North American blizzard of 1996
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The Blizzard of 1996 was a nor'easter that paralyzed the U.S. East Coast with up to four feet (1.2 m) of wind-driven snow over a three-day period from January 6-8 in 1996.
Impact
Philadelphia
Over 30 inches (75 cm) of snow fell in Philadelphia, the most of any major city in the storm's path. It was the city's all-time greatest snowstorm. The mayor declared a state of emergency, and only police and other emergency workers were permitted to drive on city streets. Unfortunately, because so few people were out and about, there were many car break-ins during the next couple of days. In particular, a series of cars parked in the vicinity of 18th and Benjamin Franklin Parkway had their windows broken, and valuables removed. This made some very upset with the city, as they claimed that they would have removed their cars to safer locations had they been permitted to drive.Because of the ban on driving, there were also no restaurant (or other) food deliveries. The TGI Fridays on Benjamin Franklin Parkway offered a special souvenir "Blizzard of '96" menu. Meanwhile, workers at the nearby Wawa food market, unable to leave their store, were reduced to eating food from the shelves.
New Jersey
The state of New Jersey recorded its second largest snowstorm at Edison, where 32 inches (81 cm) fell (the greatest single storm record being 34 inches (86 cm) at Cape May in 1899). Newark, the state's largest city, received a record-setting 27.8 inches (70.6 cm). All roads in the state were closed, including the entire length of the New Jersey Turnpike for the first time in that road's history. Over two-thirds of the state was buried under 2 or more feet (60 or more cm) of snow, making this storm the state's most paralyzing snowstorm of the 20th century.New York City
New York City's Central Park officially recorded 20.2" (51.3 cm) for its fourth-largest single snowfall (records going back to 1869), but many locations in the outer boroughs and suburbs recorded over 2 1/2 feet (76 cm) of snow. Schools in New York City's boroughs closed due to snow for the first time since the Blizzard of 1978, 18 years earlier (while most suburban districts in the area close for snow several times each winter, in the city itself they rarely do because of relatively easy access to underground subways whose ability to run is not appreciably affected by snowstorms of moderate accumulation).
Washington/Baltimore
The 1996 Blizzard is the fourth largest snowfall in Washington, D.C.'s recorded history. 17.1 inches of snow fell at National Airport (now called Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport), with 24.6 inches of accumulation at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Baltimore received 22.5 inches of snow, easily putting this storm in Baltimore's top five snowstorms of all time. The storm was the likely cause of an accident on the Washington Metro system in Gaithersburg, Maryland, which killed a train operator.Not quite a 'real' blizzard
Interestingly, and despite the storm's common name as the "Blizzard" of 1996, one of the few observing sites to record true blizzard conditions was Trenton-Mercer Airport near Trenton, New Jersey. During the afternoon of January 7, the airport recorded the necessary three consecutive hours of frequent wind gusts to at least 35 mph combined with a prevailing visibility consistently below 1/4 mile (400 m) along with falling and blowing snow, meeting the official NWS standard of a blizzard. All other New Jersey observing sites, as well as most sites in neighboring states, failed to observe true blizzard conditions, though many stations did observe blizzard conditions for less than the necessary three consecutive hours. By and large, however, the "Blizzard of 1996" was not a real blizzard in the technical sense.Snowfall accumulation totals
| State | City/location | Amount (inches) |
|---|---|---|
| WV | Pocahontas County | 40-48 |
| VA | Shenandoah | 37.0 |
| PA | York County | 35-40 |
| PA | Shippensburg | 35 |
| MA | Berkshire County | 33 |
| MD | Frostburg | 32 |
| NJ | Edison | 32 |
| VA | Front Royal | 32 |
| NJ | Bordentown | 31 |
| PA | Philadelphia | 30.7 |
| NJ | Raritan | 30 |
| NJ | White House Station | 30 |
| NJ | Howell | 30 |
| NJ | Moorestown | 30 |
| NJ | Hazlet | 29.8 |
| NJ | Freehold | 28 |
| NJ | Newark | 27.8 |
| NJ | McGuire Air Force Base, Wrightstown | 27 |
| NC | Boone | 26 |
| NJ | Califon | 26 |
| VA | Dulles International Airport | 24.6 |
| NJ | Lambertville | 24.5 |
| NJ | Bound Brook | 24.5 |
| NJ | Pottersville | 24 |
| NJ | Long Branch | 24 |
| NJ | Dover | 24 |
| MD | Baltimore | 22.5 |
| NJ | New Brunswick | 22.6 |
| NJ | Sandy Hook | 22 |
| NJ | Mount Holly | 22 |
| NJ | Flemington | 20.3 |
| NY | Central Park, New York City | 20.2 |
| NJ | Willingboro | 18 |
| NJ | Marlton | 18 |
| VA | National Airport, Washington, D.C. | 17.1 |
| NJ | Hightstown | 17.1 |
| MA | Boston | 17 |
| NJ | Princeton | 16 |
| NJ | Somerville | 16 |
| NJ | Indian Mills | 16 |
| NJ | Beach Haven | 15 |
| NC | Hickory | 14 |
| NJ | Cape May City | 12 |
| NJ | Cape May Point | 10.1 |
See also
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