Today is the One Year Anniversary of the East Coast Blizzard | WeatherBug
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Today is the One Year Anniversary of the East Coast Blizzard

January 23, 2017
By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Alexa Maines
One year ago today, a historic blizzard paralyzed the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The storm, nicknamed Snowzilla, blanketed every major Mid-Atlantic and Northeast city with excessive snowfall and gusty winds, virtually shutting down major cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
 
Snow fell between January 22 and January 24, 2016. The blizzard brought wind gusts up to 75 mph and dumped record-breaking amounts of snow on cities like Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York. Here are the highest snowfall totals for each heavily impacted state:
  • Glengary, W.Va.: 42 inches
  • Philomont, Va.: 39 inches
  • Redhouse, Md.: 38 inches
  • Mechanicsburg, Pa.: 36.9 inches
  • Jackson Heights, N.Y.: 34 inches
  • Randolph Township, N.J.: 30.6 inches
  • National Zoo, Washington, D.C.: 22.4 inches
  • Monroe, Conn.: 21 inches
  • Newark, Del.: 19 inches
  • Lawson, Ky.: 19.4 inches
  • Lake Toxaway, N.C.: 16.5 inches
  • West Harwich, Mass.: 15.5 inches
  • Lafayette, Tenn.: 13.5 inches
  • Block Island, R.I.: 13 inches
 
Naturally, the large amount of snow wreaked havoc on travel. At least 48 people died as a result of the snowstorm and most of the deaths occurred due to overexertion from shoveling snow. Here are a few more of the extensive impacts the blizzard had on the Eastern Seaboard:
  • An estimated $3 billion in damages.
  • Since the storm impacted four of the largest cities on the East Coast, roughly 102.8 million people were impacted.
  • More than 10,000 flights had been cancelled, with Philadelphia, Washington Dulles, Washington Reagan National and Baltimore/Washington International airports being completely shut down for multiple days.
  • Travel ban on tunnels and New Jersey bridges into New York City.
  • Public transportation, including multiple New York subway stations and public transportation systems in Philadelphia, Baltimore and the nation’s capital, were shut down.
  • Major highways and roads were impassable due to the snow volume and rate of snowfall, leaving many stranded.
  • More than 250,000 people were left without power, with 100,000 power outages in New Jersey alone.
  • Many coastal locations, including Cape May, N.J., and the Delaware Coast, saw record-breaking storm surge, with water levels surpassing Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Photo: Cars buried under snow in Frederick, Md. (by Sr. Meteorologist, James West)