Birmingham’s Lowest Barometer

On the morning of January 11, 1918, the barometer at Birmingham read a very low 29.48 inches. A powerful low pressure system was over southern Mississippi. The pressure at Meridian was 29.34 inches and it was 29.32 at New Orleans.

Extrapolating, that meant the pressure at the center of the cyclone was probably around 29.16. Turns out that estimate was very accurate. Later that day, as the low pressure system swept by Birmingham, the Magic City recorded its lowest barometric pressure ever at 29.16.inches. We came close to breaking the record at the remnants of Hurricane Ivan passed near Birmingham in September 2004, with a reading of 29.22 inches.

It had been very cold in the Deep South in the first ten days of January. Highs had generally been in the 40s, and lows in the 20s across Central Alabama. The low on the morning of the 10th at Birmingham had been 23F, with an afternoon high of 47F. On the evening of the 10th, the mercury had fallen into the lower and middle 30s before warm air advection began in advance of the low. By morning, readings were in the 40s across Central Alabama. It was 42F at Birmingham, with thunderstorms and rain. It was also storming at Montgomery and Meridian.

At Memphis, it was 20F with snow. Snow was also falling at Chattanooga, Little Rock and Shreveport as moisture spread northward into the cold airmass. As the low moved northeastward across Alabama, colder air rushed in. The temperature fell into the single digits overnight. The rain changed to snow across North and Central Alabama. Birmingham picked up one inch of snow.

To the south of the low, a significant outbreak of severe weather occurred. One man was killed in a tornado at China Grove in Pike County in Southeast Alabama about 1 p.m. A short time later, a major tornado touched down in Houston County just south of Dothan. It moved northeast, destroying a school, killing the teacher and seven of the forty students. Nearly the entire town of Webb was destroyed as the tornado roared on. Other tornadoes were reported in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

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