The 1993 Storm of the Century (also known as the 93 Superstorm, The No Name Storm, or the Great Blizzard of '93/1993) was a devastating cyclonic storm, or

nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a large-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. Typically, such storms originate as a low ...

, that formed over the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

on March 12, 1993. The cold weather, heavy snowfall, high winds and storm surge that the storm brought affected a very large area; at its height, it stretched from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. The cyclone moved through the Gulf of Mexico and then through the

eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

before moving on to

eastern Canada Eastern Canada (, also the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay/ Hudson Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newf ...

. It eventually dissipated in the North

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

on March 15. Heavy snow was first reported in highland areas as far south as Alabama and northern Georgia, with

Union County, Georgia Union County is a county in the Northeast region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,632. The county seat is Blairsville. History Union County was originally a core part of the homeland of the native ...

reporting up to of snow.

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, reported a rare of snow. The

Florida Panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...

reported around of snow, with

hurricane-force The Beaufort scale ( ) is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. It was devised in 1805 by Francis Beaufort a hydrographer in the Royal Navy. It w ...

wind gusts and record low

barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1,013.2 ...

s. Between

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

and Cuba, the hurricane-force winds produced high

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

s across the Big Bend of Florida which, in combination with scattered

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

es, killed dozens of people. Record cold temperatures were seen across portions of the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

and Eastern United States in the wake of this storm. In the United States, the storm was responsible for the loss of

electric power Electric power is the rate of transfer of electrical energy within a electric circuit, circuit. Its SI unit is the watt, the general unit of power (physics), power, defined as one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with oth ...

to more than 10 million households. An estimated 40 percent of the country's population experienced the effects of the storm and it led to a total of 208 fatalities. In all, the storm resulted in 318 deaths, and caused $5.5 billion (1993

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

) in damages. The greatest recorded snowfall amounts were at Mount Le Conte in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, where of snow fell, and

Mount Mitchell Mount Mitchell (''Attakulla'' in Cherokee) is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland North America east of the Mississippi River. It is located near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina in the B ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, the tallest mountain in eastern North America, where was measured to fall and snow drifts were reported.

Meteorological history

volcanic winter A volcanic winter is a reduction in global temperatures caused by droplets of sulfuric acid obscuring the Sun and raising Earth's albedo (increasing the reflection of solar radiation) after a large, sulfur-rich, particularly explosive volcanic eru ...

is thought to have started with the

1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines' Luzon Volcanic Arc was the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, behind only the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in Alaska. Eruptive activity began on April 2 as a series of p ...

. The temperature in the

stratosphere The stratosphere () is the second-lowest layer of the atmosphere of Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is composed of stratified temperature zones, with the warmer layers of air located higher ...

rose to several degrees higher than normal, due to the absorption of radiation by the aerosol. The stratospheric cloud from the eruption persisted in the atmosphere for three years. The eruption, while not directly responsible, may have played a part in the formation of the 1993 Storm of the Century. During March 11 and 12, 1993, temperatures over much of the eastern United States began to drop as an

arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

high pressure system A high-pressure area, high, or anticyclone, is an area near the surface of a planet where the atmospheric pressure is greater than the pressure in the surrounding regions. Highs are middle-scale meteorological features that result from interpl ...

built over the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

and the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

. Concurrently, an

extratropical Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

area of low pressure In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclem ...

formed over Mexico along a

stationary front A stationary front (or quasi-stationary front) is a weather front or transition zone between two air masses when each air mass is advancing into the other at speeds less than 5 knots (about 6 miles per hour or about 9 kilometers per hour) at th ...

draped west to east. By the afternoon of March 12, a defined airmass boundary was present along the deepening low. An initial burst of convective precipitation off the southern coast of Texas (facilitated by the transport of tropical moisture into the region) enabled initial intensification of the surface feature on March 12. Supported by a strong split-polar

jet stream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow thermal wind, air currents in the Earth's Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. The main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds, flowing west to east around the gl ...

and a

shortwave trough A shortwave or shortwave trough is an embedded kink in the trough / ridge pattern. Its length scale is much smaller than that of and is embedded within longwaves, which are responsible for the largest scale (synoptic scale) weather systems. Sho ...

, the nascent system rapidly deepened. The system's central pressure fell to by 00:00 UTC on March 13. A powerful low-level jet over eastern Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico enhanced a

cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...

extending from the low southward to the

Isthmus of Tehuantepec The Isthmus of Tehuantepec () is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major overland transport route known simply as the T ...

