A Superstorm Hit The East 30 Years Ago With Blizzard Conditions, Tornadoes And Destructive Storm Surge

Before Sandy in 2012, there was only one storm that deserved the title "Superstorm," and it unfolded 30 years ago this month.

The 1993 Superstorm struck in mid-March. Also known as the "Storm of the Century," the powerful storm clobbered an expansive area of the eastern United States, eastern Cuba and eastern Canada over a four-day period from March 12-15, 1993.

Here's why it earned the "super" nickname. Simply put, the impacts from the storm were shocking. For example, a storm surge resembling that of a hurricane struck along Florida's Gulf Coast. Near whiteout conditions were seen in some of the most unlikely places, such as downtown Atlanta. It even produced a derecho in Florida as wind-driven snow fell from the Gulf Coast to Maine.

T​he 1993 Superstorm was both deadly and destructive. In all, 270 people were killed in 13 states from Florida to Maine. The total estimated damage in the U.S. was $5.5 billion in 1993 dollars ($10.8 billion in 2021 dollars). Every major airport on the East Coast was closed at one time or another and nearly 10 million customers lost electricity.

I​t's one of just two Category 5 snowstorms to hit the East Coast. The Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS) ranks the impact of East Coast winter storms from Category 1 to 5 based on snow totals and the population affected. A Category 5 is rare and produces extreme impacts. The only other one to have this rating was a January 1996 nor'easter.

Double-digit snowfall totals were measured in 20 states from Alabama to Maine. Accumulating snow impacted areas as far south as the Florida Panhandle.

The storm was also a shining moment for the science of forecasting. The 1993 Superstorm is widely considered to be the first major storm correctly predicted by computer models five days in advance, a feat that has since become much more common as computing power has increased and research has improved our understanding of the atmosphere.

Here are some amazing notables about the 1993 Superstorm from NOAA:​

Snow Facts

-Thousands of people were isolated by record snow, especially in the Southeast. More than 200 hikers had to be rescued from the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina.

-Birmingham, Alabama, picked up 17 inches of snow and had 6-foot drifts. Snow drifted up to 10 feet high in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

-Tennessee's Mount LeConte saw an incredible 56 inches of snowfall. Up to 6 inches of snow blanketed the Florida Panhandle.

-Four states set all-time records for deepest snow: Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Maryland.

-Hundreds of roof collapses were reported due to the weight of snow.

Coastal Flooding, Storm Surge Facts

-Two hundred homes on North Carolina's Outer Banks were damaged.

-At least 18 homes were lost to the sea along New York's Long Island shore.

-One hundred and sixty people were rescued by the Coast Guard in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

-A 12-foot storm surge in Taylor County, Florida, killed at least seven people.

Severe Thunderstorm, Tornado And High Wind Facts

-A line of severe thunderstorms called a derecho raced across Florida on March 13. It produced a wind gust of 109 mph in the Dry Tortugas.

-Embedded supercells spawned an estimated 15 tornadoes in Florida.

-The summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire, clocked a wind gust of 144 mph.

-Other notable gusts: Havana, Cuba (100 mph); Myrtle Beach (90 mph); Boston (81 mph); LaGuardia Airport in New York (71 mph).

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