March 1993 Superstorm: the "Storm of the Century", Gulf Coast to New England

11–14 March 1993 · Gulf Coast, Southeast, Appalachians, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

A low that formed along the Texas Gulf coast on 12 March 1993 deepened into one of the most intense mid-latitude storms observed over the eastern United States. It brought a storm surge and tornadoes to Florida, record snow to the Deep South and southern Appalachians, and a blizzard up the East Coast.

What happened

  • Mount LeConte, Tennessee measured 60 inches of snow and Mount Mitchell, North Carolina 50 inches. [2]
  • Chattanooga had 20 inches, Asheville 18.2 inches and Birmingham 17 inches; all-time snowfall records were set from Birmingham and Chattanooga to Asheville. [2]
  • A storm surge of up to 12 feet reached Taylor County, Florida, and 11 tornadoes were confirmed in Florida. [2]
  • Columbia, Charlotte and Greensboro set all-time low pressure records, beating Hurricane Hugo (1989); the lowest reading listed is 28.45 inches at Dover, Delaware. [2]
  • Wind gusted to 93 mph at Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower off North Carolina. [2]
  • About 40% of the US population was directly affected, and every major East Coast airport was closed at some point. [2]

Deaths

  • 270 deaths in NCEI's billion-dollar disaster record for this storm ("East Coast Blizzard and Severe Weather"). [1]
  • The state-by-state list from the NCDC event summary, reproduced by NWS Wilmington, adds up to 208 across the 13 states it names, with Pennsylvania (49) and Florida (44) the highest. [2]

Official counts differ when they cover different areas or count only deaths caused directly by the weather. Both are shown; neither is adjusted here.

Power outages

  • Upwards of 10 million electrical customers lost service. [2]

Cost

$5.5 billion at the time, or $12.2 billion adjusted for inflation by NCEI [1]. NCEI's record name: East Coast Blizzard and Severe Weather (March 1993).

States named in the sources used here: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine.

Questions

When was the March 1993 Superstorm?

11–14 March 1993, across: Gulf Coast, Southeast, Appalachians, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

How many people died?

270 deaths in NCEI's billion-dollar disaster record for this storm ("East Coast Blizzard and Severe Weather"). The state-by-state list from the NCDC event summary, reproduced by NWS Wilmington, adds up to 208 across the 13 states it names, with Pennsylvania (49) and Florida (44) the highest.

Sources

  1. NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, events 1980-2024
  2. NWS Wilmington, NC: "Superstorm of 1993"

US government sources are public domain. Figures are quoted as the sources give them; this site has not added to or adjusted them.

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