By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Most people in and around Atmore shared the sentiments expressed by Fire Chief Ronald Peebles in the wake of last week’s history-making winter storm.
“This is the most snow I’ve ever seen,” Peebles said of the winter weather phenomenon that dumped a record amount of winter precipitation on the community and across Lower Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
Resident Erma Ruffin agreed the occasion was a rare one, admitting that “I haven’t seen this much snow in 30 years or more.”
According to National Weather Service records, the official total — from a calibrated gauge — that accumulated in the Atmore area on Tuesday, January 21, was 6.5 inches. It was just two months short of 31 years ago that Atmore’s previous record for snowfall in a 24-hour period was established.
Data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows the most accumulated snow to have been measured here on any one day before last week was 2.0 inches. That reading was taken on March 13, 1993 and was matched on December 18, 1996. These three instances mark the only times more than an inch of snow has ever built up in the city, according to NOAA.
A state single-city record was established in the 1993 snowstorm, as 20 inches fell in and around Gadsden within 24 hours.
Last week’s storm effectively turned the city into a ghost town, as only a single convenience store remained open throughout the period of winter precipitation. Traffic on city streets was extremely light, and all area schools were closed from Tuesday through Friday, as was Atmore City Hall.
“All our businesses were closed, so that helped tremendously,” said Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks. “We had a few single-vehicle crashes, mostly in the Martinville Loop area, and an 18-wheeler had to be helped up a hill after the car in front of it stopped and caused the truck to lose its momentum. Other than that, we came through it pretty good.”
He pointed out that motorists reacted well and helped alleviate his concerns that the unfamiliar accumulation would result in a flurry of wrecked vehicles. City streets were covered by a blanket of snow, and ice built up beneath it as temperatures dropped into the low 20-degree range and blustery conditions produced single-digit wind chills.
“For the most part everybody did well; most people stayed home,” Brooks said. “People around here aren’t used to driving in icy, snowy conditions. They were traveling at safe speeds as the snow melted. I was proud to see that.”
Some snow remained in shady areas and deep ditches as this week began, and several snowmen (along with a snowwoman and a snowcat) still stood erect as late as Sunday afternoon (January 26), stately reminders of the once-in-a-generation weather event.
Unofficial totals from around the county showed accumulation of as much as 9 inches in Flomaton, 8 inches in Huxford and 7 inches in Canoe. Unofficial area readings included 13 inches in McDavid, Fla., 10-12 inches in Jay, Fla., and 11 inches in Molino, Fla. Mobile Regional Airport had 7.5 inches, breaking a record that had stood since 1895.
While youngsters of all ages, along with many of their pets, enjoyed snowball fights, formed snow angels and otherwise gamboled in whitened yards and fields, some came away with the same feeling as that expressed by the fire chief.
“I wanted to see some snow,” Peebles admitted. “But I can promise you that I have now seen all the snow I need to.”