1993 Superstorm When Will It Happen Again

Category 5 nor'easter in the The states

1993 Storm of the Century

Category 5 "Extreme" (RSI/NOAA: 24.63)
Satellite image by NASA of the tempest on March 13, 1993, at ten:01 UTC.
Type	Extratropical whirlwind Superstorm Nor'easter Blizzard Tornado outbreak Derecho Ice tempest Gulf low
Formed	March 12, 1993
Dissipated	March 14, 1993
Highest winds	1-infinitesimal sustained: 100 mph (160 km/h)
Everyman pressure level	960 mb (28.35 inHg)
Lowest temperature	−12 °F (−24 °C)
Tornadoes confirmed	11 on March 13 (all in Florida)
Max. rating1	F2 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreakii	1 hour, 32 minutes
Maximum snowfall or ice accretion	Snow – 56 in (140 cm) at Mt. Le Conte, Tennessee
Fatalities	318 fatalities
Impairment	> $two billion (1993 USD) (2nd-costliest winter tempest on record)
Ability outages	> 10,000,000
Areas affected	Eastern United States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Bahamas, Bermuda
Office of the 1992–93 North American winter and tornado outbreaks of 1993 one About severe tornado harm; see Fujita scale 2 Time from offset tornado to concluding tornado

The 1993 Storm of the Century (too known as the 93 Superstorm, The No Name Storm, or the Great Blizzard of '93/1993) was a large cyclonic storm that formed over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, 1993. The storm was unique and notable for its intensity, massive size, and broad-reaching effects; at its height, the storm stretched from Canada to Honduras.^[one] The cyclone moved through the Gulf of Mexico and and then through the eastern United states of america before moving on to eastern Canada. The storm eventually dissipated in the North Atlantic Ocean on March fifteen.

Heavy snow was kickoff reported in highland areas equally far south as Alabama and northern Georgia, with Union Canton, Georgia reporting up to 35 inches (89 cm) of snow. Birmingham, Alabama, reported a rare 13 in (33 cm) of snowfall.^{[2] [3]} The Florida Panhandle reported up to four in (10 cm) of snow,^[iv] with hurricane-force wind gusts and record low barometric pressures. Between Louisiana and Republic of cuba, the hurricane-force winds produced loftier storm surges across the large curve of Florida which, in combination with scattered tornadoes, killed dozens of people.

Record cold temperatures were seen beyond portions of the Southern United states of america and Eastern U.s.a. in the wake of this tempest. In the U.s.a., the storm was responsible for the loss of electrical power to more than ten million households. An estimated 40 percent of the land's population experienced the furnishings of the storm^[5] with a total of 208 fatalities.^[1] In all, the storm killed 318 people, and caused $two billion (1993 USD) in damages.

The greatest recorded snowfall amounts were at Mount Le Conte in Tennessee, where 56 inches of snowfall fell, and Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, the tallest mountain in eastern North America, where 50 inches (130 cm) were measured to fall and fifteen-foot (4.6 m) snow drifts were reported.^[6]

Meteorological history [edit]

A satellite image of the Storm of the Century on March 13, 1993.

A volcanic winter is idea to have started with the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. The temperature in the stratosphere rose to several degrees higher than normal, due to the absorption of radiation by the droplets. The stratospheric deject from the eruption persisted in the atmosphere for three years. The eruption, while not directly responsible, may accept played a function in the formation of the 1993 Storm of the Century.^[7]

During March eleven and 12, 1993, temperatures over much of the eastern United States began to drop equally an arctic loftier pressure level system congenital over the Midwestern United States and the Smashing Plains. Concurrently, an extratropical area of low pressure formed over Mexico forth a stationary front end draped west to east. By the afternoon of March 12, a defined airmass boundary was present along the deepening low. An initial burst of convective precipitation off the southern coast of Texas (facilitated by the transport of tropical moisture into the region) enabled initial intensification of the surface feature on March 12. Supported past a stiff divide-polar jet stream and a shortwave trough, the nascent arrangement chop-chop deepened.^[viii] The system's cardinal pressure cruel to 991 mbar (29.26 inHg) by 00:00 UTC on March 13. A powerful depression-level jet over eastern Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico enhanced a cold front extending from the depression due south to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Furthermore, the subtropical jet stream was displaced unusually far southward, reaching into the Pacific Ocean near Central America and extending toward Honduras and Jamaica. Intense ageostrophic flow was noted over the southern The states, with winds flowing perpendicular to isobars over Louisiana.^[viii]

As the area of low pressure moved through the cardinal Gulf of Mexico, a brusque wave trough in the northern branch of the jet stream fused with the system in the southern stream, which further strengthened the surface low. A squall line developed along the system's cold front end, which moved rapidly across the eastern Gulf of Mexico through Florida and Republic of cuba.^[8] The cyclone's center moved into due north-westward Florida early on the morning of March xiii, with a significant tempest surge in the northwestern Florida peninsula that drowned several people. This initially caused the storm to exist a blizzard but also cyclonic.