. Furthermore, the

subtropical jet stream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents in the Earth's atmosphere. The main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds, flowing west to east around the globe. The northern hemisphere and th ...

was displaced unusually far south, reaching into the Pacific Ocean near Central America and extending toward Honduras and Jamaica. Intense

ageostrophic Ageostrophy (or ageostrophic flow) is the difference between the ''actual'' wind or current and the geostrophic wind or geostrophic current. Since geostrophy is an exact balance between the Coriolis force and the pressure gradient force, ageostroph ...

flow was noted over the southern United States, with winds flowing perpendicular to isobars over

. As the area of low pressure moved through the central Gulf of Mexico, a short wave trough in the northern branch of the jet stream fused with the system in the southern stream, which further strengthened the surface low. A

squall line A squall line, or quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), is a line of thunderstorms, often forming along or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front (which often are accompanied by abrupt a ...

developed along the system's

, which moved rapidly across the eastern Gulf of Mexico through Florida and Cuba. The cyclone's center moved into north-west Florida early on the morning of March 13, with a significant

in the northwestern Florida peninsula that drowned several people. This initially caused the storm to be a blizzard but also cyclonic.

Barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1,013.2 ...

s recorded during the storm were low. Readings of were recorded in

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

, and even lower readings of were observed in New England. Low pressure records for March were set in areas of twelve states along the Eastern Seaboard, with all-time low pressure records set between Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. Snow began to spread over the eastern United States, and a large squall line moved from the Gulf of Mexico into Florida and Cuba. The storm system tracked up the East Coast during Saturday and into Canada by early Monday morning. In the storm's wake, unseasonably cold temperatures were recorded over the next two days in the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

Forecasting

The Storm of the Century marked a milestone in the

weather forecasting Weather forecasting or weather prediction is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather info ...

of the United States. By March 8, 1993, several operational

numerical weather prediction Numerical weather prediction (NWP) uses mathematical models of the atmosphere and oceans to weather forecasting, predict the weather based on current weather conditions. Though first attempted in the 1920s, it was not until the advent of comput ...

models and medium-range forecasters at the United States

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

recognized the threat of a significant

snowstorm A winter storm (also known as snow storm) is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, Rain and snow mixed, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In Continental cl ...

. This marked the first time National Weather Service meteorologists were able to predict accurately a system's severity five days in advance. Official

blizzard warning A blizzard warning ( SAME code: BZW) is a hazardous weather statement issued by Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) of the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States, which indicates heavy snowfall accompanied by sustained winds or frequent gu ...

s were issued two days before the storm arrived, as shorter-range models began to confirm the predictions. Forecasters were finally confident enough of the computer-forecast models to support decisions by several northeastern states to declare a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

even before the snow started to fall.

Impact

The storm complex was large and widespread, affecting at least 26 US states and much of eastern Canada. It brought in cold air along with heavy precipitation and hurricane-force winds which, ultimately, caused a

blizzard A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...

over the affected area; this also included

thundersnow Thundersnow, also known as a winter thunderstorm or a thundersnow storm, is a thunderstorm in which snow falls as the primary precipitation instead of rain. It is considered a rare phenomenon. It typically falls in regions of strong upward moti ...

from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and widespread whiteout conditions. Snow flurries were seen in the air as far south as

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, and some areas of

central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...

received a trace of snow. The storm severely impacted both ground and air travel. Airports were closed all along the eastern seaboard, and flights were cancelled or diverted, thus stranding many passengers along the way. Every airport from

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, to

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

was temporarily closed due to the storm. Highways were also closed or restricted all across the affected region, even in states generally well prepared for snow emergencies. Some affected areas in the Appalachian Mountain region saw of snow, and snowdrifts as high as . Mount Le Conte, Tennessee recorded 56" and Mount Mitchell, NC recorded of snowfall. The

volume Volume is a measure of regions in three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch) ...

of the storm's total snowfall was later computed to be , an amount which would weigh (depending on the variable

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of snow) between 5.4 and 27 billion tons. The weight of the record snowfalls collapsed several factory roofs in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

; and

snowdrift A snowdrift is a deposit of snow sculpted by wind into a mound during a snowstorm. Snowdrifts resemble sand dunes and are formed in a similar manner, namely, by wind moving light snow and depositing it when the wind has virtually stopped, usu ...

s on the

windward In geography and seamanship, windward () and leeward () are directions relative to the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e., towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point ...

sides of buildings caused a few decks with substandard anchoring to fall from homes. Though the storm was forecast to strike the snow-prone

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

, hundreds of people were nonetheless

rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, removal from danger, liberation from restraint, or the urgent treatment of injury, injuries after an incident. It may be facilitated by a range of tools and equipm ...

d from the Appalachians, many caught completely off guard on the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...

or in cabins and lodges in remote locales. Snowdrifts up to were observed at

. Snowfall totals of between were widespread across northwestern North Carolina.

