Weather Channel Coverage of the 1993 Blizzard

Wow! I haven't posted here since April!

Anyway, I found this on YouTube awhile ago and this retro gem shows how The Weather Channel dealt with the 1993 Blizzard as it was happening on March 13, 1993.

Not So Great Moments in Weather History: 1993 Superstorm

I've been spending my evening on the Internet studying famous storms. Although I'd like to forget most of these experiences like most people, I thought it would be nice to give you all an account of my experiences in certain storms.

The Superstorm of 1993 is my earliest memory of significant storms. This storm was dubbed "The Storm of the Century", and by looking at that radar image, I can believe that. The storm wreaked havoc as far south as Cuba and as far north as New England, including Greensboro, North Carolina. This was by the way, Saturday March 13th.

In Greensboro, it was basically a blizzard. The storm was so bad, WFMY News 2 was knocked off the air for awhile. This was back before they had back-up generators like they do today. I'm also assuming that Carolina Circle Mall was shut down. I had to work that mall in here some way.

I was 3 years old at the time. This is notable because I have no memories of the January 1996 at age 6. Anyway, back to 1993. I don't remember much about the conditions, but I remember losing power. Just like today, my grandmother lives two houses down from me. She was the only one near us who did not lose power. So I spent the night up there. I do remember that night eating ice cream in front of her TV and losing power for a few seconds. She got real mad!

That next day (Sunday, March 14th), I remember returning home. My house was still without power. I also remember one particular moment when my brother chased me through the house. Ha! Ha! Ha!

I would love to hear any accounts of this storm, especially if you were in Greensboro at the time.

You can read more about this storm here.

A Full 1992 Family Double Dare Episode

Oh '90s, you never let me down. Enjoy!

My Top 5 '90s Christmas Commercials

I've been looking at some old '90s commercials over at Retro Junk and I've come up with 5 of my favorite Christmas commercials from the '90s.

5 (Chia Pet): Okay, this isn't really a Christmas commercial, but they usually only play these around this time of year. This one takes me back.

4 (Cookie Crisp): This was a pretty popular Christmas commercial back in the '90s. Unfortunately, I hardly remember it, but it's slowly coming back to me. Whatever happened to Cookie Crook? By the way, I recorded this and uploaded it to Retro Junk from my famous 1994 Rugrats marathon tape.

3 (Honey Nut Cheerios): Definately a classic commercial. This aired from the mid '90s all the way into the very early '00s. I remember this commercial 100% clearly.

2 (Hershey's Kisses): Another classic commercial that first aired in the early '90s and is still being seen on TV today (Not as often though). This would always be what would officially tell me that Christmas time was here.

1 (McDonald's Lindsay): Out of all the '90s Christmas commercials, this would be the most classic in my book. I remember seeing this commercial during the Garfield Christmas Special and various other specials. These are the kind of commercials that made McDonald's special back in the '90s. McDonald's has sure gone down hill with their advertising lately. Another McDonald's commercial that could have tied would be where Ronald McDonald makes a copy of a kid's snowman because it needs a friend. Unfortunately, I can't find a video of it.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my list and hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

Crossin' Carolina at the Fair '94

Alright just as I promised almost 2 weeks ago, we're going to step into the Flashback City Wayback Machine to 1994.

1994 was back when WFMY News 2 was still using their funky retro 2 emblem, Lee Kinard was still on, and aired a special occasional program called "Crossin' Carolina". I believe all if not most of them were hosted by Arlo Lassen and these programs would take you across Carolina.

At 7:30 PM on an early October evening in 1994, Crossin' Carolina came on the air at the Dixie Classic Fair. Arlo Lassen took the viewers all through the fair including other places.

I was fortunate enough to record this when it aired. And at about 9:00 PM on a mid November evening in 2006, this video tape resurfaced. On that tape included the full original program plus commercials.

I've encoded the video to the computer and we will now take a look at some screenshots of this program.

Here's the opening to Crossin' Carolina at the Fair. Now those are some awesome graphics.

Here's our host of Crossin' Carolina, Arlo Lassen. You'll be seeing plenty more of those awesome News 2 emblems as we proceed.

I actually remember when the ferris wheel and that swinging thing were next to each other. That ferris wheel is now multi-color now.

During the ride segment, Arlo showed us video clips of him at various theme parks. That's him on the Loch Ness Monster at Bush Gardens.

During the scenes with Arlo on The Hurler at Carowinds, they showed 2 clips of the movie Wayne's World, one of my favorite movies that that ride's based off of.

A little more local taste here. This is the Sky Coaster at Emerald Pointe in Greensboro.

Now we're back at the fair. Interesting story here. That same year, I tried to throw that football through that wooden Mike Hogewood. I didn't make it, but I got a magnet out of it that I showcased here. There are four News 2 emblems in this shot by the way.

I guess this thing is a carrot.

The winner of the crowing contest.

Here's Arlo talking with one of the midway game operators.

Arlo gave pieces of elephant ears to fair visitors he talked with.

And this brings Crossin' Carolina at the Fair to a close.

As a bonus, this quick promo came on at the very end of the video. This is for the 11:00 news talking about the weather. Does anyone know who this meterologist is?

New Video Gem

I was going through some old video tapes this evening, and I came across an old 30 WFMY News 2 Crossin' Carolina at the Fair. It has Arlo Lassen at the Dixie Classic Fair reporting about the fair.

This tape is from 1994 and features old News 2 personalities and gems including everyone's favorite "Retro Funky 2 Emblem". Like my 8 hour Rugrats Marathon Tape also from 1994, it includes the original commercials like Food Lion, Coca-Cola, etc.

I'll post some screenshots here at Flashback City as soon as I transfer the video to my computer.

PBS Glass Bumper

Most of you should remember this. This PBS bumper was used from 1989 and throughout most of the '90s. This really takes me back and I'd like you all to join me.

What Would You Do? Intro

This really takes me back. Enjoy!

Do You Remember the '90s?

A nice little tribute to my favorite decade called the '90s.