We begin a new month and a new year, and that means it’s time to take a look at climatology stats for our part of the Tennessee Valley here in southern middle Tennessee and northwest Alabama. The NWS climate reporting station that’s closest to the middle of our coverage area, and most representative of the local microclimate across both side of the state line in our area, is the Northwest Alabama Regional Airport in Muscle Shoals. These stats are based on that specific location and its records; so, keep in mind that other smaller communities around the area may have experienced slightly lower temps, bigger snow totals, etc., in history because of that. We’re looking for an overall representation based on the best data we have available.
January, on average, is our coldest month of the year based on long-term weather records. That doesn’t mean it’s the case every day, but that’s how it averages out. The average monthly high temp is around 52 degrees with the average monthly low around 33 to 34. However, we know how wildly the weather fluctuates around here this time of year. The record monthly high for the Muscle Shoals airport reporting site was 80 degrees, set back in 1949. It can also get really cold around here, especially when ice and snow are involved. The record monthly low is -11 degrees from 1985, during a major winter storm that affected the region.
January is also typically a pretty wet month around these parts, with the jet stream being active and shifted southward during the winter. An average precipitation liquid amount for January in our area is around 4.71 inches, but we have seen some heavy rain and stormy episodes that have brought over a foot of rain to the area in under 24 hours. We have some big flooding and flash flooding events in our history for the month of January. We can see some big snow and ice events here this time of year too. If we’re going to see snow or ice in the Tennessee Valley, January is one of the most likely months. The max monthly snow for January at the Muscle Shoals airport site was 10.6″ set in 1966. However, we have had plenty of other winter storms where over a foot of snow has fallen in other parts of the viewing area in events happening in January. We have also had big ice storms during the month in our history as well.
Despite being in the middle of winter, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are also a big concern for the Tennessee Valley in the month of January. Our local area’s tornado “season” runs from November through May, although they can happen at any time of the year. And while January isn’t historically as active as November or March or April, we certainly see our fair share of tornadoes on occasion in January, and they can occasionally be just as large and intense as tornadoes that happen during the spring months!