Boone, North Carolina Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters of the disaster and me ...

—in a high-elevation area accustomed to heavy snowfalls—was nonetheless caught off-guard by more than of snow and 24 hours of temperatures below . Boone's Appalachian State University closed that week, for the first time in its history. Stranded motorists at Deep Gap broke into Parkway Elementary School to survive, and National Guard helicopters dropped hay in fields to keep livestock from starving in northern N.C. mountain counties. In Virginia, the LancerLot sports arena in Vinton collapsed due to the weight of the record snowfall, forcing the

Virginia Lancers The Virginia Lancers were a minor league hockey team that played in several leagues from 1983 until 1990. Their home ice was the Vinton Sports Complex, which held 3400 people. Atlantic Coast Hockey League (1983–1987) The Virginia Lancers w ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

to relocate to nearby

Roanoke Roanoke may refer to: Places *Roanoke Colony, a former English colony that mysteriously disappeared *Roanoke Island, the location of the Roanoke colony in present-day North Carolina *Roanoke River, flowing through Virginia and North Carolina and ...

and become the

Roanoke Express The Roanoke Express were a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL from 1993 until 2004. Home games were played at the Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke, Virginia. History Roanoke Valley's first minor league ice hockey team, called ...

. Also collapsing were the roofs of a

Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...

store in Christiansburg and the

Dedmon Center The Dedmon Center is a 3,800-seat multi-purpose arena in Radford, Virginia. Construction started in 1979 and finished in 1981. A natatorium featuring an eight-lane olympic-size pool with a diving well was added in 1987. The Dedmon Center is ho ...

, at

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia, United States. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate ...

. Thousands of travelers were stranded along interstate highways in

Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all V ...

. Electricity was not restored to many isolated rural areas for up to three weeks, with power outages occurring all over the east. Nearly 60,000 lightning strikes were recorded as the storm swept over the country for a total of 72 hours. As one of the most powerful, complex storms in recent history, this storm was described as the "Storm of the Century" by many of the areas affected. A hockey game hosted by the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

against the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

was postponed due to a large window breaking from wind gusts just before the end of the first period.

Gulf of Mexico

The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

dealt with "absolutely incredible, unbelievable" conditions within the Gulf of Mexico. The freighter ''Fantastico'' sank off Ft. Myers, Florida, and seven of her crew died when a Coast Guard helicopter was forced back to base due to low fuel levels after rescuing three of her crew. The freighter ''Miss Beholden'' ran aground on a

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

from

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

. Several other smaller vessels sank in the rough seas. In all, the Coast Guard rescued 235 people from over 100 boats across the Gulf of Mexico during the tempest.

Florida

Besides producing record-low barometric pressure across a swath of the

and

Mid-Atlantic Mid-Atlantic or Mid Atlantic can refer to: *The middle of the Atlantic Ocean *Mid-Atlantic English, any mix between British and American English *Mid-Atlantic Region (Little League World Series), one of the United States geographic divisions of the ...

states, and contributing to one of the nation's biggest snowstorms, the low produced a potent squall line ahead of its

. The

produced a serial

derecho A ''derecho'' (, from , 'straight') is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of Severe weather#Categories, severe thunderstorms known as a mesoscale convective system. Derechos cause Bea ...

as it moved into Florida and Cuba shortly after midnight on March 13. Straight-line winds gusted above at many locations in Florida as the

moved through. A substantial tree fall was seen statewide from this system. The

supercell A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone, a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms (su ...

s in the derecho produced eleven tornadoes. The first tornado was an F2 that touched down in Chiefland at 04:38 UTC on March 13, damaging several mobile homes and downing trees and power lines. Three people were killed and seven people sustained injures. Around the same time, an F1 tornado was spawned near Crystal River. After moving eastward into the town, the twister damaged 15 homes, several of them severely. A total of three people were injured. The next tornado was a waterspout that moved ashore over

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...

around 05:00 UTC. Rated F0, the tornado deroofed one home, damaged several others, and impacted a few boats. Around 05:04 UTC, an F0 tornado was reported in

New Port Richey New Port Richey is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was counted at 16,728 in the 2020 census. History ...

