LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — One of the strongest storms of the century and a rare true blizzard for eastern Kentucky, brought up to 30 inches of snow across portions of eastern and southeastern Kentucky from March 12-14, 1993.

Satellite imagery from March 13, 1993. Courtesy: NWS Jackson

Strong winds accompanied this record-breaking snow, resulting in blizzard conditions and snow drifts up to 10 feet! This also led to traffic and travel nightmares.

Portions of I-75 were closed from Lexington to the Tennessee border and I-64 was shut down from Lexington to the West Virginia border, both for a period of two days. Nearly 4,000 motorists were stranded along both highways, causing emergency shelters to be set up in Ashland and London.

The heaviest snow amounts occurred in eastern and southeastern Kentucky:

In Hazard, the 24-hour snowfall record for the state of Kentucky was set as 25 inches fell. That’s just a little over 2″ of snow per hour! In the higher terrain areas of Harlan County, 4 to 5 feet of snow was reported. Mount LeConte, TN topped the snow charts and officially recorded 56″ of snow.

Satellite imagery showed the snow cover stretching from the Deep South all the way through Maine!