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Snowbirds Can't Escape Cold Weather

295 views · Published 5 February 2014 · 2:18 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: NBC 15 · 2014 · News & Politics

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GULF SHORES, Ala. (WPMI) Snowbirds. They come to get away from the frigid temperatures up north. January is the start of snowbird season along the Gulf Coast. Folks, mostly retired, make their annual pilgrimage to our local beaches. They spend money too, especially at time when the businesses along the coast is slow.Snowbird season means more than 10,000 winter visitors to the Alabama coast each year between the months of January and March, pumping roughly $30 million into the local economy.Buying groceries and fuel and whatever you know restaurants. We go out to the restaurants quite often,said Pete Russell from Michigan.Early bird and lunch specials are a fixture this time of year and so is a game of golf, only this week the games have been frozen out for some.I love to golf so I do a lot of golfing. I haven't this year because of the weather but we'll get started this week, said Merlin Zuiderbeen from Michigan.Cities like Mobile are taking advantage of the snowbird impact. Wednesday, Port City tourism officials hosted an open house in Orange Beach promoting attractions, hotels and restaurants in Mobile.And Mobile is such a nice compliment to what you are doing a the beach because of our history and our architecture and our gardens and the culture. It's just a little something different that will make their vacation a little more memorable, said Stacey Hamilton with the Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau.There are at least 10 snowbird clubs and every year they join forces holding fund raisers to benefit local fire departments, libraries and even the local zoo.

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