, damaging several homes and injuring 11 people. About 16 minutes later, an F2 tornado formed to the southwest of

Ocala Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Florida, United States. Located in North Central Florida, the city's population was 63,591 as of the 2020 census, up from 56,315 at the 2010 census and making it the 43rd-most popul ...

. Many trees fell and several storage buildings and a warehouse suffered extensive damage, while one hangar was destroyed and two others received major damage at the

Ocala International Airport Ocala International Airport is five miles west of Ocala, in Marion County, Florida, United States. It is also known as Ocala International Airport-Jim Taylor Field and was previously Ocala Regional Airport or Jim Taylor Field. Despite its name ...

. At 05:20 UTC, approximately the same time as the Ocala tornado, another twister – rated F1 – touched down near

LaCrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

. Several trees and power lines were downed and a few homes were destroyed, one from a propane explosion. One person was killed and four others received injuries. About 10 minutes later, another F2 twister was spawned near Howey-in-the-Hills. It moved through Mount Dora, destroying 13 homes, substantially damaging 80 homes, and inflicting minor damage on 266 homes. One person, a 5-month-old baby, was killed, while two others were injured. At 05:30 UTC, a waterspout-turned F0 tornado tossed a sailboat about at the Davis Islands yacht club in Tampa, while five other boats broke loose from their cradles and twelve were smashed into the seawall. About 30 minutes later, an F1 tornado formed in

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, demolishing four dwellings and damaging sixteen others. Also at 06:00 UTC, an F0 tornado spawned near Bartow snapped a few trees and damaged a few doors. The final tornado developed in Jacksonville at 06:10 UTC. The twister damaged a few trees near the

Jacksonville International Airport Jacksonville International Airport is a civil-military public airport 13 miles (21 km) north of Downtown Jacksonville, in Duval County, Florida, United States. It is owned and operated by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority. History ...

. At the airport itself, the tornado damaged several jetways and service vehicles, while a

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

was pushed about . A substantial

was also generated along the gulf coast from

Apalachee Bay Apalachee Bay is a bay in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico occupying an indentation of the Florida coast to the west of where the Florida peninsula joins the United States mainland. It is bordered by Taylor, Jefferson, Wakulla, and Franklin ...

in the Florida Panhandle to north of

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

. Due to the angle of the coast relative to the approaching squall, Taylor County along the eastern portion of

and

Hernando County Hernando County () is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 194,515. Its county seat is Brooksville, and its largest community is Spring Hill. Hernando County is in ...

north of Tampa were especially hard-hit. Storm surges in those areas reached up to , higher than many hurricanes. With little advance warning of incoming severe conditions, some coastal residents were awakened in the early morning of March 13 by the waters of the

rushing into their homes. More people died from drowning in this storm than during Hurricanes Hugo and

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

combined. Overall, the storm's surge, winds, and tornadoes damaged or destroyed 18,000 homes. A total of 47 people died in Florida due to this storm. Despite all the rainfall and tornadoes, lots of snow also dropped in the Panhandle regions of Florida. Areas saw snow of up to 1 foot near the coast and inland. In Tallahassee, around 1 to 2 inches of snow were dropped to the ground. In Jacksonville and Fernandina beach, traces of snow were seen in the air. Very cold temperatures were also seen in the state. Snow was seen as far south as Tampa Bay in central Florida. Tallahassee's lowest temperature was 17 degrees F (-8 degrees C). On March 13,

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

saw 26 degrees F (-3 degrees C), and

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

saw 39 degrees F (4 degrees C) that same day. In Orlando, there were mixed precipitations with rain, sleet and snow combined. Miami saw near record cold temperatures for the month of March, making it a very rare phenomenon for Florida; Florida is usually mild all year round.

Cuba

In Cuba, wind gusts reached in the

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.F2. The squall line finally moved out of Cuba near sunrise, leaving 10 deaths and US$1 billion in damage on the island.

North Atlantic

The cargo ship ''Gold Bond Conveyor'' en route from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to Tampa, Florida foundered in the Atlantic Ocean SE of Sable Island, Nova Scotia with the loss of all 33 crew. It is thought that water entered the hold where gypsum ore was being stored and caused the rock to shift and harden. This instability compounded with winds of and waves led to her sinking. The Liberian-flagged ship was owned by Skaarup Shipping Corp., of Greenwich, Connecticut, and under charter to National Gypsum Co., a U.S. company. The ship had previously survived the Perfect Storm of 1991 two years earlier.

Tornadoes spawned by the storm

March 12 event

March 13 event

Notes

References

Sources