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Blizzard of 1888
An unseasonable and devastating snowstorm struck from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine. The cities of Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and New York City were paralyzed. This The "Nor'easter" dumped 50 inches of snow in Connecticut and Massachusetts while New Jersey and the state of New York had 40 inches. Drifts of 40 to 50 feet high buried houses and trains. From Chesapeake Bay to Nantucket, 200 ships were sunk with 400 lives lost. -
Armistice Day Storm
People of Kansas to western Wisconsin were caught off guard when a raging blizzard plunged temperatures by nearly 60 degrees. These very cold temperatures and snow amounts were very unusual for this early in the season. Up to 26 inches of snow fell in Minnesota, while winds of 50 to 80 mph and heavy snow was common over parts of the states of Wisconsin, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan. -
The Midwest Snow Storm of 1951
A slow moving storm system brought a prolonged period of heavy snow to much of the Midwest. Hardest hit were Missouri and Iowa where snow fell for as long as 92-100 hours. About 27 inches of snow fell at Iowa City. which remains the largest snow storm accumulation in Iowa state history. -
Panhandle Blizzard of 1957
This storm interacted with cold air in place across the Plains states to create a rare spring blizzard across the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. About 10-20 inches of snow fall across the area with reported snow drifts of 15 to 30 feet. Across the Panhandle region 20 percent of the cattle population was lost from this storm. -
The Great Midwest Blizzard
One of the biggest snowstorms on record to strike the Midwest occurred just two days after an extremely rare January tornado outbreak in nearly the same area (January 24). Kalamazoo, Michigan reported 28 inches of snow, Gary, Indiana 24 inches. Chicago recorded its all-time record snowfall with this storm of 23 inches. Winds of 50 mph created drifts to 15 feet. Seventy-six people died, most in the Chicago area. -
The post Christmas storm of 1969
A strong winter storm made its way up the East coast just after Christmas. This resulted in heavy snow accumulations of 2-3 feet across much of upstate New York and up into Vermont with locally higher amounts. -
The 1975 Minnesota Blizzard
This "panhandle hook" storm brought three days of rain, snow, sleet, and freezing rain to the Upper Mississippi River valley. Snow totals were highest across Northern Minnesota, around 2 feet, where little to no rain fell. Duluth, Minnesota received 8 inches of snow, while International Falls, Minnesota broke an all-time snowstorm record with 24.1 inches of snow. Very strong winds created snow drifts up to 20 feet with peak wind gusts to 80 mph. -
The great blizzard of 1978
This blizzard struck Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois, western Pennsylvania and southeast Wisconsin. One to three feet of snow was common throughout this area with 50 to 70 mph winds whipping up 10 to 15 foot drifts. Ohio was hardest hit with 100 mph winds and 25 foot drifts. -
Northern Mississippi Valley Blizzard of 1985
A strong storm system hooking across the central U.S. intensified in early March of 1985, producing heavy snow and extremely high winds across West portions of the great lakes. Hardest hit was Northern portions of Minnesota where around 1 foot of snow fell in a two day period. This intense storm system produced a wind gust to 71 mph at Duluth airport with gusts to 80-90 mph reported. -
Halloween Blizzard of 1991
This was an early season snowstorm that developed across the South plains along a strong cold front. This storm produced an area of 1-2 feet of snow across East Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin. A few areas saw around 3 feet of accumulation across extreme Northeast Minnesota. Duluth, Minnesota set an all record accumulation of 36.9 inches. -
Blizzard of 1996
A major Northeast Snow storm developed in the Gulf of Mexico and tracked through the Southeast U.S. and intensified along the Mid Atlantic coast. A widespread 2-3 feet of snow fell from the Mid Atlantic and into New England with localized 4 foot accumulations into the foot hills of West Virginia. -
The Blizzard of 2005
Snowfall totals ranged from 5 to 13 inches across the Midwest (locally 15 to 16 inches near Lake Michigan) to 8 to locally 37 inches across southern New England. Areas around Boston reported snowfall rates of 3 to 5 inches per hour for a time. One nearby city recorded 7 inches of snow in 75 minutes. -
Late Spring Season Snowstorm
A late season snow storm developed in the Northern Plains along a stationary front in April of 2008. Heavy rainfall occurred across much of Minnesota and Wisconsin. A locally heavier band of snow set up from Ely to Grand Rapids Minnesota where 24-32 inches of snow fell. -
The Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011
This significant winter storm took a nearly direct North track out of Texas, bringing plentiful gulf moisture with it into the western Great Lakes. A strong area of high pressure and cold air mass was already in place across the Midwest. This helped to support widespread snow totals of 1-2 feet across Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois as well as create an intense pressure gradient across the area. Winds gusted to 55-70 mph along the Western shores of Lake Michigan.
