Share what you know about the year you were born.
The Blizzard of 1993, famously known as the “Storm of the Century,” was a massive extratropical cyclone that paralyzed the Eastern United States between March 12 and 14. This “superstorm” was unprecedented in its scope, stretching from Central America into Canada and impacting roughly 40% of the U.S. population. It was unique for its sheer variety of extreme weather: while it produced a deadly tornado outbreak and a 12-foot storm surge in Florida, it simultaneously dropped enough snow to create a “whiteout” in every single state east of the Mississippi River. In a rare atmospheric display, the storm was so intense that it generated thundersnow—vivid lightning and thunder occurring inside a heavy snowstorm—across the Northeast, while mountain regions like the Appalachians saw incredible snowdrifts as high as 35 feet.
The storm caused over $5.5 billion in damages and claimed more than 270 lives, but it is also remembered as a landmark moment for modern meteorology. It holds the record for the first time the National Weather Service accurately predicted a storm’s severity a full five days in advance, a feat that allowed governors to declare states of emergency before the first flake fell. Despite these warnings, the storm’s hurricane-force winds and massive snowfall shut down every major airport from D.C. to Boston. The sheer volume of precipitation was staggering; it is estimated that 13 trillion gallons of water fell across the Eastern U.S. in the form of snow, enough to fill the Rose Bowl 130,000 times over, cementing its legacy as the most intense winter event of the 20th century.
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I remember that blizzard well, because apparently I am old. In fact if you were born in 1993, then I was about the age you are now.
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You are not old…….you are well seasoned and full of wisdom 😆
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I rember that storm, it was lots of fun. I was doing live-in elder care and had to stay three extra days with my client until the roads got cleared. I rember the winter storm of 1978. We got six feet of snow. The wind blew the drift up over our front door. Dad had to dig a tunnel to get out. We missed three days of school before they plowed out our back road. The school principal called it the most unique excuse he’d ever received when I gave him mom’s note.
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Thank you for sharing!
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As much as I dislike all the shoveling, it was fun to be snowed in for a few days. We had a bunch of movies on VHS and one of the local pizza shops was delivering by snowmobile. I was quite young in 1978 but I remember that snow, too.
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I was 31 in 1993, a man and his shovel. That was the winter that hastened to cry, “Enough is enough; I’m buying a damn snow blower!”
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Thanks for sharing your memory.
The story goes in my family that the snow was so deep the medics could not reach my brother. We lived deep in the country, on top of a massive hill at that time. My mom always said they had to send an army truck ( I always pictured a army tank 😅) up the hill to retrieve my mom and brother and bring them to an ambulance that was waiting on the main road. I have been wishing for another blizzard like ’93, I was too young to really remember. The snow days that cone along today are a tad bit boring and anticlimactic. I want enough snow to build an igloo and cool tunnels through the snow. Maybe one day…..
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Good picture at the time
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