March 12-14, 1993 superstorm anniversary

[WXBUFFJIM]

This weekend is the 11th anniversary of what's known to meteorologists as the storm of the 20th century. A storm that would alter lives across America, result in breaking records, and affect 26 states would prove to be the superstorm of 1993.

It all started on March 12th, 1993 when a new cyclone or low pressure area developed and deepened explosively over the central Gulf Of Mexico.

Trailing this low pressure center was a line of deep convection and very intense thunderstorms. As this line roared through Florida on the night of March 12th, wind gusts were over 100 mph, storm surge levels were 6-8 feet, and there were 11 confirmed tornadoes in the sunshine state. Some record gusts were reported in Florida with this superstorm as well. Franklin County, Florida gusted to 110 mph while Dry Tortugas, Florida gusted to 109 mph. There were other record wind gusts with this superstorm worth mentioning such as in Flattop Mountain, NC at 101 mph and Mount Washington, NH at 144 mph.

This deepening low pressure center roared through northwest Florida during the morning hours on March 13th and rapidly intensified below 980 mb.

As this storm tracked up along the east coast, it continued to intensify explosively resulting in a monumental snowstorm for the eastern 1/3 of the country from Alabama through New York and some of the lowest pressure readings ever observed. The superstorm peaked with a central pressure of 960 millibars across the Middle Atlantic and northeast US coast. Below are a list of the lowest pressure readings with this storm and also the hardest hit areas for snowfall.

RECORD LOW PRESSURES

location inches millibars
White Plains, NY: 28.28" 961.1 mb
Philadelphia, PA: 28.43" 962.4 mb
New York (JFK) 28.43" 962.4 mb
Dover, DE: 28.45" 963.0 mb

RECORD SNOWFALL

Mount Mitchell, NC: 50 inches
Grantsville, MD: 47 inches
Snowshoe, WV: 44 inches
Syracuse, NY: 43 inches

As this storm continued towards the northeast, moderate to heavy wind driven snowfall virtually shut down most of the eastern United States. When this storm was all said and done, over 25% of the nations flights were cancelled. Over 26 states were affected. Over 100 million people were affected by this superstorm, which was approximately half of the nations population at the time. This storm killed 270 people.

More than a foot of snow fell from Alabama and Georgia northeastward through Maine. Following this storm, the danger was not over as many record low temperatures were set. A sampling of those record lows are below.

RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES'

Burlington, Vermont: -12 degrees
Mount Leconte, TN: -10 degrees
Ashville, North Carolina: 2 degrees
Birmingham, Alabama: 2 degrees

Seventy record lows were set on March 14th with an additional 75 record lows the following morning on March 15th. Definitely a dangerous and life threatening storm, which impacted more people than any other winter storm system. As a result, this is known by meteorologists as the storm of the 20th century.

Jim

[JCT777]

That was an awesome storm! I remember the anticipation I felt on this day 11 years ago. My girlfriend (who later became my wife) and I went to her parents' house on the night of the 12th. They live east of Hershey, PA - in Schuylkill County. We woke up to about 5 or 6 inches of snow on the ground, and it was snowing HARD. That area ended up with 20 inches of snow by evening.

[WXBUFFJIM]

That was an awesome storm! I remember the anticipation I felt on this day 11 years ago. My girlfriend (who later became my wife) and I went to her parents' house on the night of the 12th. They live east of Hershey, PA - in Schuylkill County. We woke up to about 5 or 6 inches of snow on the ground, and it was snowing HARD. That area ended up with 20 inches of snow by evening.

I bet that was one heck of a wind driven snowfall as well in Mid March of '93. There was about a foot here in eastern Baltimore County while 20-30 inches fell northwest of Baltimore. Grantsville, MD saw 47 inches of snow with this monumental storm. I was only 11 years old when that storm hit. I'm 22 now, hehe.

Jim

[Jack8631]

Fantastic storm synopsis Jim! I was living in northeast Baltimore County at the time; as much as I hate to admit it, I don’t remember much about the storm. It wasn’t until I moved to Alabama shortly thereafter that I learned how many people were affected by this “winter hurricane”. Even after seeing video of my current home under 12+ inches of snow, it’s still hard to believe it actually happened here. The night of the 13th must have been very difficult on a lot of folks, as many of them were without power while the thermometer plummeted….

It was 71.8 here today. Makes it even harder to imagine.

[Stormsfury]

http://www.stormsfury1.com/Weather/Wint ... storm.html

[Janie34]

Sorry for bumping this thread, but I saw the topic and had to comment.

I was living in Meridian, Mississippi (east-central part of the state) at the time. When I saw the advance forecasts for that week I was more than a little doubtful. After all, the days prior to the event had been mild and it was the middle of March. However, as it turned out the forecasts were spot on. It began snowing around nightfall and continued for hours afterward. Heavy snow. Even a few reports of thundersnow to the northeast (toward Birmingham.) We ended up with 7 inches of snow at my house, which certainly broke the records. The next day was very cold and windy, it was very strange to see snow blowing across the highways in central Mississippi. I've seen snow and ice before, bitterly cold temperatures as well. However, I must say that was the strangest (and strongest!) March storm I've ever personally witnessed that far south. Even Mobile got 2 inches of snow.

Certainly a storm for the record books.

[Aimless]

I was only minimally intrested in "weather" at the time. Living in Florida, I had the habit of checking the forcasts daily, but rarely gave it much thought beyond what they told me on the news. March 03 changed all that. The afternoon newscast didn't indicate any reason for major concern... approaching storm, possibly severe, but without noticible alarm....luckily, I stayed up later that night and flipped on the TV in time to see everyone going into panic mode. I had just enough time to gather my hurricane supplies ( needless to say it was all neatly packed away awaiting the next hurricane season) and, based on the level of alarm, I retrieved my camping equipment. Thank God I did... no power for a week, freezing temperatures, downed trees, downed lines. My neighbors on either side ended up moving in with us for the week as we were the only ones with a generator, cooking equipment and water for the week. What an eye opening experience!

[HalloweenGale]

Boy do I remember this storm. like the blizzard of '96. My memory is acting up... but did this one have an "eye feature"?

[jj_frap]

1993 was an INSANE winter in central Canada.

We count a few storms that dumped over a foot of snow and I remember a couple of NASTY blizzards during our March Break.

I was 9 back then.