‘We want our snow back!’ Alaska meteorologist jealous of Mobile’s record-breaking winter

Gulf Shores may have long embraced the slogan “Small Town, Big Beach,” but after Tuesday’s historic snowfall blanketed the coastal city with 8.75 inches, a new catchphrase is gaining ground: “Small Town, Big Snow.”

This winter wonderland now boasts more snow than Washington, D.C., and even cities in Big Ten country.

“It seems unusual that we would be on par with them,” said Anna Stuck, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Washington, where Ronald Reagan National Airport has recorded just 8.3 inches of snow this season.

From Mobile to Robertsdale, the Alabama Gulf Coast is shattering snow records and leaving northern cities like Minneapolis and Chicago in the dust. Even the snow-heavy Midwest is taking note as Alabama’s coastal cities lead the charge this winter.

Mobile’s 7.5 inches for a single snowfall event broke a 130-year-old record of 6 inches set in 1895. Pensacola’s 8.9 inches shattered a previous record of a measly 3 inches, also set in 1895. A measurement about five miles east of Robertsdale came back with 10 inches of snow.

“New Orleans to the Panhandle of Florida has more snow than we have,” said John Haase, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Davenport, Iowa, which is west of the Mississippi River from Moline, Ill., where only 3.6 inches of snow has been recorded this season. That is far below the 15 inches during a typical winter.

“There is more snow in the Gulf Coast than in Minneapolis, and they are 17 inches below normal,” Haase said. “That’s been the real interesting aspect of the winter is that South of where we are, they are getting snow.”

He added, “The Great Lakes is getting it, but the snow is south of here. Right across Iowa, there is hardly anything.”

Snow starved

Dirk Petersen, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Omaha, said the city know for mouth-watering-steaks and Cornhuskers football, has only 1-inch of recorded snowfall this season. Typically, by late January, the city has seen 12.9 inches of snow.

“We are a little starved for snow this year,” he said.

Chicago and Minneapolis are likely to surpass the Robertsdale reading, and likely soon. Chicago had a reading of 9.6 inches through Wednesday night, but a light snow shower raised the total to 9.9 inches – nipping on South Alabama’s heels.

Related: Alabama’s history-making Gulf Coast snow outdid Billings, Montana: A look at the numbers

Robertsdale Mayor Charles Murphy said he believes the highest total within the city was around 7-8 inches, which is on par with surrounding cities in Mobile and Baldwin counties.

“There are other cities that have had only 1 or 2 inches so far this year,” Murphy said, referring to Northern cities like Omaha and Moline that are more accustomed to heavy snowfalls. “This is phenomenal, and everything here has worked really well and we planned things out really well.”

Alabama comparisons

Friday's winter storm left most of Huntsville's streets covered with snow. Residents were urged to avoid traveling if possible. Jan. 10, 2025.Challen Stephens/AL.com

The snow in Mobile and Baldwin counties is also surpassing other areas of Alabama for snow totals this year, creating a topsy-turvy scenario that – unlike the snow in the coastal counties – could stick.

Thanks to a snowstorm earlier this month, Huntsville has recorded 4.3 inches this season, Trussville has 4 inches, and Birmingham is around 3.5 inches. Further north, Nashville has 4.1 inches of snow this season.

To be certain, the Alabama Gulf Coast is far behind traditional snowy hotbeds like Buffalo, where Bills home football games are often TV spectacles for massive snowball fights.

Buffalo, New York, has experienced 43.7 inches of snowfall this season, and that’s nearly 10 inches below normal.

Cleveland (22.4 inches) and Pittsburgh (21 inches) have nothing to worry about from an unlikely southern snow rival. But Boston (12.5 inches) isn’t far ahead of the coastal region.

Envy from Alaska

Carson Jones, a meteorologist in Anchorage, Alaska, said they are willing to trade Mobile – snow for rain.

The largest Alaskan city has received 30.6 inches of snow this season, but most of that fell in October. The city hasn’t experienced much snowfall in December and January. This month, only 1.9 inches of snow has fallen on Anchorage.

Jones said the city is facing the prospects of record-breaking rainfall for January. With temperatures expected to dip below zero, it will make it a “flash freeze” event that is dangerous for motorists driving on the roads.

As far as the snow goes, “we want it back,” Jones said.

“Things are bad up where when it gets so warm,” he said. “There is nothing but green grass in Anchorage right now.”

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