South Alabama Storms
With its southern shores saddled up next to the Gulf of Mexico, South Alabama paints a unique weather picture as compared to the rest of the state, with unique patterns and tendencies imitated by few places in the continental US. Perhaps most trademarked to South Alabama is the excessive amount of thunderstorms that prevail in the area, reporting more thunderstorms than any other area of the United States. From year to year and town to town, South Alabama hovers between 70 and 80 days per year in which thunder can be heard. Though Alabama as a whole is predisposed to high thunderstorm activity, northern portions of the state often report just 60 days per year, still high on the national scale but substantially less than the southern coast.While the total thunderstorm count is much higher than northern Alabama, South Alabama is also less susceptible to tornadoes, not to say the southern part of the state is completely out of danger. South Alabama storms are less likely to carry deadly lighting strikes or large pieces of hail, often precursors for Tornado activity. Like tornadoes, winter weather is also less likely for the southern portion of the state. Along the gulf coast, snow is an extreme rarity, going without snow entirely during most winters. The capacity for snow is not great across the state, rarely topping 2 inches , even in further north cities such as Birmingham. A line can be drawn from Auburn to Montgomery to Meridian, moving horizontally across the state, below which snow is a much less often occurrence, even by Alabama standards.Of course, as compensation for the lessening danger from snow, ice and tornadoes, South Alabama residents must survive each passing Hurricane season occupying prime real estate on a stretch of the Gulf heavily impacted by the seafaring storms. From Katrina to Ivan to Frederic to Dennis, South Alabama suffers the mighty effect of hurricanes whenever their paths align west of the Florida keys.