Glynn Wilson

A tufted titmouse (baeolophus bicolor) bravin’ the snow in Alabamaland…

Glynn Wilson

As predicted, a blanket of snow covered middle Alabamaland on Saturday. The birds seemed to be having as much fun as the kids in the hood. This male house finch (carpodacus mexicanus) was not so shy as I shot from the indoor bird blind into the dogwood tree.

Middle Alabamaland could receive up to four inches of snow by Saturday afternoon from a winter storm that looks a little like the blizzard that blanketed the state 15 years ago, the National Weather Service is projecting. Looks like a major photo op in the morning. We’ll post something - if the power and/or Net connections don’t go down.

Moist air from the Gulf of Mexico is expected to collide with cold air from the North, creating the likelihood of snow, forecasters are saying. A winter storm watch is in effect for Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Anniston, Clanton, Gadsden and Talladega. Snow is likely in the pre-dawn hours, with afternoon high temperatures in the mid-30s.

The Alabama Department of Transportation is getting ready with dump trucks and spreaders loaded with sand. Public safety officials asked motorists to limit travel. The last major winter storm to hit Alabama came on the morning of March 12, 1993. As much as 16 inches of snow covered middle Alabama for seven days, leaving thousands without power. Damage estimates exceeded $50 million.

“This system is not as strong as that one, but it’s a similar pattern,” Brian Garrison, a division engineer for the state highway department, told the Associated Press.

Winter Storm Watch

Do you remember where you were during that freak storm in 1993? I had just moved back to Birmingham from Gulf Shores and got snowed in on Southside - and had a blast.