On November 10th and 11th 1998 a large weather system developed over the Central and Eastern United States. In the upper Midwest the storm brought damaging winds, cold air, and precipitation. In the South the storm brought strong thunderstorms. Barometric pressures at the low center were measured in the 960 mb range.
This storm was
noteworthy for two reasons. The first was its rapid intensification (deepening
at a rate of between 1 and 2 mb per hour over a 24 hour period) and its
accompanying severe weather (including tornadoes) in the southern U.S. and
severe winter weather (blizzard condition) in the upper plains. The second is
its uncanny similarity to a storm that contributed to the sinking of the "Edmund
Fitzgerald". As seen in figure below, the tracks of the two storms are nearly
parallel. The 1998 storm was significantly more intense.