of the travels of the Billy Goats Gruff
Here’s something that, if you read it in a book, or saw it in a movie, would be rejected as too unbelievable.
We now live some 200 miles from where my wife Carol grew up.
The other day she went into a local antique store and picked up this old book, thinking it looked familiar. When she opened the cover, she found her own signature from some 55+ years ago!
The intervening circumstances are a complete mystery! She bought the book for $1.60. Believe it or not!
By snow, that is—and how well I remember!
The monstrous blizzard came to be called the Storm of the Century.
At my eastern Pennsylvania home, it was a unique opportunity for my young kids to experience a real blizzard! And they still remember how I made them go out with me in the storm to feel the cold and the wind and the ice sting our faces. And to develop character! I wanted to teach them what my older sister had taught me when we were kids: how to dig a hidey-hole for your head in a large snow drift, so that when the wind blew and the ice stung your cheeks, you could shelter in place. My sons were up for the brutal wind and cold; my daughter, not so much!
By definition, a blizzard consists of three simultaneous conditions: significant snow accumulation of .31 inch or greater per hour; sustained winds of at least 35 mph; and temperatures of 20F or less. A severe blizzard is when winds mount to a steady 45 mph or greater, visibility drops to near zero, and the temperature hovers at just 10F or lower. The consequences of such a storm produces fatalities. They include wind chill temperatures of -30F and lower; wind damage; burying snow drifts; hardship for wildlife; disruption of commerce and traffic; accidents and collapsing structures; interruption of energy distribution, communications and basic utilities; structure fires from constant heating; and shortages of food, medicine, shelter, and other vital provisions.
Here’s how I described the Blizzard to Remember in my book Discover Nature in the Weather (2001, Stackpole Books):
The blizzard of March 12-15, 1993 produced snow at least one foot deep from the Appalachian Mountains east to the Atlantic Ocean, in a continuous swath from Alabama to Nova Scotia. In some locations, several feet of snow fell in its passage, marked with killer tornadoes, straight-line wind gusts over 100 mph, record-low sea level pressures, and record cold temperatures. This memorable blizzard resulted in 270 fatalities and property damage estimated at nearly $1.6 billion.
The Blizzard of the Century’s aftermath in my backyard: my sons and their extra tall snowman; my book Discover Nature in the Weather.