Barometric pressures recorded during the storm were depression. Readings of 976.0 millibars (28.82 inHg) were recorded in Tallahassee, Florida, and fifty-fifty lower readings of 960.0 millibars (28.35 inHg) were observed in New England. Low pressure level records for March were set in areas of twelve states along the Eastern Seaboard,^[ix] with all-time depression pressure records set between Tallahassee and Washington, D.C.^[x] Snow began to spread over the eastern United States, and a large squall line moved from the Gulf of United mexican states into Florida and Republic of cuba. The tempest system tracked upwardly the Due east Coast during Saturday and into Canada past early Monday morning time. In the storm's wake, unseasonably cold temperatures were recorded over the next two days in the Southeast.

Forecasting [edit]

The 1993 Storm of the Century marked a milestone in the weather forecasting of the United States. By March 8, 1993, several operational numerical weather prediction models and medium-range forecasters at the United states National Conditions Service recognized the threat of a significant snowstorm. This marked the start time National Conditions Service meteorologists were able to predict accurately a system's severity five days in advance. Official blizzard warnings were issued ii days before the storm arrived, as shorter-range models began to confirm the predictions. Forecasters were finally confident enough of the computer-forecast models to back up decisions by several northeastern states to declare a state of emergency even before the snow started to fall.^[eleven]

Impact [edit]

The storm circuitous was large and widespread, affecting at to the lowest degree 26 US states and much of eastern Canada. Information technology brought in cold air along with heavy precipitation and hurricane-forcefulness winds which, ultimately, caused a blizzard over the affected area; this also included thundersnow from Georgia to Pennsylvania and widespread whiteout weather condition. Snowfall flurries were seen in the air equally far s as Jacksonville, Florida,^[12] and some areas of primal Florida received a trace of snow. The storm severely impacted both ground and air travel. Airports were airtight all forth the eastern seaboard, and flights were cancelled or diverted, thus stranding many passengers along the mode. Every drome from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Tampa, was closed for some time because of the storm. Highways were also closed or restricted all across the affected region, even in states generally well prepared for snow emergencies.

Snowstorm Totals
Totals are for the main system only.

Place	Total
Mount LeConte, TN	56 inches (140 cm)[13]
Mount Mitchell, NC	fifty inches (130 cm)[14]
Snowshoe, WV	44 in (110 cm)[15]
Syracuse, NY	43 in (110 cm)[xv]
Tobyhanna, PA	42 in (110 cm)[15]
Lincoln, NH	35 in (89 cm)[xv]
Blairsville, GA	35 in (89 cm)[three]
Boone, NC	33 in (84 cm)
Gatlinburg, TN	thirty in (76 cm)[xv]
Pittsburgh, PA	25.2 in (64 cm)
Chattanooga, TN	23 in (58 cm)[15]
London, KY	22 in (56 cm)[xvi]
Worcester, MA	twenty.i in (51 cm)[17]
Ottawa, ON	17.seven in (45 cm)[xviii]
Birmingham, AL	13 in (33 cm)[nineteen]
Montreal, QC	sixteen.one in (41 cm)[20]
Trenton, NJ	14.eight in (38 cm)
Dulles, VA (30 miles NW of Washington, D.C.)	14.1 in (36 cm)
Birmingham, AL	13 in (33 cm)[21]
Boston, MA	12.8 in (33 cm)
New York, NY (LaGuardia)	12.3 in (31 cm)
Baltimore, MD (BWI)	11.9 in (xxx cm)
Atlanta, GA (northern suburbs)	10.0 in (25 cm)
Huntsville, AL	7 in (eighteen cm)[22]
Arlington, VA (National Drome)	half dozen.half-dozen in (17 cm)
Atlanta, GA (Hartsfield-Jackson International Aerodrome)	4.5 in (11 cm)[15]
Mobile, AL	three in (seven.6 cm)
Knoxville, TN	15 in (38 cm)

Some afflicted areas in the Appalachian Mountain region saw 5 feet (i.5 m) of snow, and snowdrifts equally high equally 35 feet (xi m). Mountain Le Conte, Tennessee recorded 56" and Mount Mitchell, NC recorded 50" of snow. The volume of the tempest's total snowfall was subsequently computed to be 12.91 cubic miles (53.8 km³), an corporeality which would weigh (depending on the variable density of snow) between 5.4 and 27 billion tons.

