Q: In your answer to the question about the largest snowfalls in Atlanta, you did not include the blizzard of 1993. How many inches of snow fell during the blizzard in March 1993?
—Allan LaBarre, Snellville
A: Atlanta officially had only 4 inches, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center. It notes that other Southern cities were harder hit, including 24 inches in Mountain City, Ga.; 20 inches in Chattanooga and 19 inches in Asheville, N.C. The "Storm of the Century" – created when three independent weather patterns converged in the Gulf of Mexico in March of 1993 – resulted in the NOAA initiating a "thorough overhaul of how threats were communicated," according to a report in Popular Mechanics. The magazine said it accelerated development of "numerical prediction models" that resulted in the National Weather Service increasing its snowfall-prediction accuracy rate to 75 percent (compared to 37 percent at the time of the storm). The storm affected 26 states, according to The Weather Channel, which noted that some of Atlanta's northern suburbs received up to 9 inches of snow.
Q: During the snowstorm, hundreds of road reflectors were scraped off the roads. Can these be collected and recycled?
—Ann Dunn, Suwanee
A: The current reflectors are not recyclable due to the individual base units being composed of an epoxy compound in the bottom, Jill Goldberg, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Transportation, told Q&A on the News.
Lori Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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