The Storm of the Century

I was living in Smyrna, TN (just outside of Nashville) when that storm hit. I remember chuckling to myself, being a native of IL, when on the 12th they were letting schools out early and already canceling classes for the next day. The local Piggly Wiggly and Food Lion looked like your neighborhood mall on Dec. 24. It was nuts, and there wasn't even one cloud in the sky yet!!

I worked at a factory and went in as scheduled. I worked 12 hr shifts from 4pm-4am. The factory shut down at 10pm so everyone could get home. My car was covered with ice in the parking lot. Being a northerner I wasn't all that worried. I just knew I'd be fine once I got out on the main road.

Boy was I wrong.

The roads were slicker than snot on a wet tile floor. There were cars all over the place. Parked in front yards, and ditches, wrapped around light poles, there was even one nosed into the Big Boy's big toe. I only lived about a half mile from the factory and could normally make it home in about 5 minutes. That night it took me nearly 90 minutes. I stopped at least four times checking on people I'd watched spin out. Once home, safe and sound, I thought for sure the worst was over.

WRONG!

The next morning I woke up to about 4 whole inches of snow and more coming down. You gotta understand that for folks in TN, 4 inches of snow is like getting 20 feet in Buffalo. Thankfully my Dad had made it to the store the day before and stocked us up good. We didn't leave the house for two days. I don't remember how much snow came down on top of the inch or two of ice, but it might as well have been 50 feet. Only emergency vehicles were allowed on any and all roads for 36 hrs after the initial ice fell. What a mess that was.

Thankfully I wasn't a driver then and therefore stuck in the truckstops of the Nashville area like I'm sure some on here might have been.

 

Great read!!

 

This is the first story that I have read that actualy maid me lol. I am from Northen Wisconsin so I know why you kept on truckin inthat georga snow..

 

After being deadheaded out of Sunny Ohio one dreary afternoon with the warning from dispatch that a storm was brewing and the load was hot and needed to be picked up......RIGHT.....I found myself at the paper mill just outside of Maysville, Ky.

This is one of those places where you pull up onto the scale at the guard shack...so they can figure out just how much they can load on your trailer...and check in inside.

I give my pick-up number to the guard and am informed that...we're just running that order now...it'll be ready in the morning. I'm told to go park in the lot and he'll come get me when it's ready to load. It's about 7 PM at this point.

It's not snowing yet, but it's coming, and I know it. Vending machines are the only cloice at the shipper and I'm hungry. Not to mention that I require real coffee in the morning not just vending machine coffee, so it's command decision time. Off the scale I go and a U-turn later, I'm headed back the way I came to the truck stop on the AA highway just outside of Maysville. The guardshack guy is hollering on the CB about where I'm going...I tell him to the truck stop to eat and get some sleep and that I'll be back when the sun comes up.

At the truck stop, I get some food and go and get some sleep. Huge lot at this place, and I'm the only truck there...I've parked on the side of the building so the wind won't rock the truck...it's pretty windy by this time and now it's starting to snow.

2 AM...the guy at the truck stop banging on the door of my truck. Tells me that the mill has called and the load is ready...I need to go load. I look at the ground...6 inches of snow at this point. I tell him that I'll wait till the morning and go back to sleep.

7 AM...I get up and am planning on coffee and some food before going to load. So far so good...snow is covering the windshield so I can't see outside just yet. I open the door of the truck and I'm looking at 2 feet of snow.

By morning, there were 12 other trucks jammed into this little truck stop and we were all happy to have a warm place to stay as the storm ran its course.

The snow removal equipment in that county were motor graders. I think there were 3 or 4 and they couldn't keep up. The National Guard were called out to deliver medicine and other supplies to those who couldn't get out...and they were getting stuck in the snow and needing help too.

There was no salt or snow melt chemical in the states supply...rumor had it that the Governor had used the money to do a renovation of the capitol building. I just know that it was truly a mess.

The local farmers with the big 4 wheel drive tractors were the true rescue vehicles in the whole mess...they were the only ones who could move.

I did however meet some of the finest people I've ever met out on the road...the folks who owned and operated the truck stop.

 

hey lilillill...... loved reading your experience with the '93 storm. I just got my plastic in SC and am heading to Indy for 3 day orientation w/ Roehl. Dont have a clue what I'm getting into but feel i'm gonna love trucking. Ohhh...and I have some interesting info from a park ranger who chose to ride out that storm in a cabin at the top of Mt. Mitchell,NC, the highest peak east of the Miss. At 6684' el. they had 65" of snow with incredible winds.. I have more details if anyone is interested in that sort of thing. Thanks to everones posts and info for us newbie drivers,just bare w/us!

 

You think that you can post that video sometime so we can get a first hand look?

 

I would love to see it as well.

 

I wasn't into Trucking at the time but I remember how it was. Friday night listening to the local news and they are saying snow on the way. Yeah yeah yeah, we'll see who is right; me or the weatherman. My sister called and asked how much I predict, I said maybe 5 inches at best. 10:30PM on Friday night and it is snowing with maybe 1/2 inch at best on ground and 34 degrees. I go to bed.

Saturday morning I wake up and look outside front door at around 8AM to a winter wonderland. Heavy wet snow clinging to everything and it is still snowing. Temp is about 29 degrees. I get dressed and out the front door to measure; 13 inches of snow. (History for my area showed we get these types of BIG snows every 5 to 6 years and it was year 6 so here we get one ).

About 10:30AM, myself, wife (back then) , and son bundle up and walk in the neighborhood. Still snowing and about 26 degrees now. It was so peaceful and quiet you could hear a pin drop. Then all of the sudden a flash of light. What the heck was that from and as soon as I said that, we get this low rumble of thunder. Wow; Thundersnow. I always heard about that but first time to actually experience it. A few minutes later, another clap of thunder. We are in for a doozy of a storm now.

About 3:30 Saturday afternoon, I go out to measure the snow; 18 inches now. I call my cousin in Hattiesburg, MS to let them know what they are missing. Missing my foot he said, Hattiesburg has 6 inches of snow. Most they have ever gotten. His kids and wife are loving it. Been out in yard playing all day.

It snowed until Sunday afternoon when I went out to measure again. I did so in 5 different undisturbed areas of the yard; average was 24.5 inches. This was the most snow since the Blizzard of 1936 when the area got 40 inches in 2 days. Reports were slowly coming in as this; Knoxville, TN: 19 inches, Chattanooga, TN: 21 inches, Birmingham, AL: 21 inches, Jackson, MS: 7 inches, Roanoke, VA: 23 inches, Tri Cities, TN: 22 inches, Mt Mitchell, NC: 65 inches, Grandfather Mountain, NC: 62 inches, and Mt LaConte, TN: 63 inches.

Only thing we lost in the storm was cable TV signal. No cable for 4 days. Power, phone and water stayed in good working order. With so much snow, you couldn't go sledding but you could have good snowball fights and make massive snow forts and BIG snowmen. Plus have an endless supply of Snow Cream. What a beautiful sight that storm was; glad I and my family were already home when it hit.