Comments on: The 1982 Ice Storm

By: Rose

Rose — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:29:05 +0000

I remember this ice storm!!! I was in Charles A. Brown middle school, and at 10am they started letting us go home. By noon, there was a complete blizzard! We were out of school for the entire week, thank goodness for the fireplace, too, because I don’t remember ever having been THAT COLD. The ice on the streets was so thick you couldn’t crack it. I remember some idiot in a Jeep thought he’d be smart and drive down the hill in front of our house… he hit every tree (there were at least 4) on the way… he’s slide head first into one, then manage to back up enough to get going again, and lose control and bang into the next, and do it again and again til he got to the bottom of the hill. We kids hung out and watched the traffic on that hill for hours! ;o)

By: Jonathan Case

Jonathan Case — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:51:13 +0000

FYI, I have seen freezing rain observed at Massena, NY (far northern NY state) during late JAN 1994 at minus 1 Fahrenheit!! Being from upstate NY (Rochester) myself, that is the coldest I have ever noted.

-Jonathan

By: Jo

Jo — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 04:20:53 +0000

I was 7 months pregnant and rather large. We lost power and made it to my Parents house in Center Point, well almost anyway. We couldn’t get to the house by road so we had to park in a church parking lot behind their house.
To get to the house we had to climb a small hill. Everyone was afraid I was going to fall and they were afraid that if they were holding me that they would just go down with me. My Father had the bright idea of tying a rope around me and tying the other end to a tree at the top of the hill. I pulled myself up with the rope while my husband and both parents held and pushed me from behind.
We were all laughing so hard I’m surprised we didn’t all fall. I’m sure it was a pretty funny sight. My daughter, who is now 24 laughs at my story.

By: Christy

Christy — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 01:54:15 +0000

I was in 2nd grade-and all I really remember about this storm was watching my sloping front yard turn into a sheet of ice. Several days later it was still ice. Just knowing that I could “ice skate” on that stuff I set out and ended up busting both of my knees. OUCH!

By: Shannon

Shannon — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 21:30:51 +0000

Wow, I remember this one!! I was in the 2nd grade and was living Reform, Al. They let us out of school early. We went to my grandparents house to stay. My dad and grandfather both worked for the power company at the time. So they were glued to the weather. My dad and grandfather had to work so much OT, I was just amazed at how they were able to work in such poor conditions. And now that I look back, I guess that ice storm was probably the start of my obsession with weather.

By: Daddyo

Daddyo — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:07:08 +0000

I was a sophomore at Briarwood. We could all see it was snowing and were excited about getting out early, but they announced we would be staying until at least noon. By about 10:00 I could see snow building up on the hoods of running cars and decided if I had better not wait around. I just got up and told the teacher I was going home. I went to some other classes to get a couple of guys who rode with me and headed out to pick up my brother, slipping and sliding all the way. I was one of the last ones to make it all the way up the hill into our neighborhood. As I recall, a lot of the folks who stayed at school were stuck there for the duration. Our house was without power for 7 days. I was just a teenager, so I didn’t pay much attention to the weather, but looking back I wonder how this caught everyone by surprise. Was this Birmingham’s first big winter storm? It was the first one I can remember.

By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:10:58 +0000

I definitely remember this ice storm! I was working at UAB, and came in on Tuesday, prepared work a double and spend the night. I even brought my pj’s and robe! Another nurse and I slept in an empty patient room. They had enough staff to let us go on Wednesday am, and I had Thursday off, so I went to my grandmother’s in Homewood. My mom had tried to go home to Montevallo, but couldn’t get up Green Springs, so she went back to my grandmother’s as well. We lost power, but we had a gas stove, gas hot water, and a gas heater in the bathroom. As my grandmother said, the garage was the fridge, and outside was the freezer! I remember walking to Kmart on Greensprings with my boyfriend (now hubby of a bunch of years) buying bread. On Friday am, a Homewood policeman picked me up to take me to the pickup point for the UAB van. It never showed, and that policeman, bless him, drove me over 20th street to UAB. He had chains, but it was brake and slide, brake and slide. I never knew how he got back over that mountain. It was an experience I don’t want to repeat.

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 14:19:01 +0000

I was a senior at Cullman High School when that storm hit. Of course, we got out early. I didn’t have a car, and instead of waiting for my mom or stepdad to pick me up, I went riding around with my friend in his VW Bug (BIG MISTAKE!). A short time later he took me back home in Hanceville, and MAN! did I get in trouble. This was long before cell phones so my mom had no idea where I had been. Amazing how stupid we can be when we’re young.

By: jimmy hutt

jimmy hutt — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 12:51:32 +0000

i remember the storm very vividly. as a matter of fact, it is a red letter day in my life. my son was born 1/14 82. my wife went to labor around 1100pm on the 13th. and it was snowing like crazy!!we didnt have alot then,and to say the least our transportation wasnt very dependable. we made the decision to wait until daylight to go to the hospital, so at least if anything went wrong on the way, we could get help.i still tell my son about the events leading to his birth.i lived in gadsden then as i do now, but dont remember any ice with this event, it was all snow!!! i am talking about the same event?

By: BCB

BCB — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:25:08 +0000

I was five years old and we were dirt poor living in a house my dad built in West Blocton. We had huge pine trees all around our house and I remember the sound of the limbs snapping and echoing all night long. Shotguns is right – we were scared to death. We spent days huddled in the living room around the wood burning stove. My mom attached a flashlight to a rope and hung it from the rafters in the A frame so she could have light to work a Rubiks cube. Ha!

Ahhhh the 80′s.