On this date 12 years ago we were preparing for a storm of historic proportion. In fact, those were the words I used on the air as I did my best to get people prepared for a major late season winter storm. In March 1993, my colleagues were Kevin Selle, who is now in Dallas at the Texas Cable News Network, and Dan Satterfield, who is chief meteorologist at WHNT-TV, Channel 19, in Huntsville. We were all convinced that Birmingham was about to get a significant amount of snow, and we weren’t sure how to convince people we were really serious. On the 10:00 news on Thursday March 11,1993 I mentioned Birmingham getting six to ten inches of snow. Then, on Friday morning March 12th, we did our best using television, radio, and our new weather fax product (not many people used the Internet in 1993) to get the word out concerning this life threatening and very dangerous storm system.
Most of you know the “rest of the story”. Our rather bold predictions of six to ten inches of snow were not bold enough. Birmingham’s official snow total during the Blizzard of 1993 was 13 inches. Some of the southern suburbs, including places right around our current studio in Riverchase (ABC 33/40 didn’t exist in 1993, we were working at WBRC back then), measured over 20 inches. During the peak of the storm, winds gusted to hurricane force at our office on Red Mountain, and convective snow bands produced a rare Alabama display of lightning, thunder, and heavy snow. Life was disrupted for three days, and some people had no power for over a week.
I am sure Bill Murray will write about the Blizzard of 1993 in this space as we hit the 12th anniversary this weekend. It was a once in a lifetime storm that none of us will forget!
Most of you know the “rest of the story”. Our rather bold predictions of six to ten inches of snow were not bold enough. Birmingham’s official snow total during the Blizzard of 1993 was 13 inches. Some of the southern suburbs, including places right around our current studio in Riverchase (ABC 33/40 didn’t exist in 1993, we were working at WBRC back then), measured over 20 inches. During the peak of the storm, winds gusted to hurricane force at our office on Red Mountain, and convective snow bands produced a rare Alabama display of lightning, thunder, and heavy snow. Life was disrupted for three days, and some people had no power for over a week.
I am sure Bill Murray will write about the Blizzard of 1993 in this space as we hit the 12th anniversary this weekend. It was a once in a lifetime storm that none of us will forget!
to "when will my power be back on" (lets see, did I answer the phone 'alabama power' or 'police department'?
on March 10, 2005, 11:14 pm
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