anniversary of superstorm of 1993 this weekend

[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