The Superstorm (March, 1993)
Dennis Smith and Stu Ostro Retro Reel ;)
Weather.com Newscenter:
Superstorm: Today marks the 16th anniversary of the "Great Super Storm Blizzard of '93" that clobbered the eastern U.S. and produced perhaps the largest swath of heavy snow ever recorded.
[The embedded video shows how The Weather Channel was covering the Superstorm as it was raking the East Coast.]
Heavy snow was driven to the Gulf Coast with 3 inches falling at Mobile. 13 inches blanketed Birmingham, Alabama to set not only a new 24 hour snowfall record for any month, but also set a record for maximum snow depth, maximum snow for a single storm, and maximum snow for a single month.
Tremendous snowfall amounts occurred in the Appalachians. Mount Leconte in Tennessee recorded an incredible 60 inches. Mount Mitchell in North Carolina was not far behind with 50 inches.
Practically every official weather station in West Virginia set a new 24 hour record snowfall. Further to the north, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania measured 25 inches, Albany, New York checked in with 27 inches, and Syracuse, New York was buried under 43 inches.
The major population corridor from Washington, DC to Boston, Massachusetts was not spared this time as all the big cities got about a foot of snow before a changeover to rain.
A rather large amount of thunderstorm activity accompanied the heavy snow. Winds to hurricane force in gusts were widespread. Boston recorded a gust to 81 mph, the highest wind gust at the location since Hurricane Edna in 1954.
Numerous cities in the South and Mid Atlantic recorded their lowest barometric pressure ever as the storm bottomed out at 960 millibars (28.35 inches) over Chesapeake Bay.
From the NCDC: Taking inflation into consideration, the storm amounted $7.2-8.6 billion damage/costs and was responsible for approximately 270 deaths.
Also from the NCDC [PDF file]: A comprehensive analysis of the March 1993 Superstorm.
Weather.com Newscenter:
Superstorm: Today marks the 16th anniversary of the "Great Super Storm Blizzard of '93" that clobbered the eastern U.S. and produced perhaps the largest swath of heavy snow ever recorded.
[The embedded video shows how The Weather Channel was covering the Superstorm as it was raking the East Coast.]
Click to viewHeavy snow was driven to the Gulf Coast with 3 inches falling at Mobile. 13 inches blanketed Birmingham, Alabama to set not only a new 24 hour snowfall record for any month, but also set a record for maximum snow depth, maximum snow for a single storm, and maximum snow for a single month.
Tremendous snowfall amounts occurred in the Appalachians. Mount Leconte in Tennessee recorded an incredible 60 inches. Mount Mitchell in North Carolina was not far behind with 50 inches.
Practically every official weather station in West Virginia set a new 24 hour record snowfall. Further to the north, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania measured 25 inches, Albany, New York checked in with 27 inches, and Syracuse, New York was buried under 43 inches.
The major population corridor from Washington, DC to Boston, Massachusetts was not spared this time as all the big cities got about a foot of snow before a changeover to rain.
A rather large amount of thunderstorm activity accompanied the heavy snow. Winds to hurricane force in gusts were widespread. Boston recorded a gust to 81 mph, the highest wind gust at the location since Hurricane Edna in 1954.
Numerous cities in the South and Mid Atlantic recorded their lowest barometric pressure ever as the storm bottomed out at 960 millibars (28.35 inches) over Chesapeake Bay.
From the NCDC: Taking inflation into consideration, the storm amounted $7.2-8.6 billion damage/costs and was responsible for approximately 270 deaths.
Also from the NCDC [PDF file]: A comprehensive analysis of the March 1993 Superstorm.