Feet of snow, howling winds, and frigid temperatures: We’re approaching the 27th anniversary of one of the largest snowstorms on record for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

What You Need To Know

  • The Blizzard of 1996 paralyzed the Mid-Atlantic with feet of snow

  • Unseasonably warm weather that followed led to major river flooding

  • The winter storm was one of the deadliest and costliest on record

A classic nor’easter, the storm originated in the Southeast, gathering moisture from the nearby Gulf of Mexico. With high pressure anchored over Canada, this moisture encountered a wall of cold, arctic air as it moved north.

Snow would break out across parts of the Mid-South on Jan. 6, with places like Asheville and Greensboro, N.C. picking up nearly a foot of fresh powder.

Farther east, even cities like Charlotte and Raleigh got in on the action, receiving several inches of snow on top of an icy glaze of sleet and freezing rain.

As the area of low pressure intensified, strong winds accompanied the heavy snow. Winds gusted over 60 mph in parts of New Jersey, leading to blinding, whiteout conditions.

New York City recorded just over 20 inches of new snow, their fourth-largest snowfall in over a century. Nearby areas like Newark, N.J. saw as much as 30 inches.

Spectrum News Chief Meteorologist John Davitt was just beginning his career as a professional forecaster in NYC.

“The Blizzard of 1996 will always be a source of strong memories for me,” said Davitt. “The blizzard shut down the city completely. There was no way the plows could keep up. The image that sticks in my mind was New Yorkers literally cross-country skiing in Times Square.”

A New York Metropolitan Transit Authority bus drives past piles of snow along Avenue of the Americas in New York Monday, Jan. 8, 1996. (Richard Drew/AP)

To add insult to injury, record rainfall and unseasonably warm weather would follow the storm, leading to rapid snowmelt across the region. Major flooding, not seen in decades, would ensue.

Flooding on the Allegheny River Wharf in downtown Pittsburgh leaves some cars parked Friday morning by commuters underwater late Friday afternoon Jan. 19, 1996, as the river rises from the combined effect of melting snow and rain. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

"After the storm, we had a fast warmup, and we went from worrying about a blizzard to dealing with flooding from the rapidly melting snow," Davitt recalled. "The snow became so heavy from the rain and warmup that some roofs collapsed."

Over 150 people lost their lives in the winter storm, one of the deadliest in U.S. history. An additional 33 people lost their lives in the flooding that would follow.

The blizzard also caused billions of dollars in damage, ranking the snowstorm as one of the costliest. The storm became just one of two, joining the Superstorm of 1993, which received a rating of 5, the highest category, on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS).

"Since the Blizzard of '96, other storms have brought more snow to the Big Apple," said Davitt. "But this is the one that I'll remember forever."

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