Blizzard of ‘93

Source: NOAA's Celebrating 200 Years Collection

March 12-15, 1993

Causing 300 deaths and $6 to $10 billion in damages, the “Storm of the Century” lived up to the hype. Those staggering numbers might have been far worse, however, were it not for significant advances in U.S. weather forecasting not long before the mighty blizzard struck. Sophisticated computer models allowed the National Weather Service to issue a severe storm warning two days in advance. For the first time, governors could declare a state of emergency before a single snowflake fell. But that didn’t stop them from falling—and with a vengeance. The storm affected at least 26 U.S. states and much of eastern Canada, reaching as far south as Jacksonville, Florida. It dumped several feet of snow on regions that typically see less than an inch of powder a year, forcing officials to scrape together winter emergency plans. On the Atlantic seaboard, hurricane-force winds stirred up mammoth swells, and more than 15 homes were swept out to sea on the eastern shore of Long Island.

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/major-blizzards-in-u-s-history

Weather channel: Superstorm of 1993 Remembered

The Factsftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/techrpts/tr9301/tr9301.pdf

Death Toll

Florida 44

New York 23

South Carolina 1

Alabama 16

Georgia 15

Tennessee 14

North Carolina 19

Kentucky 5

Virginia 13

Maryland 3

West Virginia 4

Maine 2

Pennsylvania 49

ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/techrpts/tr9301/tr9301.pdf

Highest recorded wind gusts included:

144 MPH on Mount Washington, NH

109 MPH in the Dry Tortugas (west of Key West, FL)

101 MPH on Flattop Mountain, NC (by NCDC employee Grant Goodge--due to ice accumulation on anemometer, he estimated 105- 107 MPH)

98 MPH in South Timbalier, LA

92 MPH on South Marsh Island, LA

90 MPH in Myrtle Beach, SC

89 MPH in Fire Island, NY

83 MPH in Vero Beach, FL

81 MPH in Boston, MA

71 MPH at La Guardia Arpt, NY

A tremendous volume of water

The National Weather Service's Office of Hydrology estimated the volume of water that fell as snow as 44 million acre-feet.

This is comparable to 40 days' flow on the Mississippi River at New Orleans.

The '93 storm affected 26 states and about 50% of the nation's population. In fact, on the Saffir-Simpson scale for hurricane strength, it equated to a category 3 hurricane based on storm surge and minimum pressure attained.

Day/Time Latitude N

Longitude W

Pressure(in millibars)

Remarks

12/ 7 p.m. 28.2 89.0 989 SSE of New Orleans, LA

11p.m. 30 86.2 983 SW of Pensacola, FL

13/ 7 a.m. 32 83 973 30 mi. NW of Alma, GA

1 p.m. 35.5 78.5 966 30 mi. SE of Raleigh/Durham, NC

7 p.m. 38.7 75.8 960 30 mi. SW of Dover, DE

11 p.m. 40.9 74.3 962 20 mi. NW of LaGuardia, NY

14/ 7 am 45 68.1 965 NE of Bangor, ME; center diffuse

Data

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/wwhlpr/930312_summary.rxml?hret=/guides/crclm/prjct/strm93/data.rxml

For local reporting…

http://articles.philly.com/1993-03-14/news/25951880_1_hurricane-force-gusts-art-kraus-powerful-storms