A look back: 'Storm of the Century' turns 30
When the forecasts came in mid-March 1993, New Jerseyans were snow-weary.
"Winter was winter in those days," said regional meteorologist Jim Witt.
Another storm in a long winter, the March “Superstorm” of 1993 was expected to be a problem. On the morning of March 13, The Record laid out the forecast from Friday the 12th. Five to 9 inches of snow was expected in Bergen County. A foot could hit parts of Passaic and Sussex counties, read the front-page report.
Deeper inside the newspaper, the predictions were more ominous. The more up-to-date AccuWeather forecast on Page B-10 called for 1 to 3 feet of snow. Expect 50- to 100-mile-per-hour winds and severe drifting, it warned.
"This may be the biggest winter storm of the century," it said, echoing predictions from National Weather Service officials.
The storm gained pace in the Gulf of Mexico, where warmer waters than usual met cold north winds, and it intensified in the Southeast. Flooding rains in Florida were followed by record snowfall in Alabama and thundersnow in Georgia. From there, the storm continued northeast.
The heaviest snow fell along the Appalachian Mountains. Western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee were hit particularly hard, with some mountain towns reporting more than 30 inches. The band of heaviest snow stretched through Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Montreal. Witt said he recorded nearly 27 inches in Cold Spring, New York.
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While New Jersey was not relatively hard hit, it certainly wasn't spared. Much of the state saw more than a foot of snow from what remains one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the state, according to Jeffrey Morrison of the New Jersey Weather Observers network. Airports were closed, as were some of the state's steadfast shopping malls.
Harry Woodworth, a spokesman for the National Weather Service at Newark International Airport, told The Record that even the most veteran forecasters had never seen anything like the winter storm.
"It is the strongest one I've ever seen," Woodworth said.
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The snow started early Saturday, on a weekend that coincided with the 105th anniversary of the Blizzard of 1888. That storm choked Bergen County with 20 inches of snow. Gov. Jim Florio declared a state of emergency shortly before 11 a.m. on March 13, 1993.
"This is the worst snowstorm in the history of the state of New Jersey," Florio said. "We're facing a very serious situation."
Highways across New Jersey remained open, with the turnpike imposing a reduced speed limit. Cars became stuck. The American Red Cross opened shelters in Ridgefield Park, Hackensack and East Rutherford. The last two dealt with drivers left stranded on Routes 4 and 3. Ridgefield Park took in residents left stranded when wind lifted the roof off their Teaneck Road apartment building.
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By 7 p.m., more than a foot of snow had fallen in Chatham, River Vale, Hawthorne and Newark, according to reports from the North Jersey Weather Observers. Wayne had been covered with 16 inches and Sparta with 15.
Roughly 2,000 travelers, many of whom planned a spring break, were left stuck at Newark Airport. After they started to party in place, airport officials closed the bars in Terminals B and C, The Record reported. The snow subsided early that evening and had dissipated by early Sunday.
The storm was considered to be the first major one accurately predicted by weather computer models five days in advance, Morrison said. It nonetheless caused billions in damage in the U.S. and has been remembered as the "Storm of the Century" — the costliest winter storm in the nation's history, he added.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: A look back: Superstorm of March 1993 turns 30
