The first cold nights in Alabama, station by station
When the first night of 50°F or colder and the first freeze usually come at each reference station over the last 10 falls (a count shows where some years never got there), with the coldest week from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals and the coldest night of the last 10 winters.
First cold nights and the coldest week at Alabama reference stations
Station
First 50°F night
First freeze
Coldest week
Coldest night, last 10 winters
BirminghamBirmingham Airport, USW00013876
Oct 10
Nov 15
Jan 15 to 21normal low 35°F
9°FJan 22, 2025
HuntsvilleHuntsville International Airport, USW00003856
Oct 4
Nov 10
Jan 14 to 20normal low 33°F
3°FDec 23, 2022
MontgomeryMontgomery Airport, USW00013895
Oct 12
Nov 15
Jan 11 to 17normal low 36°F
10°FJan 18, 2018
MobileMobile Downtown Airport, USW00013838
Oct 22
Dec 10
Jan 10 to 16normal low 42°F
9°FJan 22, 2025
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Birmingham against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 4 Alabama reference stations.
The first night of 50°F or colder is a fair marker of the first real front. At Birmingham the first night of 50°F or colder came around Oct 10 in the median of the last 10 falls, as early as Sep 24 in 2021 and as late as Oct 17 in 2017. Elsewhere in the state: Huntsville around Oct 4, Montgomery around Oct 12 and Mobile around Oct 22.
Birmingham has its first freeze around Nov 15, counting nights at 32°F or colder over the last 10 winters. Across the state: Huntsville around Nov 10, Montgomery around Nov 15 and Mobile around Dec 10.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Birmingham was 9°F on Jan 22, 2025, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 13°F. Elsewhere: Huntsville 3°F on Dec 23, 2022, Montgomery 10°F on Jan 18, 2018 and Mobile 9°F on Jan 22, 2025. The record at the Birmingham station is −6°F, on Jan 21, 1985, in daily records since 1930.
At Birmingham a typical recent winter brings 35 nights at 32°F or colder and 3 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Birmingham Airport (USW00013876), Huntsville International Airport (USW00003856), Montgomery Airport (USW00013895) and Mobile Downtown Airport (USW00013838). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
