The storm happening now is no slouch, but it will pale in comparison to whathappened in March 1993.The 1993 Superstorm produced the biggest and most overwhelming snow event Ihave ever witnessed during my career as a meteorologist. At one point onSaturday morning, March 13, heavy snow was falling from central Alabama toMaine.
The powerful storm occurred when three strong jet streams merged together overthe eastern United States. From the Deep South to New England, snow fell intorrents, piling up over 20 inches throughout a very extensive area, and highwinds whipped the snow into 5- and 10-foot drifts.
In addition to severe blizzard conditions, the storm produced violent windsthrough the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which piled destructive flood waters intothe west coast of Florida. Wind gusts in Florida exceeded 70 mph when thesouthern flank of the storm roared through. If that weren't enough, there werenumerous reports of destructive tornadoes.
Other storms have established individual benchmarks for deeper snow andstronger winds over smaller sections of the country, but no storm has producedweather this extreme over such a broad area.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist John Kocet.
