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Yes, the oft mentioned " Chicken in your Pants " great storm of '93. Midtown Atlanta was never the same....
IT was a very serious costly storm : From David Mixner ,
This week is the 20th Anniversary of the super famous 'Storm of the Century'that hit the East Coast from Florida to Maine. Hundreds died, damage hit in the billions and dozens of ships sank off the coast. Never has a story covered so much area with powerfully extreme weather. In fact, many forecasters describe the storm as a 'winter hurricane'.
AccurWeather.com describes the storm and the weeks leading up to it:
"During the first few days of March 1993, meteorologists at AccuWeather stared in awe of weather patterns that seemed to be pointing toward the potential for a monster storm for the eastern third of the nation a week later.
Map discussions (gatherings of dozens of meteorologists at multiple shifts) in the following days focused on the potential storm, and the discussions were lively to say the least.
By the end of the week, the meteorologists were looking at the jaw-dropping likelihood of a worst case scenario unfolding of the jet stream (high velocity winds high in the atmosphere) were coming together near the Gulf of Mexico. Next, the phasing of the jet stream would swing a giant storm northeastward across the Appalachians and the Atlantic Seaboard.
The storm spanning March 12-14, 1993, would unfold as arguably the worst winter storm and blizzard of the 20th century for the Eastern states. While at a smaller regional level, storms such the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 and the New England Blizzard of 1978 may have been worse, this one, for its size and strength, may truly sit on the top of the heap in terms of population affected (over 140 million).
The "Storm of the Century" and "Blizzard of '93," as it is often referred to, took the lives of over 300 people from Cuba to the U.S. and Canada and included four dozen lives lost at sea due to massive waves and squalls. Waves as high as 65 feet occurred in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.
In today's dollars, losses from the storm would cost around $7 billion. In the U.S., over two dozen states were touched by the storm. The storm directly or indirectly impacted approximately 40 percent of the population of the U.S. Hundreds of schools were closed for days (some for a week), and millions of people couldn't get to work in the wake of the storm.
The storm produced an extremely rare, massive swath of 1- to 3-foot snowfall. When combined with wind gusts of tropical storm to hurricane force, it brought drifts as high as single-story homes in the Appalachians.
In a dozen states, emergencies were declared. Unnecessary travel was banned for days in some states and communities. Every major airport on the East Coast was closed at one time or another by the storm's snow, wind or severe thunderstorms. Hundreds of roofs failed under the weight of the snow.
Strong winds and in some areas wet snow from the storm disrupted electrical power for varying durations to millions of homes and businesses. Over most of the central and northern Appalachians, the snow was more powdery in nature and did not adhere to trees and power lines. Power restoration in some areas was hindered by massive drifts and strong winds in the wake of the storm.
Peak gusts included 71 mph at La Guardia Airport, N.Y.; 81 mph at Boston, Mass.; 90 mph at Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and 101 mph at Flattop Mountain, N.C. A sampling of snowfall amounts included 10 inches at New York City; 13 inches at Washington, D.C., Boston, and Philadelphia; 20 inches at Chattanooga, Tenn.; 25 inches at Pittsburgh, Pa.; 27 inches at Albany, N.Y.; 35 inches at Lincoln, N.H.; 44 inches at Snowshoe, W.Va.; and 50 inches on Mount Mitchell, N.C.
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