HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The North American blizzard of 1996 was a severe
nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use o ...
that paralyzed the
United States East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...
with up to of wind-driven snow from January 6 to January 8, 1996. This storm was a classic example of a nor'easter, but the storm would not have been as historically significant without the presence of the arctic high pressure system located to the north of New York. It was followed by another storm, an
Alberta Clipper An Alberta clipper, also known as an Alberta low, Alberta cyclone, Alberta lee cyclone, Canadian clipper, or simply clipper, is a fast-moving low-pressure system that originates in or near the Canadian province of Alberta just east of the Rock ...
, on January 12, then unusually warm weather and torrential rain which caused rapid melting and river flooding in the Northeast Floods later that month. Along with the March Superstorm of 1993 and the
January 2016 United States blizzard The January 2016 United States blizzard was a blizzard that produced up to 3 ft (91 cm) of snow in parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States from January 22–24, 2016. Evolving from a shortwave trough that formed in the Pacific ...
, it is one of only three snowstorms to receive the top rating of 5, or "Extreme", on the
Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale The Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS) was created to measure snowstorms in the U.S. Northeast in much the same way the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale records hurricane intensity and the Enhanced Fujita Scale with tornadoes. The Scale NESI ...
(NESIS).


Impact


Virginia

Most of Virginia was impacted with the more central and western parts receiving of snow. Roanoke got a record-breaking . The heaviest snow fell in Page County, with around . Snowfall reached in the
Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge ...
and exceeded in much of the Virginia mountain and Piedmont areas. Gov.
George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...
declared a state of emergency as power lines went down, people were trapped in their houses, and at least eight weather-related deaths occurred. High winds that accompanied the blizzard caused white out conditions and drifts of up to in Patrick County.


Washington, D.C. and Baltimore

Snow began falling on
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
and
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
during the early afternoon of January 6, and continued at a consistent rate until mid-afternoon the next day. At that time, the metro area received , and after a few hours of sleet and then a complete stop for several hours, it seemed the worst was over. But overnight, as the storm slowly crawled northward, extremely heavy bands of snow came in from the east. These bands created whiteout conditions as winds gusted past , along with thunder and lightning. By the morning of January 8, the bands tapered off, and the metro area was left with a blanket of of snow. Baltimore received and
Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and F ...
received . Many areas north and west in Maryland and West Virginia received well over with a few locations in the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia receiving up to . In DC, it was known as the "Blizzard of '96" or the "Great Furlough Storm," because it occurred just after the 1996 federal government shutdown and since the Federal government was closed due to the storm, lengthened the time federal employees were away from their jobs in the DC area. Because of unseasonably warm weather in mid-January and a warm rain exceeding on Monday, January 15, the snow melted quickly and caused the worst winter flooding in decades for river and stream valleys from Southwest Virginia to New York.


Philadelphia and Pennsylvania

of snow fell in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
(as measured at the official city observation location,
Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...
), the most of any major city in the storm's path. It remains the city's all-time greatest snowstorm, compared to its previous greatest snowstorm which was a "mere" . Most of those , , fell in just 24 hours, a new record for the city for the most snow in 24 hours. The mayor declared a state of emergency, and only police and other emergency workers were permitted to drive on city streets leaving the city to pedestrians. For three days, city trucks loaded with plowed snow dumped their contents into the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers eventually causing major problems with the natural flow of the rivers. It is a rare occurrence for trucks to "dispose of snow" in the Philadelphia area, since the snowfall amounts typically do not warrant it. However the snow was so extensive, that plowing would cause massive snow piles. City officials had no choice but to resort to hauling the snow to nearby rivers. Disposal of snow became a major issue but temperatures quickly returned to normal and began to quickly clear the snow. This resulted in flooding, when on January 19, a jet stream disturbance from the Gulf of Mexico caused a rapid melt, followed by thunderstorms, which both brought of rain, and caused the snow to melt in one day; or equivalent to of rain. Philadelphia saw its worst flooding in twenty years. Damages were estimated to reach US$1 billion. Snowfall accumulations averaged in Monroe, Carbon and eastern Schuylkill Counties, around in Lehigh and Northampton Counties, in Berks County, in Chester and Delaware Counties, in Montgomery and Bucks Counties. Other individual accumulations included in Ontelaunee Township (Berks), in Reading (Berks) and Palm and Souderton (Montgomery), in Perkasie (Bucks), and in Glenmoore (Chester).