The weight of the record snowfalls complanate several factory roofs in the South; and snowdrifts on the windward sides of buildings caused a few decks with substandard anchoring to fall from homes. Though the storm was forecast to strike the snow-prone Appalachian Mountains, hundreds of people were even so rescued from the Appalachians, many defenseless completely off baby-sit on the Appalachian Trail or in cabins and lodges in remote locales. Snowdrifts up to 14 feet (four.3 m) were observed at Mount Mitchell. Snowfall totals of betwixt ii and 3 feet (0.61 and 0.91 k) were widespread across northwestern North Carolina. Boone, Northward Carolina—in a high-tiptop area accustomed to heavy snowfalls—was still caught off-guard by more than than 30 inches (76 cm) of snow and 24 hours of temperatures below eleven °F (−12 °C). Boone's Appalachian State University closed that week, for the first time in its history. Stranded motorists at Deep Gap bankrupt into Parkway Elementary School to survive, and National Baby-sit helicopters dropped hay in fields to keep livestock from starving in northern N.C. mountain counties.

In Virginia, the LancerLot sports loonshit in Vinton collapsed due to the weight of the tape snowfall, forcing the Virginia Lancers of the ECHL to relocate to nearby Roanoke and become the Roanoke Limited. Also collapsing were the roofs of a Lowe'south store in Christiansburg and the Dedmon Center, at Radford University. Thousands of travelers were stranded along interstate highways in Southwest Virginia.^[23] Electricity was not restored to many isolated rural areas for up to three weeks, with power outages occurring all over the east. About 60,000 lightning strikes were recorded as the tempest swept over the country for a total of 72 hours. As one of the almost powerful, circuitous storms in recent history, this storm was described every bit the "Storm of the Century" by many of the areas affected.

Gulf of Mexico [edit]

The United states Declension Guard dealt with "absolutely incredible, unbelievable" weather within the Gulf of United mexican states. The 200-human foot (61 grand) freighter Fantastico sank seventy miles (110 km) off Ft. Myers, Florida, and seven of her crew died when a Coast Baby-sit helicopter was forced back to base due to depression fuel levels after rescuing iii of her coiffure. The 147-foot (45 m) freighter Miss Beholden ran ashore on a coral reef 10 miles (16 km) from Central Westward, Florida. Several other smaller vessels sank in the rough seas. In all, the Coast Guard rescued 235 people from over 100 boats across the Gulf of Mexico during the tempest.^[24]

Florida [edit]

The Derecho moves into the Florida coast during the overnight hours of March xiii, 1993

NOAA estimate of storm surges forth Florida's Gulf Coast, March thirteen, 1993.^[25]

As well producing record-low barometric force per unit area beyond a swath of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states, and contributing to one of the nation's biggest snowstorms, the low produced a potent squall line alee of its common cold front. The squall line produced a serial derecho as it moved into Florida and Cuba shortly afterward midnight on March xiii. Straight-line winds gusted above 100 miles per 60 minutes (87 kn; 160 km/h) at many locations in Florida as the squall line moved through. A substantial tree fall was seen statewide from this system. The supercells in the derecho produced eleven tornadoes. The offset tornado was an F2 that touched down in Chiefland at 04:38 UTC on March thirteen, damaging several mobile homes and downing trees and power lines. 3 people were killed and seven people sustained injures. Effectually the same time, an F1 tornado was spawned near Crystal River. After moving eastward into the town, the twister damaged xv homes, several of them severely. A total of three people were injured. The next tornado was a waterspout that moved aground over Treasure Island around 05:00 UTC. Rated F0, the tornado deroofed one abode, damaged several others, and impacted a few boats.^[26]

Effectually 05:04 UTC, an F0 tornado was reported in New Port Richey, damaging several homes and injuring 11 people. Nearly sixteen minutes afterward, an F2 tornado formed to the southwest of Ocala. Many trees vicious and several storage buildings and a warehouse suffered extensive damage, while one hangar was destroyed and 2 others received major impairment at the Ocala International Airport. At 05:20 UTC, approximately the same fourth dimension as the Ocala tornado, another twister – rated F1 – touched down about LaCrosse. Several trees and power lines were downed and a few homes were destroyed, one from a propane explosion. One person was killed and four others received injuries. About ten minutes after, another F2 twister was spawned near Howey-in-the-Hills. It moved through Mountain Dora, destroying 13 homes, substantially damaging lxxx homes, and inflicting minor damage on 266 homes. 1 person, a 5-calendar month-erstwhile babe, was killed, while two others were injured.^[26]

