1888 was a cold year in the eastern half of he United States. The Great Blizzard of '88, or the Great White Hurricane in March 1888 was one of the most severe recorded blizzards in American history. The storm paralyzed the East Coast as well as the Atlantic provinces of Canada. Snow fell from 10 to 58 inches in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and sustained winds of more than 45 miles per hour produced snowdrifts in excess of 50 feet. Railroads were shut down and people were confined to their homes for up to a week. Railway and telegraph lines were disabled, and this provided the impetus to move these pieces of infrastructure underground. The winter leading up to the Blizzard had been quite cold with one bitter blast after another. The summer of 1888 returned to more normal temperatures especially in the southern states with usual bouts of heat and humidity. But on September 24, 1888 a sever frost struck South Carolina, Georgia and even reached into northern Florida effectively putting an end to the growing season at least a month and a half early.

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