The Storm of the Century

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The Storm of the Century

• March 12 March 15, 1993
• By Kimberly Cooke

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The Storm of the Century

• Occurred from March 12-15, 1993
• One of the most intense noreasters to ever
  strike the Eastern United States
• Affected 26 states
• Affected 50 percent of the US population
• On the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale it would
  have been a category 3

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Statistics

• At one point, the storm covered 1/3 of the
  United States
• Peak wind speeds of 144 mph (New Hampshire)
• 27 tornados touched down
• 270 deaths were attributed to the storm over
  land with 48 more missing at sea
• 2-3 inches per hour snowfall rates were common
• Total of 3 - 6 billion in damages

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Storm Track
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March 12, 1993

• A newly formed cyclone moves into the Gulf of
  Mexico and intensifies rapidly
• Turned northeastward and the center of low
  pressure makes landfall

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March 13, 1993

• Made landfall in northwest Florida
• 6 inches of snow fell on the Florida Panhandle
• 3-4 meter storm surge
• 15 tornadoes touched down
• Widespread moderate to heavy snows extended from
  Alabama to New York

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March 14, 1993

• More than a foot of snow fell from Alabama to
  Maine
• 70 record lows were reported in the storms
  aftermath
• 74 record lows were reported the next morning

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Snowfall Totals
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Records Set by the Storm

• WIND GUSTS
• Mount Washington, NH
• 144 mph
• Franklin County, FL
• 110 mph
• Dry Tortugas, FL
• 109 mph
• Flattop Mountain, NC
• 101 mph

• PRESSURE
• White Plains, NY
• 961.1 mb
• Philadelphia, PA
• 962.4 mb
• New York, (JFK)
• 962.4 mb
• Dover, DE
• 963.0 mb

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Records Set by the Storm

• SNOWFALL TOTALS
• Mt. Mitchell, NC
• 50 in.
• Grantsville, MD
• 47 in.
• Snowshoe, WV
• 44 in.
• Syracuse, NY
• 43 in.

• LOW TEMPERATURES
• Burlington, VT
• 12 F
• Mount LeConte, TN
• 10 F
• Asheville, NC
• 2 F
• Birmingham, AL
• 2 F

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Overall

• The storm affected nearly 100 million people
• Virtually paralyzed the eastern third of the
  United States
• 25 percent of the United States airplane
  flights were canceled in a two day time period