[2][3] The Florida Panhandle reported around 6–12 in (15–30 cm) of snow,[4] with hurricane-force wind gusts and record low barometric pressures.

Between Louisiana and Cuba, the hurricane-force winds produced high storm surges across the Big Bend of Florida which, in combination with scattered tornadoes, killed dozens of people.

The greatest recorded snowfall amounts were at Mount Le Conte in Tennessee, where 56 inches (140 cm) of snow fell, and Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, the tallest mountain in eastern North America, where 50 inches (130 cm) was measured to fall and 15-foot (4.6 m) snow drifts were reported.

The temperature in the stratosphere rose to several degrees higher than normal, due to the absorption of radiation by the aerosol.

Concurrently, an extratropical area of low pressure formed over Mexico along a stationary front draped west to east.

Supported by a strong split-polar jet stream and a shortwave trough, the nascent system rapidly deepened.

A powerful low-level jet over eastern Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico enhanced a cold front extending from the low southward to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Furthermore, the subtropical jet stream was displaced unusually far south, reaching into the Pacific Ocean near Central America and extending toward Honduras and Jamaica.

A squall line developed along the system's cold front, which moved rapidly across the eastern Gulf of Mexico through Florida and Cuba.

Low pressure records for March were set in areas of twelve states along the Eastern Seaboard,[9] with all-time low pressure records set between Tallahassee and Washington, D.C.[10] Snow began to spread over the eastern United States, and a large squall line moved from the Gulf of Mexico into Florida and Cuba.

This marked the first time National Weather Service meteorologists were able to predict accurately a system's severity five days in advance.

Official blizzard warnings were issued two days before the storm arrived, as shorter-range models began to confirm the predictions.

It brought in cold air along with heavy precipitation and hurricane-force winds which, ultimately, caused a blizzard over the affected area; this also included thundersnow from Georgia to Pennsylvania and widespread whiteout conditions.

The volume of the storm's total snowfall was later computed to be 12.91 cubic miles (53.8 km3), an amount which would weigh (depending on the variable density of snow) between 5.4 and 27 billion tons.

The weight of the record snowfalls collapsed several factory roofs in the South; and snowdrifts on the windward sides of buildings caused a few decks with substandard anchoring to fall from homes.

Boone, North Carolina—in a high-elevation area accustomed to heavy snowfalls—was nonetheless caught off-guard by more than 30 inches (76 cm) of snow and 24 hours of temperatures below 11 °F (−12 °C).

Stranded motorists at Deep Gap broke into Parkway Elementary School to survive, and National Guard helicopters dropped hay in fields to keep livestock from starving in northern N.C. mountain counties.

[citation needed] A hockey game hosted by the Philadelphia Flyers against the Los Angeles Kings was postponed due to a large window breaking from wind gusts just before the end of the first period.

[24] The United States Coast Guard dealt with "absolutely incredible, unbelievable" conditions within the Gulf of Mexico.

The 147-foot (45 m) freighter Miss Beholden ran aground on a coral reef 10 miles (16 km) from Key West, Florida.

Straight-line winds gusted above 100 miles per hour (87 kn; 160 km/h) at many locations in Florida as the squall line moved through.

With little advance warning of incoming severe conditions, some coastal residents were awakened in the early morning of March 13 by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico rushing into their homes.

A survey conducted by a research team from the Institute of Meteorology of Cuba suggests that the maximum winds could have been as high as 130 mph (210 km/h).

[30] It is thought that water entered the hold where gypsum ore was being stored and caused the rock to shift and harden.