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

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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

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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

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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

Source: National Snow & Ice Data Center ^*

See also

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• Blizzard
• Nor'easter

1996 | 1996 meteorology | Historic blizzards in the United States