The 1964 Sugar Bowl

| December 31, 2008 @ 9:39 pm | 1 Reply

Bear Bryant said later that the only thing that could have messed up his eighth ranked Alabama team’s chances in the 1964 Sugar Bowl against 6th ranked Ole Miss in New Orleans would have been if it were to snow.

Well, much to his chagrin, it did snow the night before the January 1st game in the Crescent City. It snowed an amazing 4 ½ inches. This picture shows snow covering the field at Tulane Stadium (site of the game before the Superdome was built) on the morning of January 1, 1964.


Photo from New Orleans Public Library

The “New Year’s Eve Snow” in the Deep South also dumped an incredible 19.2 inches at Muscle Shoals (still a record for the state of Alabama), 17.1 inches of snow on Huntsville. Much of Northwest Alabama was buried under 15-17 inches of snow. Roofs and awnings collapsed under the weight of the snow. The snow paralyzed much of the area for up to three days, closing schools and businesses.

To the south, 15 inches of snow fell at Meridian, and over 10 inches at Bay. St. Louis MS.

Mobile picked up two inches. Birmingham picked up 8.40 inches of snow, the fifth biggest snowstorm in the city’s history.

Oh, Alabama won the game by a 12-7 margin.

Category: Pre-November 2010 Posts

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Bill Murray is the President of The Weather Factory. He is the site's official weather historian and a weekend forecaster. He also anchors the site's severe weather coverage. Bill Murray is the proud holder of National Weather Association Digital Seal #0001 @wxhistorian

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