The Blizzard of 93 in Asheville
This is a repost. When originally wrote it a few weeks ago I was unaware that today is the 30th anniversary of the event. NO ONE who was there can forget the chaos and insanity of this storm.
The Blizzard of 93 in Asheville
If you were there no explanation of description is needed because you DO remember the event. It was most likely the defining weather event of your life. I’ve often tried to describe my experiences during that monster storm but those who weren’t there think I’m exaggerating. Trust me when I say what I’m about to relate is as accurate as I can remember.
While I have lived in Asheville and the surrounding area, at the time I was living in Durham. I was supposed to be in Tennessee the next day so I decided to take a leisurely trip with a stop off in Greensboro, so began my trip around ten in the morning and got to my Gate City destination about one. Weather reports on the radio were actually calling for snow the next day but like most people I didn’t really believe the predations of doom and gloom from what is almost always an unreliable forecast.
So………I Stopped between Greensboro and Winston Salem for a while about noon and continued my journey about three P.M. despite a very ominous dark sky like I’d never witnessed the past. Since I didn’t need to be in Tennessee until the next morning I just took my time and got up Black Mountain and barley into Asheville around six P.M. So far there wasn’t any snow on the ground or in the air, so I called a friend in Leicester and basically said “If the snow gets to be to bad I’ll turn around and hang out at your house till it’s over” expecting a normal storm that would last a day. I got as far as Canton and all of a sudden the snow had started and there were at least four inches of snow on the road, so I decided to turn back and make it to my friend’s house. When I got back to Asheville it looked to be at least six to eight inches of snow on the road. I abandoned my quest to get to Leicester and went to the first hotel I could see, which happened to be the hotel across from Asheville Mall. I had a view from there to both I-40 and the mall. I forgot the name of the hotel but it was part of a smaller shopping center that at the time had a Food Lion. I had no idea at the time how lucky I was to get an actual room.
I settled in and turned on the TV and them tje heat because it was cold. I was expecting to be there for a day or so at the most, assuming this was just another North Carolina snow storm. Usually snow storms are reasonably short in duration in the state. However if you are from North Carolina or are a long time resident you know the weather can be like Florida one day and like Alaska the next, owing to the unique geography and topography of the land mass.
It had been snowing heavily when I checked in and being on the ground floor it was easy to see the heaving coating the outside was getting as the snow just didn’t let up. Once again, North Carolina snow storms are generally of brief duration and at most lasting a day, a night at the most. This storm was different.
In no time the now was up to the window seal in my room and the there was a least a foot of snow on the ground. While I did try to sleep, I slept restlessly and woke up every hour or so and each time the snow just got deeper and deeper as the storm just did not subside. I left the room a few times to go to the lobby and people were packing the lobby because they got to the hotel to late to get a room but simply could not drive further in the heavy snow and no one in the hotel staffer would ask them to leave since kicking them out at this point could literally mean death for people if forced to be outside.
Being so crowded I found and empty chair and sat down and what at first appeared to be a friendly man began talking. Suddenly his voice got louder and it was obvious he was seeking an audience for this religious banter that no one in the room wanted to hear and I made a hasty escape, praying I could get away from that asshole.
People continued to show up to the hotel in amazing numbers. Soon even the hallways were full with people sitting on the floor and some people asleep. I had to literally walk over people while navigating thru the hallways. In the lobby people were asleep in the chairs and on the couch, as well as the floor. Keep in mind this was the first day of the storm.
On day two I woke up and discovered the snow has stopped after dumping at least six feet of snow on the ground, something I’d never seen. Incredible that amount of snow was small compared to what the storm left higher in the mountains. From the view of this hotel we could see the internet highway at the lower elevation from which we were perched. The was no traffic, just a while glaze. Now the sun was out and the mirror like glare was blinding. The eerie quietness of a major highway totally abandoned by loud moving vehicles was jarring.
During the night the local Asheville television station had lost all but it’s local signal and the current staff couldn’t leave the studio but continued broadcasting locally. It turned out that they all spent the entire duration of the event in the TV station, all without proper food or a change of clothes. Nothing but this station was available because cable was down. The radio worked and the heat was still on when I woke up.
Most of the hotels food had been consumed but as it turned out the manager of the grocery store located behind the hotel was also a “guest”. So, the manager opened the store for the hotel residents and thankfully the cash registers worked. Meanwhile the local service workers, police, firemen, linemen and volunteers were out working the aftermath of the blizzard.
While I had arrived on Thursday night, it was Sunday before I considered leaving but the news and locals I talked to convinced me to stay, as well as the apocalyptic news reports I was hearing on TV and radio.
On Tuesday morning I decided it was time for action and departed my temporary abode to hopefully continue my journey to Tennessee. I got back on I 40 and got about five miles before coming to a dead stop because of traffic back up. I stayed in the line for about an hour without moving. I was obvious I was going nowhere. So, in a bold and dangerous and pretty damn stupid move, I turned around and drove in the opposite direction on the highway. Yep, I drove the wrong way on and interstate highway. Luckily I didn’t encounter anyone and got off at the next exit. I was of course still driving the wrong way on an interstate off ramp. Luckily for me and any potential sane and rational driver driving properly I got back onto the road headed the right way.
The roads were clear then thanks to the massive and difficult work by the city and state, but shaken from the experience I needed a rest from the stress and a plan of action for the upcoming decent on what is a five mile downhill slide on the Black Mountain section of I-40, a section of road that actually has emergency off ramps every mile for runaway trucks.
I stopped at the McDonald’s beside the Walmart, the “original” Tunnel Road. The place was packed. After waiting for about ten minutes some finally left and gave me the table they were occupying. I was sitting in front of some people who were pretty loud, talking about how they’d waited long enough to continue their drive on I-40, so I stuck up a conversation with them, telling them about my recent experience on the interstate and trying to make it clear to them that driving further was pointless. I was told that “In New York they have the snow removed in a few hours”. After I pointed out that “This isn’t New York” several times to the deaf ears of those New York people I got up to leave but before I left I stood in front of their table and one last time said “You’re headed for trouble. Is there anything I can say to change your mind” to which the man responded “No”. My last words to him was “Good Luck. You’re going to need it”, and turned around and left.
I drove down Black Mountain with amazing ease and landed in Old Fort and there was no snow or ice whatsoever. Somehow the storm didn’t hit that area and the only bad w weather from Old Fort to Durham was the cold. When I got home I turned on the TV and the news was constant about the storm that has hit North Carolina and the entire upper seaboard of the country. The news was constant for a week. I discovered the traffic jam I’d left lasted for FOUR DAYS, with a line from Asheville NC to Gatlinburg Tennessee. All I could think was “I hope those arrogant New York assholes learned their lesson”.
It warmed my heart to know those New York assholes got totally screwed after being warned.
