Great Blizzard of 1899

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2006)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The Great Blizzard of 1899 was a unprecedented winter weather event that affected the southern United States. What made it historic was both the severity of winter weather and the extent of the U.S. it affected, especially in the South.

[edit] Arctic cold

The event started out on February 11 as a severe cold wave in which every part of the East Coast from Georgia to Maine received sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures. The following state record low temperatures for February were achieved:

Tallahassee, Florida: −2 °F (−19 °C) (the only sub-zero Fahrenheit reading in Florida to this day)
Diamond, Georgia: −12 °F (−24 °C)
Sandy Hook, Kentucky: −33 °F (−36 °C)
Minden, Louisiana: −16 °F (−27 °C)
Fort Logan, Montana: −61 °F (−51 °C)
Camp Clark, Nebraska: −47 °F (−44 °C)
Milligan, Ohio: −39 °F (−39 °C)
Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania: −39 °F (−39 °C)
Santuc, South Carolina: −11 °F (−24 °C)
Erasmus, Tennessee: −30 °F (−34 °C)
Austin, Texas: -1 °F (-18 °C)
San Antonio, Texas: 4 °F (-15°C)
Monterey, Virginia: −29 °F (−34 °C) (all time state low until 1985)
Dayton, West Virginia: −35 °F (−37 °C)
Washington, D.C.: −15 °F (−26 °C) (still the all time low temperature within the District of Columbia)

[edit] Winter weather

The port of New Orleans, Louisiana was completely iced over by February 13.

On February 14, the low temperature in Miami, Florida was 29 °F (−2 °C), the second coldest (and the first sub-freezing) temperature that the city has ever recorded.

On February 12, snow started falling from Fort Myers and Tampa in Florida west towards New Orleans. Blizzard conditions were reported north of Tampa along the west coast of Florida. The storm crossed the Florida peninsula and intensified as it rapidly moved up the Eastern United States. High Point, NC recorded 10-12" of snow, and temperatures as low as 10 degrees on the 11th, 5 degrees on the 13th, and 3 degrees on the 14th. It was said to be the coldest weather known to the oldest inhabitants. Washington, D.C. recorded its all-time record single snowfall of 20.5 inches (52 cm), though it was later broken. Cape May, New Jersey recorded 34 inches (86 cm), which is the highest single day snowfall total ever in New Jersey, in what is normally the least snowy part of the state.

North of the Mid-Atlantic region, the storm weakened somewhat, but it was still a very powerful blizzard. New York City's Central Park recorded 16 inches (41 cm), which at the time was its 3rd biggest snowfall, but many surrounding areas recorded 2-3 feet (60 to 90 cm), as did most of New England.

Even Cuban reports are that they experienced hard frost which killed or damaged many crops.The blizzard of 1899 is referred to as "The Snow King!"