Storm of the Century

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The 1993 Storm of the Century is also referred to as the 93 Superstorm, The No Name Storm, or the Great Blizzard of 1993. It was a large cyclonic storm that formed over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, 1993. The storm was significant for its intensity, size, and effects all of which could be witnessed by looking at the warm conveyor belt.

I typically arrived early for my shift at the Storm Prediction Centre – ahead of traffic and certain to be on time and ready to go. I headed to any unused workstation and flipped on the water vapour network. With my coffee, I simply sat and watched the animation of the imagery. The atmosphere told me what the concern of the day might be and where we needed to expend our analysis and diagnosis energies. Our area of responsibility was huge and there were bound to be multiple concerns during the shift. The limited staff at the weather centre had to be prudent and thoughtful about workload. 

I applied conceptual models to make sense of the evolving shapes and patterns. Not only was this approach to the weather fun and stimulating but it made use of the human skill sets. Those same talents allowed us to out-compete the saber toothed tigers and other, larger and stronger creatures as we first ventured out of our caves. 

Conceptual models based on remote sensing was the approached I preferred to find the problem of the day and simply focus on that… leaving the other areas OK because there were nil problems there anyway. The satellite imagery spoke to me. I did a lot of arm waving but could not convince many of the message those satellite images might be revealing.

I would rather work the big storms. They have more to teach. The memorable storms like Hazel, Sandy and even Isabel also have more impact for safety and security. The 1993 Superstorm was such a storm!

The Storm of the Century devastated the eastern coast of North America during March 12–15, 1993. The storm killed more than 250 people as it moved from the Gulf of Mexico into Canada. It was one of the most intense mid-latitude cyclones ever observed over the Eastern North America. Snowfall totals from Alabama through Maine were tremendous. Strong winds buffeted the East coast along with extensive coastal flooding. The barometric pressures reached new lows. All of this was followed by unseasonably cold air. In terms of human impact the Superstorm of 1993 was more significant than most hurricanes or tornado outbreaks and ranks high among the deadliest and most costly weather events of the 20th century. The warm conveyor belt (WCB) told the story. 

Things to note:

• The orientation of the warm conveyor belt turned cyclonically or counter-clockwise as it rose northward. The croquet hoops illustrate this.
• Animation is required to locate the col in the deformation zone. Moisture must diverge outward from the col in the atmospheric frame of reference. 
• The tilt of the cyclonic vorticity tube in the vertical is toward the northwest. A very slow moving storm.
• The source region of the warm conveyor belt was really deep into the tropics – full of heat and moisture energy.
• The cyclonic shape of the warm conveyor belt strengthens the cyclonic companion of the WCB and the associated tiled vorticity tube. 
• Sharp contrast between the moisture fields reflects the intensity of the physical processes generating them. 
• There is much more but this is enough to reveal that this is going to be a very important storm…

Stephen King published in Storm of the Century in February 1999. The screenplay was televised as an American horror television miniseries. Unlike many other King miniseries, Storm of the Century was not based upon a Stephen King novel. It might have been based on the reality of six years previous. In the horror television miniseries a very powerful blizzard hits the fictional small town of Little Tall Island off the coast of Maine. The storm is so powerful that all access off the island is blocked, and no one is able to leave the island until the storm is over. Truth can be stranger than fiction.

Weather is important! And a good forecast can save your life... 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil the Forecaster