the area experiences a winter storm with significant snowfall about once each year, however this can be extremely irregular with several consecutive years receiving no measurable snow. a blizzard (see: 1993 storm of the century) caught much of the southeast off-guard in 1993, dumping at the atlanta airport on march 13, and much more than that in the suburbs to the north and west, as well as in the mountains. the only other recorded winter storm of comparable severity was the great blizzard of 1899. the heaviest snow, however, was in january 1940, when buried the city during its coldest month on record. the second-heaviest was in 1983, when a very late storm dumped on march 24. ice storms have also occurred in the area. the well-remembered 1973 ice storm was brutal as was the storm in 1982.