30 Years Ago: Blizzard of '96

Today is the 30th anniversary of the great "Blizzard of '96." If you're of a certain age, you probably remember this record breaking nor'easter. It was one of the most severe and deadly storms to ever hit the Northeast U.S. It was ranked number two of all time in the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale; Category 5 "extreme".

This storm is a classic example and case study of all the ingredients necessary to produce a historic blizzard up and down the East Coast. Low pressure rapidly deepened off the Eastern Seaboard in response to a vigorous upper level disturbance and took a perfect track off shore near the 40N/70W benchmark. Strong high pressure was also in an ideal position over Southeast Canada allowing cold air to drain in from the north and keep all the precipitation in the form of snow.

On the early morning hours of January 7th light snow entered the Tri-State Area from southwest to northeast. By the afternoon moderate to heavy snow enveloped all of the Tri-State area and Southern New England. Snowfall rates approached two to three inches per hour at times and even some thunder and lightning was reported near the Baltimore/D.C. area.

Heavy snow continued throughout the night and into the morning on the 8th. As the day progressed on Monday, snow began to lighten up as the radar became a bit more shredded and broken in nature. The last bit of snow curled around Southern New England and pulled out during the evening hours. Wind gusts increased to 30-50mph during the day on Monday. By the time the snow ended, the region was buried under one to two feet of snow, with up to three to four feet in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. There were many reports of wind gusts over 50mph and snow drifts over six feet.

The Blizzard of '96 was not only one of the biggest snowstorms of all time but one of the deadliest and costliest for the Eastern U.S. There was over 150 fatalities reported and up to three billion dollars in damages associated with this storm. It ranks in the top 10 in many big cities including New York and Boston and is number one for Philadelphia, P.A.

If you would like to see more images related to this storm see it in our archive: Blizzard of '96

All historic snowstorms (1888-2024): Historic Snowstorms Archive

-JDJ