In the decades prior to 1888 there had been no large snowstorm to impact the cities in the area. That all changed starting on March 11, 1888 and reached it’s height on March 13. In what would go down in history as the fabled Blizzard of ’88. The storm was slow to organize on the mid-Atlantic coast with 10” in Philadelphia, then it strengthened rapidly turning into a bomb cyclone. When the snow stopped flying the damage was done; more than 20” in New York 45” in Albany and New Haven Conn. New York City ground to a near halt in the face of massive snow drifts and powerful winds from the storm. At the time, approximately one in every four Americans lived in the area between Washington DC and Boston, more than 400 people perished in the storm. Even though it happened more than 130 years ago it is still the benchmark that all other storms are measured by in the region.

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