I sure am hoping to see a good snow this winter. We are "overdue" for a really good snow in North Alabama. My boys have seen very little snow in their lives, during the last 12 years. I saw quite a bit by the time I was their age as a child growing up in Huntsville. Not only that, but if they had lived during the previous 12 years (between 1982 and March 93) they would have seen quite a few major ice and snow events.

I remember well major ice storms in 1982 and 1985. There was an 8" snow in Huntsville and other parts of North Alabama in 1988. A similar snowfall occurred in 1991 in Tuscaloosa. Of course anyone who lived in Alabama in March of 1993 remembers the "Blizzard of ’93".

Since March of 1993, there have not been any widespread ice or snow events in North Alabama that compare to the events of 1982, 1985, 1988, 1991, or 1993. And before you ask, don’t even mention global warming. These are just climatic cycles. Unfortunately for snow lovers like me (and especially my children), this came at a "bad" time because my boys haven’t had the opportunities I had to enjoy sledding, making snowmen, and having snowball fights. Not to mention the fact that they haven’t had the opportunity to wake up in the morning, turn on the TV, and find out that school was closed.

With every passing rain event, we get closer to the end of this winter. Snow lovers don’t give up hope, though. The next three to six weeks are climatologically the most likely time for snow to fall in Alabama. Not only that, but there are some indications that extremely cold air is building up near the north pole. There is also some indication that prevailing winds may change within the next few weeks and begin to draw some of that cold air southward. Time will tell!