At 05:30 UTC, a waterspout-turned F0 tornado tossed a 23 ft (7.0 grand) sailboat about 300 ft (91 m) at the Davis Islands yacht order in Tampa, while five other boats bankrupt loose from their cradles and twelve were smashed into the seawall. Almost 30 minutes later, an F1 tornado formed in Jacksonville, demolishing iv dwellings and dissentious 16 others.^[26] As well at 06:00 UTC, an F0 tornado spawned near Bartow snapped a few trees and damaged a few doors. The eleventh and last tornado adult in Jacksonville at 06:ten UTC. The twister damaged a few copse near the Jacksonville International Aerodrome. At the airdrome itself, the tornado damaged several jetways and service vehicles, while a Boeing 737 was pushed about 40 ft (12 m).^[26]

A substantial storm surge was as well generated along the gulf coast from Apalachee Bay in the Florida Panhandle to n of Tampa Bay. Due to the bending of the declension relative to the budgeted squall, Taylor County along the eastern portion of Apalachee Bay and Hernando Canton northward of Tampa were specially hard-hit.^[4]

Storm surges in those areas reached upward to 12 feet (3.7 m),^[25] college than many hurricanes. With little accelerate warning of incoming severe conditions, some coastal residents were awakened in the early morning of March 13 past the waters of the Gulf of Mexico rushing into their homes.^[27] More people died from drowning in this storm than during Hurricanes Hugo and Andrew combined.^[5] Overall, the storm's surge, winds, and tornadoes damaged or destroyed 18,000 homes.^[28] A total of 47 lives were lost in Florida due to this storm.^[iv]

Cuba [edit]

In Cuba, wind gusts reached 100 mph (160 km/h) in the Havana area. A survey conducted by a research team from the Constitute of Meteorology of Cuba suggests that the maximum winds could have been as high equally 130 mph (210 km/h). It is the most damaging squall line ever recorded in Republic of cuba.

There was widespread and significant impairment in Cuba, with damage estimated as intense as F2.^[8] The squall line finally moved out of Cuba near sunrise, leaving 10 deaths and U.s.a.$1 billion in impairment on the island.

Due north Atlantic [edit]

The cargo send Golden Bond Conveyor en road from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to Tampa, Florida foundered in the Atlantic Ocean lx nautical miles (110 km) SE of Sable Isle, Nova Scotia with the loss of all 33 crew.^[29] It is thought that water entered the hold where gypsum ore was beingness stored and caused the rock to shift and harden. This instability compounded with winds of 90 miles an hour (145 km/h) and 100-foot (30 m) waves led to her sinking. The Liberian-flagged ship was owned past Skaarup Shipping Corp., of Greenwich, Connecticut, and under lease to National Gypsum Co., a U.Due south. company. The ship had previously survived the Perfect Tempest of 1991 two years before.^[30]

Tornadoes spawned by the storm [edit]

Confirmed tornadoes by Fujita rating

FU	F0	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	Full
0	4	4	3	0	0	0	11

F#	Location	Canton	Time (UTC)	Path length	Fatalities
Florida
F2	NW of Chiefland	Levy	0438	one mile (1.six km)	three deaths
F1	Due east of Crystal River	Citrus	0438	0.5 miles (0.80 km)
F0	Treasure Island	Pinellas	0500	0.ii miles (0.32 km)
F0	New Port Richey expanse	Pasco	0504	0.1 miles (0.16 km)
F2	Ocala area	Marion	0520	xv miles (24 km)
F1	N of LaCrosse	Alachua	0520	0.8 miles (ane.3 km)	i death
F2	NW of Howey-in-the-Hills to Altamonte Springs	Lake	0530	xxx miles (48 km)	i death
F1	Tampa area	Hillsborough	0530	0.6 miles (0.97 km)
F1	Jacksonville expanse (1st tornado)	Duval	0600	0.8 miles (1.3 km)
F0	Bartow area	Polk	0600	0.1 miles (0.xvi km)
F0	Jacksonville area (2nd tornado)	Duval	0610	0.one miles (0.16 km)
Sources: Tornado History Project Storm Information – March 12, 1993, Tornado History Project Storm Data – March xiii, 1993

Run into also [edit]

• List of derecho events
• Great Flood of 1993
• Hurricane Sandy
• Early on 2014 North American cold wave
• Snowmageddon
• January 2016 Northward American blizzard
• February thirteen–17, 2021 North American winter storm – The costliest wintertime storm on tape, also killed 200+ people
• The Solar day After Tomorrow - Uses archive footage of the 1993 tempest.