New Jersey

Snow began falling during the predawn hours of the January 7 and became heavy at times during the morning. Blizzard conditions developed during the afternoon and evening as strong northeast winds developed around the intensifying low pressure. During the afternoon hours, precipitation in far southern New Jersey changed to sleet and freezing rain as the low brought in warm air at mid-levels, but remained all snow across the rest of the state. During the evening and overnight hours the snow mixed with sleet as far north as central sections of the state as the low center approached the state from the south. A lull developed in the precipitation in the pre-dawn hours of January 8 as the low center was just off the New Jersey coast, but wraparound moisture brought another period of snow to the state as the low pulled away during the later morning and early afternoon hours of the January 8. Accumulations averaged in Sussex County, in Warren County, in Morris County, generally in Bergen, Passaic, Union, Hudson, Essex, Hunterdon, Somerset, Mercer, and Monmouth counties, in Middlesex County, in Burlington County, in Salem, Gloucester, and Camden counties, inland and at the coast in Ocean County, and in Cumberland, Atlantic, and Cape May counties. In addition to the heavy snow, wind gusts reached hurricane force along the coast during the evening of the 7th, with an gust recorded in Ocean Grove. While accumulations were lighter along the shore, the strong northeasterly flow produced moderate
coastal flooding Coastal flooding normally occurs when dry and low-lying land is submerged by seawater. The range of a coastal flooding is a result of the elevation of floodwater that penetrates the inland which is controlled by the topography of the coastal lan ...
at the time of high tide on the evening of January 7, with tides above normal. The tide reached above mean low water in Atlantic County and above mean low water in Cape May County. Fortunately, winds switched to the northwest before worse flooding could occur at high tide on the morning of January 8. The state of
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
recorded its second-largest snowstorm at Edison, where fell (the greatest single storm record being at
Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The so ...
in the
Great Blizzard of 1899 The Great Blizzard of 1899, also known as the Great Arctic Outbreak of 1899 and the St. Valentine's Day Blizzard, was an exceptionally severe winter weather event that affected most of the United States, particularly east of the Rocky Mountains ...
).
Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...
also reported of snow. Newark, the state's largest city, received a record-setting , while Trenton, the capital, received . All roads in the state were closed, including the entire length of the
New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highways in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although maintained by NJTA, is not consi ...
for the first time in that road's history. Over two-thirds of the state was buried under of snow, making this storm the state's most paralyzing snowstorm of the 20th century. Places such as Roselle and Linden received around . New Jersey was, along with other states, put into a state of emergency. "Two feet of snow was blasted into Greater Trenton by 50 mph winds that created giant drifts, paralyzing the region and the rest of the Northeast for a week, One writer called it the most “sadistic” storm of our century. The Blizzard of '96 stranded hundreds of people at Trenton's train station; left thousands without electricity and heat for days; closed most schools and government offices for a week; cut off an estimated US$1 billion in Jersey commerce; forced the National Guard into service rescuing state troopers from snowbound police cruisers; and created strife between officials and residents demanding the plowing of their little streets. In the second week of January 1996, it can be said, many locales across the region looked like they did in the old pictures taken of them during the infamous Blizzard of '88: Houses drifted under; snowed-in main streets that looked like ghost towns; no cars or people on the streets."


New York City

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
's
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
officially recorded for its fourth-largest single snowfall (records going back to 1869), but many locations in the other boroughs and suburbs recorded over of snow. Schools in New York City's boroughs closed because of 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 to large accumulation; however, in this snowstorm, the transit network was significantly disrupted. Buses were unable to run, and subway service was limited. Lines that ran in open cut and surface routes were shut down for two days.


New England

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts B ...
received of snow, while
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
and
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since ...
both received . Up to of snow fell in the
Berkshire Mountains The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that e ...
of western Massachusetts and the northern hills of Connecticut. While this was a major snow event for southern New England, the Blizzard of 1996 was not as intense as other recent events, notably the Blizzard of 1978 and the March 1993 Superstorm. Snowfall amounts decreased sharply as one moved further north, with northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine receiving little more than
snow flurries A snow flurry is a light snowfall that results in little or no snow accumulation. The US National Weather Service defines snow flurries as intermittent light snow that produces no measurable precipitation (trace amounts). In contrast, bursts of s ...
from this event.


Blizzard status

Despite the storm's common name as the "Blizzard of 1996", some of the few observing sites to record true
blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling b ...
conditions were Trenton-Mercer Airport near
Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Morristown Municipal Airport Morristown Airport is in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, three miles east of downtown Morristown and 27 miles west of Manhattan, New York City. Operated by DM AIRPORTS, LTD, it is in the Whippany section of Hanover. The National Pla ...
located east of
Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...
, with Morristown recording wind gusts in excess of . During the afternoon of January 7, the airports recorded the necessary three consecutive hours of frequent wind gusts of at least combined with a prevailing visibility consistently below along with falling and blowing snow, meeting the official NWS standard of a
blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling b ...
. This indicates that the sites experienced some of the worst conditions on the entire East Coast. 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.


Snowfall accumulation totals


See also

*
Blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling b ...
*
January 2016 United States blizzard The January 2016 United States blizzard was a blizzard that produced up to 3 ft (91 cm) of snow in parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States from January 22–24, 2016. Evolving from a shortwave trough that formed in the Pacific ...
– Very similar blizzard that affected almost the same areas with identical snow totals 20 years after this one. *
Nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use o ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:North American Blizzard Of 1996 1996 meteorology Blizzards in the United States Nor'easters 1996 natural disasters in the United States January 1996 events in North America