This past weekend citizens of St. Clair and the rest of Alabama started preparing for some of the harshest winter weather seen in our state in years. A hard freeze warning was issued for Monday, Jan. 6 through Wednesday Jan 8. as well as a wind advisory through Tuesday.

The hard freeze was easily seen as cars cautiously navigated their way around patches of ice on the road. For others the effects were seen at home, as water trickled due to a pipe freeze or power shut off.

The wind chill was felt by all who ventured outside on Monday or Tuesday. With some winds reaching over 20 mph, the wind advisory was put in place to help prevent hypothermia and frost bite. Other issues seen by these wind gusts were driving conditions. The speed of the wind made driving a little more difficult for all vehicles but especially for transfer trucks. The high-speed winds and freezing weather conditions left icy patches on interstates and secondary roads Monday through Wednesday. Because of this St. Clair County schools were delayed until 10 AM. 

Monday’s temperature only reached a high of around 30 degrees, with a low around 9 degrees. Tuesday was the worst day of the severe weather with temps dropping as low as 8 degrees and only reaching 24 degrees at the warmest part of the day.  Wednesday started out with a low around 15 degrees but eventually reached around 41 degrees later in the day.

With wind gusts between 12-21 mph parts of the 30-degree weather felt like 11 degrees. The lower temperatures combined with wind gust made the air feel like it was as low as negative 8 degrees outside.

With cold air and frozen ground filling St. Clair County, most residents will be glad to hear that today’s forecast has temperatures remaining above freezing, with a mere 10 percent chance of rain. But precipitation chances will increase on Saturday, with a 50 percent chance, but the temperature will remain above freezing. So it looks as if St. Clair County won’t be seeing any snow this week.

Next week should feel a little more like an Alabama winter, with temperatures staying mostly in the 50s and 60s.  Stay bundled up, and watch our Facebook page (St. Clair News Aegis) for future severe weather updates.

We encourage you to take cold weather very seriously as we finish up this winter season. Please make sure that you have a back up heat source as well as plenty of supplies, water, food, batteries, flashlights, FM radio, medicine and etc. Also be sure to check on friends, neighbors and outside animals if hard freezing weather strikes again in St. Clair County. The St. Clair News Aegis staff hopes that you, your family and friends will stay safe and warm this winter season.