16 Years Ago...
03/13/2009 12:06
Atlanta was a different place 16 years ago today. I remember standing on the North Ave. bridge looking out at the barren, white ribbon beneath me that was the "downtown connector". Hearing the wind howling through the Bank of America tower. I was part of a group of hungry Georgia Tech undergrads that were devastated to find the Varsity closed. As we walked back toward campus into the howling north-west winds and heavy SNOW that felt like pieces of sand ripping my face off, I thought I was going to die.
I went to bed the previous night, hearing and believing that it was going to SNOW. It was the weekend before finals and I had crashed on a friend's couch in a dorm at Tech. I woke up sometime before dawn to go to the bathroom. I recall seeing a couple of flashes of lightning in the window and thinking to myself "guess it isn't SNOWING yet"...
As I walked to the bathroom down the hall, I passed the glass, front doors of the dorm. I just about fainted. There was SNOW on the ground that was suddenly illuminated by another flash of lightning! The bathroom would wait. I ran down the hall and grabbed my coat, woke a few folks up and dashed outside.
I was immediately treated to another flash of lightning and then the craziest sound I have ever heard. The muffled rumble of thunder across a completely white landscape. I think I literally cried. This was unlike any weather I had ever experienced before.
* * *
The "Blizzard of '93" is also known as the "March Superstorm" and the "Storm of the Century". Atlanta officially received only 4 inches of SNOW. It was more like 6-7 inches in midtown Atlanta and increased dramatically as you went north.
* * *
Other Personal Accounts, Links & Blogs:
Remembering the "Blizzard of 1993" (NWS - Birmingham Office):
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/significant_events/1993/Blizzard_of_1993/index.php
National Climatic Data Center - Technical Report:
ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/techrpts/tr9301/tr9301.pdf
"A Storm For the Ages" by Daniel L (NWS):
http://nsstc.uah.edu/cwb/?p=1332
* * *
James Spann's Coverage (Alabama)
Weather Channel Coverage
* * *
I keep a running history of notable weather events for Atlanta and update/add information often.
You can find the entry for the Blizzard of '93 here:
http://atlwx.com/wxhistory/files/19930313-blizzard_93.html
I went to bed the previous night, hearing and believing that it was going to SNOW. It was the weekend before finals and I had crashed on a friend's couch in a dorm at Tech. I woke up sometime before dawn to go to the bathroom. I recall seeing a couple of flashes of lightning in the window and thinking to myself "guess it isn't SNOWING yet"...
As I walked to the bathroom down the hall, I passed the glass, front doors of the dorm. I just about fainted. There was SNOW on the ground that was suddenly illuminated by another flash of lightning! The bathroom would wait. I ran down the hall and grabbed my coat, woke a few folks up and dashed outside.
I was immediately treated to another flash of lightning and then the craziest sound I have ever heard. The muffled rumble of thunder across a completely white landscape. I think I literally cried. This was unlike any weather I had ever experienced before.
* * *
The "Blizzard of '93" is also known as the "March Superstorm" and the "Storm of the Century". Atlanta officially received only 4 inches of SNOW. It was more like 6-7 inches in midtown Atlanta and increased dramatically as you went north.
* * *
Other Personal Accounts, Links & Blogs:
Remembering the "Blizzard of 1993" (NWS - Birmingham Office):
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/significant_events/1993/Blizzard_of_1993/index.php
National Climatic Data Center - Technical Report:
ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/techrpts/tr9301/tr9301.pdf
"A Storm For the Ages" by Daniel L (NWS):
http://nsstc.uah.edu/cwb/?p=1332
* * *
Weather Channel Coverage
* * *
I keep a running history of notable weather events for Atlanta and update/add information often.
You can find the entry for the Blizzard of '93 here:
http://atlwx.com/wxhistory/files/19930313-blizzard_93.html