The 1993 Storm of the Century: The Superstorm That Hit 26 States at Once
In March 1993 a single storm buried 26 states from Cuba to Canada, set all-time low-pressure records across the Southeast, and killed more people than most hurricanes. It dropped 13 inches of snow on Birmingham, Alabama and 42 inches on Syracuse in the same system. Here is what our NOAA archive recorded — against the records it shattered.
The “Storm of the Century” was a superstorm that hit the eastern United States over March 12–15, 1993 — and the reason it earned that name is that it did everything at once. A single low-pressure system produced blizzard snow from the Deep South to Maine, hurricane-force winds, a Gulf storm surge, tornadoes and a killing freeze, affecting about 26 states and roughly 120 million people, per NOAA. At least 270 people died.
What makes it worth a data page 30-plus years later is the geography. Most big winter storms are regional. This one wasn’t: our archive caught 13 inches of snow in Birmingham, Alabama and 20 inches in Chattanooga on the same days it was dumping 42 inches on Syracuse. Below is what our NOAA stations actually recorded, then the records that make it the benchmark modern superstorm.
A “winter hurricane”
The storm exploded over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, deepening so fast that meteorologists call it “bombogenesis.” Its central pressure crashed to around 960 millibars — a value you would expect in a Category 2 or 3 hurricane, not a March low — and cities across the Southeast set all-time record-low barometric pressures as it passed. A 144 mph gust was clocked at the Mount Washington, New Hampshire observatory.
That combination is the whole story: a storm with a hurricane’s pressure and winds, but cold enough on its back side to snow. It pulled a squall line and 15 tornadoes across Florida on its warm, eastern flank while burying the Appalachians in three to five feet of snow on its cold, western side. One system, two seasons.
What our archive recorded, March 12–14
Three-day snowfall totals from our copy of NOAA’s daily station archive, ordered south-to-north so you can watch one storm walk up the map. The Deep South rows are the ones that still look like typos — and aren’t.
| Location | 3-day snow | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham, AL | 13.0″ | Snow in the Deep South |
| Chattanooga, TN | 20.0″ | A foot and a half in Tennessee |
| Asheville, NC | 20.3″ | |
| Mt. LeConte, TN | 30.0″ | 30″ in our window; 56″ storm total (NWS) |
| Mt. Mitchell, NC | 50.0″ | Highest peak in the East |
| Beckley, WV | 30.9″ | |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 25.3″ | |
| Albany, NY | 26.8″ | |
| Burlington, VT | 22.4″ | |
| Syracuse, NY | 42.0″ | Our archive’s biggest city total |
Snowfall summed over March 12–14, 1993 from NOAA GHCN-Daily station records in our archive, queried October 16, 2026 (quality-flagged observations excluded). Mount LeConte shows 30″ inside this three-day window; the NWS storm total there was about 56″. Birmingham and Chattanooga are airport (first-order) stations.
The Deep South’s double shock: snow, then a hard freeze
Snow in Birmingham is rare enough; a foot of it is historic. But the storm’s second punch was the Arctic air that poured in behind it. In the days after the snow, our stations logged overnight lows that belong in January, not mid-March:
Lowest overnight low recorded at our stations in each state, March 13–16, 1993. A −5°F reading in Georgia and −9.9°F in Tennessee this late in the season is extraordinary.
On the warm side of the storm, Florida got the opposite disaster. An estimated 15 tornadoes tore across the state and a squall line with hurricane-force gusts drove a 12-foot storm surge into Taylor County on the Big Bend coast, drowning at least seven people in their homes before dawn. Between the surge, the tornadoes and the cold, Florida accounted for dozens of the storm’s deaths — a snowstorm that killed people with water and wind.
Where it ranks among the great winter storms
By sheer footprint, the Storm of the Century has no modern equal. The Blizzard of 1978 was more intense over a smaller area; the great Northeast blizzards bury one region. The 1993 superstorm did what none of them did — shut down airports from Atlanta to Boston simultaneously, with snow on the ground in 26 states at the same hour. It sits near the top of the worst blizzards in US history and belongs in any list of the worst winters America has lived through.
It cost about $5.5 billion in 1993 dollars (about $11.5 billion in 2022 dollars, per NCEI) and, for a generation of forecasters, proved that a winter storm could be modeled and warned days in advance — it was famously forecast roughly five days out, a landmark for the National Weather Service. Curious what March 13, 1993 looked like where you live? Look up the weather on any past date in your town.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the 1993 Storm of the Century?
It was a massive, intense winter storm — a "superstorm" — that struck the eastern United States on March 12–15, 1993. A single system produced blizzard conditions, record-low barometric pressures, tornadoes and a deadly storm surge across 26 states, from Alabama and Florida to Maine and into Canada. NOAA estimates it affected about 120 million people, nearly half the US population at the time.
How many people died in the 1993 blizzard?
At least 270 people across 13 states died because of the storm, according to NOAA NCEI, with some counts reaching about 300 when deaths at sea are included. The toll was spread across causes — cold exposure, roof collapses, traffic accidents, 15 tornadoes in Florida that killed dozens, and a 12-foot storm surge in Taylor County, Florida that killed at least seven.
How much snow did the 1993 superstorm drop?
The single highest total was about 56 inches at Mount LeConte, Tennessee (NWS). In our NOAA archive, Syracuse, New York recorded 42 inches over three days, Mount Mitchell, North Carolina 50 inches, and — remarkably — Birmingham, Alabama 13 inches and Chattanooga, Tennessee 20 inches, deep in the South. It was one storm dropping Appalachian-scale snow from the Gulf states to New England.
Why was the 1993 storm called a "winter hurricane"?
Because its central pressure fell to around 960 millibars — a reading usually found in a Category 2 or 3 hurricane — and it combined hurricane-force winds (a 144 mph gust at Mount Washington), a Gulf storm surge, tornadoes and blizzard snow in one system. Few winter storms ever reach that intensity, which is why "Storm of the Century" and "superstorm" stuck.
What states did the 1993 Storm of the Century hit?
About 26 states, essentially the entire eastern third of the country, plus eastern Canada and Cuba. Snow fell from Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle north through the Appalachians and the Mid-Atlantic into New England; the Gulf Coast of Florida took a destructive storm surge and tornadoes on the storm’s warm side.
Sources & Method
The city snowfall totals and the record overnight lows are an original query of our copy of NOAA’s Global Historical Climatology Network-Daily archive, summed over March 12–14, 1993 (snow) and March 13–16, 1993 (lows), with quality-flagged observations excluded, run October 16, 2026. The storm-scale figures — the ~270+ death toll, 26 states, ~120 million people affected, the 56-inch total at Mount LeConte, the 144 mph Mount Washington gust, the 15 Florida tornadoes, the 12-foot Taylor County storm surge and the $5.5 billion damage — are from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information and the event record. The ~960 mb minimum central pressure is from NWS/NOAA event summaries. Figures that come from our stations are labeled as such; everything at storm scale is cited to NWS/NOAA.