The Great Appalachian Storm 1950

 November 25th

ON THIS DAY in North Carolina history…

1950:

Meteorologists call it an extra-tropical cyclone--for all intents and purposes, a hurricane that forms outside the tropics. Across the North Carolina mountains, indeed across the whole state, they had another name for it: The Great Appalachian Storm. The name is a misnomer, as the storm affects most of the eastern United States.

On Thanksgiving evening, November 23rd, just as many families are washing dishes and napping off the holiday turkey, snow begins to fall in parts of North Carolina and across the eastern United States. The more substantial precipitation is toward the mountains. A low-pressure system is forming over our state at the same time. The low deepens on November 24th. Over the next 24 hours, ON THIS DAY, the storm becomes a "bomb"–another meteorological term meaning a cyclone that experiences the sudden and extreme deepening of atmospheric pressure. The snow keeps falling, everywhere from East Tennessee to Ontario and across most of New England. Residents are stunned by the blanketing barrage. The wind and the snowfall combine to form blizzard conditions across the mountains. Movement is impossible, as the wind gusts over 90 mph and snowfall amounts climb to a staggering 44 inches. On top of the wind and snow is the terrible cold. Record lows for November are broken across the state from Asheville (-5˚F) to Wilmington (6˚F). In Tennessee, all-time record lows for November are set at Chattanooga (4˚F), Knoxville (5˚F), Memphis (9˚F), and Nashville (-1˚F).

The hurricane-force winds cause considerable damage. A University of Connecticut dormitory loses its entire roof. The Michigan-Ohio State football game at Columbus, Ohio, goes on as scheduled. Because of the severe winter conditions, including snow and wind, the normal playing of the game is dramatically altered. Michigan wins the game 9–3, despite never getting a first down and failing on all nine pass attempts. The teams punt 45 times, sometimes on first down. The strategy was based on the weather. Both sides felt it better to have the ball in the hands of their opponents near the end zone and hope for a fumble of the slippery ball.

In the aftermath, the National Guard is forced to use jeeps to distribute food, and the Army uses tanks to clear roads. U.S. insurance companies pay more money out to their policyholders for damage resulting from this cyclone than for any other previous storm or hurricane. The cyclone is also the highest-ranking winter storm on the Regional Snowfall Index with a maximum value of 32.31, and one of only sixteen storms to rank as a Category 5 on the scale. Incredibly, there are few accurate reports of snowfall amounts. In most places, the yardsticks simply disappear into the snow.

~Kevin E. Spencer, Author, North Carolina Expatriates

1950o finding the car

The Great Appalachian storm 1950

Ohio State lost to U Michigan in constant snow