Superstorm 1950: The Greatest Simultaneous Blizzard, Ice Storm, Windstorm, and Cold Outbreak of the Twentieth Century

by David A. Call

Overview

In November 1950, the greatest storm of the twentieth century crippled the eastern United States, affecting more than 100 million people. Sometimes referred to as the Great Appalachian or Thanksgiving storm, this was no ordinary weather event. Its giant size and multiple record-setting hazards—including snow, ice, flooding, wind, and cold temperatures—were cataclysmic. This superstorm was the most costly weather-related disaster when it occurred. Only two other storms that affected the US mainland since then, both hurricanes, have exceeded its death toll. The weather records it established remain benchmarks of extreme weather to this day.

Superstorm 1950 examines the immediate impact of the storm, covering not just meteorology, but also its wide-ranging social impacts, which varied by race, class, and gender. The repercussions continue to affect us today, in obvious areas like weather forecasting, and in surprising areas like Ohio State football and government tax policy. Because superstorms are not as familiar as hurricanes or tornadoes, they can be overlooked in terms of weather-related disasters. This is a mistake. Vulnerability to weather disasters is increasing, and a similar storm today would likely be the most expensive weather disaster ever in the United States. Superstorm 1950 serves not only as a riveting account of one of the greatest disasters in US history, but also provides a premonition of what may come if global climate change is not confronted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612497976
Publisher:	Purdue University Press
Publication date:	01/15/2023
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

David A. Call is an associate professor of geography and meteorology at Ball State University. He received his meteorology degree with honors from Pennsylvania State University and advanced degrees in geography from Syracuse University. Call teaches classes in meteorology and physical geography, and he takes groups of students storm chasing every spring. His research examines the impacts of hazardous winter weather. He lives with his family in Muncie, Indiana.

Table of Contents

An Introduction
Part 1: The Genesis
Then (1950)
The Storm
Part 2: The Effects
Fifty-Seven Inches
Dig-Out Days
An Icy Blackout
Water Everywhere
Blown Away
Frigid
Part 3: The Upshot
The Modelers
Now and Beyond
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"David Call has written the first comprehensive study of the superstorm of 1950, providing the reader with straightforward writing, lucid prose, and well-chosen narrative events to tell the history of this neglected aspect of disaster history. The book reveals how social structures shaped the regional response to the storm and how the storm prompted significant changes in meteorological sciences. Superstorm 1950 is a signature contribution to the history of meteorology and disaster studies." —Timothy Kneeland, author of Declaring Disaster: Buffalo's Blizzard of '77 and the Creation of FEMA

"This book will be of interest to atmospheric scientists and to social scientists who are interested in the societal impacts of events, emergency management, understanding of uncertainty in forecasts, and historical meteorology. Call's weaving together of meteorological dynamics of the event with societal impacts as they all varied spatially and temporally is particularly effective in engaging the reader." —Burrell Montz, Professor Emeritus, East Carolina University

"Dave Call is eminently qualified to write this book on the blockbuster storm of November 1950. Finally, someone has written about perhaps the greatest storm of the twentieth century, which produced record snowfall across the Ohio Valley and Appalachian Mountains as well as record flooding and high winds worthy of a major hurricane along the East Coast. With the newly emerging field of numerical weather prediction that is the basis of all current weather forecasts, this storm provided one of the earliest tests of the new technology. Weather enthusiasts should find this book quite astounding!" —Paul Kocin, co-author of Northeast Snowstorms and former winter weather expert at The Weather Channel

"Call's thoroughly researched, eminently readable study is a timely contribution which ought to be read by scientists, policy makers, and anyone else who is grappling with the pressing questions of New Zealand's—and the world's—future climate." —Weather & Climate

From the Publisher