how cold the pavement will become this week,” Alabama EMA says on its website. ” Temperatures will drop below freezing over the northern 2/3 of the state Friday night into Saturday morning. Many areas north of I-20 may not get above freezing on Saturday which will extend road impacts and difficult to hazardous driving conditions. Temperatures are expected to get above freezing statewide by Sunday afternoon.”
Alabama Daily News’ Alexander Willis contributed to this report.