I read in the paper this morning that most of the United States had the warmest Winter in the 130 years of Weather Service records. Signs of Spring including tree budding, flower emergence, general greening, emergence of insects, and some bird migrations have been a month earlier than any of the previous 20 years. Scientists blame accelerating climate change with North America leading warming trends globally and a strong Pacific El Niño system.
But it was not always so.
The track of the Great Blizzard was similar to that of hurricanes that reach the northeast coast.
On March 11 the Great Blizzard of 1888—the worst and most devastating snow storm in American history—began. The East Coast was enjoying unseasonably warm and pleasant weather when heavy rain began moving in from the Atlantic. Shortly after midnight on the 11th temperatures plummeted and the rain turned to snow.
Snow lasted through the next three days as band after band pelted states from Virginia to Maine. The heaviest snow fell in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. More than 50 inches fell across a wide region and sustained winds of more than 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 80, piled up drifts more than thirty feet high, burying homes and shops.
In New England because of the gale force winds and the track of the center of the storm over the coastal Atlantic they called it the White Hurricane.
Everything ground to a halt. It took more than a week to dig out most cities—a job that had to literally be done by hand. Temperatures were in the single digits by day and colder by night.
At least 400 people died ashore and about 100 sailors were killed when more than 200 ships ran aground or wrecked. With fire departments unable to respond, fires burned uncontrolled in several cities. When the storm finally passed and spring weather started melting the snow, flooding was widespread and devastating.
Aren’t you glad you missed it?
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