Ice Storm — Colbert, Alabama

1998-12-23 to 1998-12-25 · Colbert, Alabama

Wider weather episode

A winter storm brought a mixture of freezing rain...sleet...and rain to the northern half of Alabama. The northwestern quarter of Alabama was especially hard hit. The precipitation began in a narrow band across Fayette, Walker, Cullman, and Marshall counties around 2 am and then around 5am in the rest of the counties and lasted until early afternoon on the 24th. The northwestern quarter of the state saw temperatures at or below freezing for the majority of the event. Liquid equivalent precipitation ranged from one to three inches. Significant ice accumulations of one half to one inch were common across the area. Numerous trees were down across every county. Significant power outages were encountered in all counties and many locations did not return to service until the 26th or 27th. The National Guard was activated in a few northwestern counties to help with the cleanup duties. Numerous roads were closed during the event which included Interstate 65 and 565 in the Huntsville area. One fatality occurred in Huntsville when a homeless man died of exposure. Numerous multiple vehicle and single automobile accidents occurred due to the icy road conditions. These accidents resulted in at least 5 fatalities and numerous minor injuries. One fatality occurred during the cleanup effort when the worker came into contact with a live electrical wire.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5675192. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.