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b} Armstrong, Tim. "Superstorm of 1993: "Storm of the Century"". NOAA . Retrieved February 12, 2017.
2. ^ "Birmingham Cold Atmospheric condition Facts (updated Nov. 24, 2015)". National Weather Service-Birmingham . Retrieved February 12, 2017.
3. ^ ^{a b} "21 years ago, Atlanta slammed by rare blizzard". ajc.com. March thirteen, 2013.
4. ^ ^{a b c} National Climatic Data Center (1993). "Event Details". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Assistants. Archived from the original on April sixteen, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
5. ^ ^{a b} Part of Meteorology (Baronial 24, 2000). "Assessment of the Superstorm of March 1993" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Assistants. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved Dec 21, 2010.
6. ^ "On This Day: The 1993 Storm of the Century". National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). March 9, 2017. Retrieved Oct 19, 2020.
7. ^ Stevens, William (March 14, 1993). "THE BLIZZARD OF '93: Meteorology; 3 Disturbances Became a Big Storm". The New York Times . Retrieved July 29, 2014.
8. ^ ^{a b c d} Arnaldo P. Alfonso; Lino R. Naranjo (March 1996). "The 13 March 1993 Astringent Squall Line over Western Cuba". Weather and Forecasting. American Meteorological Society. 11 (1): 89–102. Bibcode:1996WtFor..11...89A. doi:ten.1175/1520-0434(1996)011<0089:TMSSLO>2.0.CO;two. ISSN 1520-0434.
9. ^ David G. Roth (March 2016). "Occurrence of March Record Low SLPs". Weather Prediction Center. Retrieved March fourteen, 2016.
10. ^ David G. Roth (2016). "Months when All-Time Record Low SLPs Were Set up". Weather Prediction Center. Retrieved March fourteen, 2016.
11. ^ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Dec 14, 2006). "Forecasting the "Storm of the Century"". Retrieved March 14, 2007.
12. ^ "History | Weather condition Underground". Wunderground.com. Retrieved November ane, 2012.
13. ^ https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/1993-snow-storm-of-the-century
14. ^ https://world wide web.ncei.noaa.gov/news/1993-snow-storm-of-the-century
15. ^ ^{a b c d due east f yard} Neal Lott (May 14, 1993). "The Big 1! A Review of the March 12–fourteen, 1993 "Storm of the Century" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Assistants. Retrieved March 3, 2007.
16. ^ David Sander; Glen Conner. "Fact Sheet: Blizzard of 1993". Archived from the original on December ii, 2005. Retrieved March 3, 2007.
17. ^ Mike Carbone; Neal Strauss; Frank Nocera; Dave Henry (March 16, 2001). "Top 10 Record Snowfalls of New England". National Weather Service Forecast Office, Taunton, Massachusetts. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
18. ^ "Plus de 100 morts de Cuba au Quebec". La Presse. Reuters. March 15, 1993. p. A3.
19. ^ "Birmingham Cold Atmospheric condition Facts". National Atmospheric condition Service-Birmingham . Retrieved March three, 2016.
20. ^ Lapointe, Pascal (March 15, 1993). "Le Québec y a goûté !". Le Soleil. p. A1.
21. ^ Grey, Jeremy (March eleven, 2013). "Where were you during the Blizzard of '93? AL.com wants your pictures, memories". al.com. Retrieved March xv, 2015.
22. ^ Wilhelm, Mike (March eleven, 2013). "20th Anniversary of Blizzard of 1993". Mike Wilhelm's Alabama Weather condition Blog . Retrieved March fifteen, 2015.
23. ^ "Region's Blizzard of '93still widely remembered | Weather | roanoke.com".
24. ^ John Galvin (Dec 18, 2009). "Superstorm: Eastern and Central U.S., March 1993". Popular Mechanics. Hearst Advice, Inc.: 1. Retrieved Nov 23, 2011.
25. ^ ^{a b} National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1994). "Superstorm of March 1993" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
26. ^ ^{a b c d} "Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena" (PDF). Storm Data. Asheville, North Carolina: National Climatic Data Center. 35 (3). March 1993. ISSN 0039-1972. Archived from the original (PDF) on March thirteen, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
27. ^ Rick Gershman (March 18, 1993). "Losing a dwelling, and then losing a life". Leningrad Times. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
28. ^ Petrograd Times (1999). "A storm with no proper noun". Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved Dec 22, 2010.
29. ^ James Os (16 March 1993). The Times (64593). London. col E-F, p. 11."British crew lost every bit storm sinks freighter".
30. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 22, 2017. Retrieved Feb 28, 2019. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy every bit title (link)

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Storm_of_the_Century

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