As coastal areas from Houston to Mobile braced for heavy snow on Tuesday and Wednesday, northern counties from Cullman to Limestone remained precipitation-free, while nevertheless watching the thermometer dip into the single digits amid a protracted and brutal cold snap.

The Tennessee Valley emerged from a cold weather advisory early Monday as temperatures across north Alabama reached their lowest point so far this winter winter season, bringing overnight wind chills in some areas Tuesday evening that registered beneath zero degrees.

Temperatures are expected only briefly to climb above the freezing mark Wednesday afternoon, before at last reaching into the 40s beginning with a slight warming trend on Thursday. In Cullman, Emergency Management Agency director Tim Sartin said local warming stations will remain open throughout the duration of this week’s cold weather event, while noting that countywide infrastructure has continued to withstand the worst of the frigid weather’s effects.

“I don’t know of any major [power] interruptions in our county that we’ve had so far,” Sartin said. “We’ve really received no significant reports of any negative impacts. Until it’s over with, the best thing to do is stay hunkered down: Stay warm, stay safe, and stay out of the cold.”

Cullman County Schools were closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, due to heating issues at some schools. According to press release from Superintendent Shane Barnette, principals were instructed to check their schools for issues and several issues were discovered.

“We are working to fix those problems and will make a call later today regarding tomorrow (Wednesday),” Barnette said in the release.

Wallace State announced that due to current and future expected low temperatures, offices and classes would be remote for the remainder of Tuesday classes beginning at 2:30 p.m. and continue remotely through Wednesday evening.

Limestone County EMA also reported no notable effects on public safety owing to the extreme cold. “As far as I know, so far, we’re fine,” Limestone County Emergency Management officer Trent Simon said. “Even with the snowstorm that we had last week, we didn’t really have a ton of outages — and so far with this cold snap, we haven’t received any alerts of major outages or anything like that.”

In a rare exception to the Deep South’s typical winter weather patterns, a fast retreat to Gulf coast beaches isn’t an option for north Alabama residents hoping for a respite from this week’s extended period of brutal cold. A web of NWS-issued winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings blanketed coastal areas from Galveston eastward to Pensacola on Tuesday, with snowfall totals in southern portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and northwest Florida expected to exceed 6 inches in some locations.

Alabama EMA maintains a current listing of warming centers and stations — including addresses and contact information — for counties all across the state. Visit the state-hosted website here (https://ema.alabama.gov/2025/01/18/alabama-warming-centers-and-stations/) to locate a warming station in your area.

In addition to monitoring its social media feed on Facebook, Cullman EMA advises Cullman County residents to download the Everbridge public safety app to their mobile devices to receive tailored, real-time alerts about weather, road conditions, and emergency notifications. The Everbridge app is available for both Apple iOS and Android devices through the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Follow Cullman County VOAD on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CullmanCountyVOAD/) for current information about warming shelter locations, as well as each shelter’s operating policies. Follow the Cullman County EMA on Facebook here (https://www.facebook.com/).