cold weather safety

Charitable groups and local municipalities across Alabama are opening warming stations as temperatures plunge to the upper teens with wind chills near zero degrees. About 240 million people were under cold weather advisories and winter storm warnings Saturday as a powerful system threatened to bring howling winds, flooding and heavy snow to the East Coast — including blizzardlike conditions stemming from a “bomb cyclone” in the Southeast.

Alabama is preparing for the coldest air of the season.The National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Cold Warning for the Tuscaloosa Area as well as the Gulf coast from midnight to until noon on Sunday. The agency says Huntsville and all of north Alabama will be under a Cold Weather Advisory during that same time frame. The forecast, in general, is for bitter temperatures and gusty winds, which could make it feel as cold as four degrees below zero.

The dairy aisle at a Publix supermarket in Tuscaloosa looked bare as people throughout the southern U.S. stock up on water, food, and generators as they prepare for the storm.

Alabama Power Company crews are on standby for power outage repairs in north Alabama this weekend.Nearly two thousand utility crews are for deployment to portions of north Alabama this weekend.

The National Weather Service in Huntsville says the Tennessee Valley, including the Huntsville area and the Shoals, could be in for a winter emergency starting as soon as Friday night. A cold front from the north combined with moisture coming up from the Gulf of Mexico could lead to roads left impassible by snow and ice.

Keeping your best friend safe in cold (even freezing) temperatures is vital to protecting your furry buddy!

An arctic air blast swept south from Canada, spreading into the northern United States. Meanwhile, residents of the Pacific Northwest braced for possible mudslides and levee failures as floodwaters slowly recede. The concern for Alabama and the southeast are brutally cold temperatures tonight and early this week with lows in the mid-teens in some spots.

Huntsville, Dothan, Birmingham, and Garden City in Cullman County spread the word early about the brutal overnight cold. The low temperatures along the Tennessee Valley, over the weekend and into Monday morning, are forecast to be as low as the mid teens. Even the Wiregrass region toward the south was predicted to be in the mid-twenties.

The cities of Montgomery and Birmingham and the Jimmie Hale Mission will have warming stations open night as some of the first blasts of winter weather hit Alabama. Low twenties are in the forecast from the Tennessee Valley to Tuscaloosa and the Magic City. The Gulf coast is expected to be closer to thirty.

The City of Birmingham and the Jimmie Hale Mission are extending overnight shelter services in the wake of the extreme cold. The warming station hours at 1569 Cooper Hill Road will be offered through 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25. Donations are also needed to help protect attendees from the weather.