Predictions of colder-than-normal winter cause concern in Alabama

Predictions of colder winter cause concern

timesdaily.com | Oct 27, 2009

By Dennis Sherer

Mike Melton admits he is a little nervous about predictions a strengthening El Nino weather pattern will bring a colder-than-normal winter to north Alabama this year.

“If you look back at history, some of our worst ice storms and snow storms have come in El Nino years,” said Melton, director of the Colert County Emergency Management Agency.

An El Nino, a warming of water in the southern Pacific Ocean, can affect weather around the world, including in the Tennessee Valley where El Nino tends to make winters more harsh.

The last strong El Nino was 1997-98. Many Shoals residents spent Christmas 1998 in the dark after and ice storm knocked down power lines throughout northwest Alabama.

An ice storm that paralyzed the Shoals in 1994 also occurred during an El Nino period.

Mike Coyne, hematologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Huntsville, said long-range predictions call for increased moisture along the Gulf of Mexico this winter. If the moisture moves northward into the Tennessee Valley and combines with cold air, an ice or snow storm could occur.

While there is no reason to panic, Melton recommends area residents begin making preparations for coping with a prolonged power outage and other problems that can occur from winter storms, such as icy roads.