Historic U.S. blizzards
The awning of a grocery store is damaged from the weight of the snow during the blizzard of 1888 in New York City. The blizzard on March 12-14 paralyzed the city with about 40" of snow and winds that reached up to 60 miles per hour, creating drifts as high as 50 feet.
1888
A New York street is shown during the blizzard of 1888. The blizzard that occurred March 12-14 paralyzed the city with 40" of snow and winds that reached up to 60 miles per hour, creating drifts as high as 50 feet. Telegraph and telephone poles and wires were downed and lay in the streets.
1888
This view made during the blizzard of 1888 shows New Yorkers hiking across the Brooklyn bridge after being forced to leave their train when it stalled as a result of the heavy snow on March 12-14.
Many people and horses died in the street.
1899
Horse carts move snow through the streets of Manhattan to be dumped in the East River during the blizzard of 1899.
1899
Snow drifts fill a street in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City after the blizzard of Feb. 13, 1899.
1940
The heart of Boston's shopping district, Boylston Street, had one of the worst blizzards in New England history. On a normal day a scene like this would show hundreds of autos and people, but on this day, Feb. 15, 1940, few people were about and the only cars showing were mostly abandoned and covered by snow drifts.
1940
Snow covers Draper, South Dakota in November, 1940.
1978
This message was dug out in the snow on the surface of a lake in Montville, Connecticut, Feb. 8, 1978.
It asked for Gov. Ella T. Grasso's help in the state's snow emergency. The author of the message was unknown, but it got across to the governor who saw it as she flew over the lake on a helicopter tour of eastern Connecticut.
1978
Cars and trucks stranded and abandoned in deep snow along Route 128 in Dedham, Mass., are seen in this Feb. 9, 1978 photo, as military and civilian plows begin to dig them out during the blizzard of 1978.
1979
Brooke Belsen, 25, romps in deeps snow at Oak Street Beach in Chicago, north of the downtown area, Jan. 25, 1979.
Brooke wears a sweatshirt inscribed "I survived the Blizzard of '79."
1979
Pedestrians totter, cars crawl, and the snow falls as Chicago is hit by 20 inches of snow, Jan. 14, 1979. Several more inches are predicted by Sunday in the major storm, which closed O'Hare International Airport, most of the Interstate thoroughfares in the city, and made any form of travel hazardous.
1993
Thirteen inches of snow blankets Five Points South in Birmingham, Alabama, March, 1993.
1993
A motorist makes an early exit after losing control of his vehicle, which slid off the road on Interstate 20 East during a blizzard in Atlanta, Saturday, March 13, 1993.
The area was battered by the major storm which caused power outages and snarling traffic.
1996
Patrick Serfass, 17, flies down the Capitol steps Jan. 7, 1996 in Washington, D.C.
His brother and sister kept watch for Capitol Police as the steps were closed off to the public because of the snow.
1996
Radio City Music Hall provides the backdrop for the snow covered empty streets in midtown Manhattan, Jan. 7, 1996.
A blizzard roared into the metropolitan area that Sunday, dumping up to 2 inches of snow an hour that closed LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark airports.
2000
The White House and Lafayette Park are covered with snow, Jan. 25, 2000, during a snow storm in Washington D.C.
Over six inches of snow fell in the area overnight, with estimates of up to 14 inches of snow expected, which has closed airports and disrupted traffic along the eastern seaboard.
2003
A man throws a shovel full of snow over a five-foot drift as he shovels his driveway February 17, 2003 in Suffern, New York.
2003
A row of parked cars sit covered in snow during a fierce winter storm February 17, 2003 in New York City.
The storm, which slammed the northeast United States with heavy snow and high winds, was expected to leave 18 to 22 inches of snow in New York City.
2005
A boat makes its way past ice forming on the Hudson River seen from Battery Park in lower Manhattan, in New York City, January 22, 2005.
2005
A pedestrian crosses a snow covered street with the Manhattan Bridge in the background during a snow storm January in 22, 2005 in Brooklyn, New York.
Forecasters were expecting many areas of the East Coast to be hit with over a foot of snow as a winter storm created blizzard conditions from the Midwest to the East Coast.