In October of this year, record high temperatures were matched on two separate occasions.
Then in November, according to the National Weather Service, Tuscaloosa’s average temperature was 49.2 degrees, almost six degrees below normal. This was Tuscaloosa’s fourth coldest November since 1948 and the coldest since 1976.
The month of December was warmer than usual, and as the new semester rolled in, January brought record-breaking cold to Tuscaloosa during the first days of classes. Richard Scott, chief meteorologist for WVUA-TV, said the bitter cold is typical for West Alabama, especially during this time of the year.
Scott said Tuscaloosa’s proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, a warm body of water, causes temperatures to vary dramatically.
“We’ve got to battle that warmer air [from the Gulf of Mexico] with colder air moving down from the North, so one day it can be 75 degrees and the next it’s 25 degrees,” he said.
Despite the routine cold weather, there have been record-setting temperatures. With the constant fluctuation of temperatures, students have had varying opinions about what the weather means to them.
“I’m from Selma, and I like the warmth,” said Hannah Davis, a sophomore majoring in secondary education. “The change in weather doesn’t bother me so much because I’ve been raised where it rains one day and snows the next.”
Other students, like Sung Kyun Kim, a freshman majoring in computer science from Pennsylvania, have embraced the cold.
“I don’t mind it so much, and hopefully it will snow,” she said.
Scott stressed the weather for this time of the year is not uncommon, even in a Southern state like Alabama.
