That time it snowed in March across South Mississippi

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - On the night of March 12th, 1993, all the ingredients came together for one of the deadliest, costliest and most disruptive storm systems to ever impact the United States. It was just getting its act together as it was passing by South Mississippi and just as it was exiting the area, it brought snow all the way down to the coast.

The storm brought strong north winds that caused power outages overnight. By the morning of March 13, 1993, many South Mississippians woke up to snow covering the ground. Biloxi recorded 1.5 inches. Gulfport picked up 2 inches. And parts of Stone county picked up anywhere between 3-6 inches of snow.

Icy conditions caused treacherous travel, especially across area bridges and overpasses. But for the most part, many took advantage of the rare snow day and had fun. The storm would go on to dump over a foot of snow in Birmingham, Alabama and 30-50 inches across the Appalachians.

The warm side of the storm brought a destructive line of thunderstorms known as a derecho across the state of Florida that extended all the way down to Cuba. A storm surge of up to 12 feet was recorded in parts of the Florida Panhandle. When it was all said and done, over 200 people died and damage estimates were in the billions.

Copyright 2020 WLOX. All rights reserved.