The Blizzard of 1888

The worst blizzard in history to hit the eastern United States occurred on March 11th and 12th 1888. This storm wreaked havoc from Maine to New Jersey, with some areas receiving 50 inches of snow.

The greatest snow accumulated in central New England, and the greatest consequence was borne on New York City. About 400 people tragically lost their lives. The storm quickly became known as The Blizzard of 1888 or The Great White Hurricane.

Weather forecasting was inaccurate in 1888. The Blizzard of 1888 was not predicted, and as people went about their normal lives, a massive storm struck without warning. Rain quickly turned to sleet then heavy snow. Trains loaded with passengers were stranded on the tracks. People weary of losing their jobs went to work in defiance of the storm, and a few were frozen to death while attempting to return home. In some rural areas people were stranded in their homes for nearly two weeks.

New York City was slammed by the blizzard. Telegraph lines collapsed due to the weight of ice. Communication was knocked out internally, as well as the long distance lines from from Boston to Philadelphia. Food and fuel was scarce. Before refrigeration, fresh food was brought into the city every day. Transportation of needed food supplies was impacted for several days. People wandered the streets searching for shops that may still have coal so they could heat their homes.

About 35 inches of snow fell on New York City, with seven foot drifts commonplace.The August 1888 issue of New England Magazine describes the storm:: "The blizzard of 12th and 13th of March last is something to be remembered as long as [one] lives by everyone who shared in its unparalleled experiences. The only remnant of consolatory reflection it left behind was that it occurred in the middle of March, instead of middle of January. With the style of weather that made fully three-fourths of the latter month so unpleasantly memorable, there would have been no hopes of clearing up the country for inter-communication until after the bulk of people had died of cold or starvation.Boston itself was not a severe sufferer by this terrible aerial visitor. It was the country around north, east, and west whose experiences filled all minds with the astonishment, and almost appalled one with apprehensions of the willfulness of the elements. New York's case, however, was wholly exceptional and anomalous. It was as much cut off from the continent as if had for the time been towed out into the middle of the Atlantic. Nothing but time, aided by an elevating temperature, was equal to the serious task of effecting its release. The blizzard covered, in its whirl of wind and rain and snow, the entire territory of the eastern United States, and waltzed off into the stormy Atlantic, to hide itself, after the mischief it had done, in the cave of Aeolus [Keeper of the Winds]. The storms since the warm season commenced, also, have been somewhat uncommon in the extent of the electrical disturbance."

The largest cities on the eastern seaboard learned from the Blizzard of 1888. Telegraph lines were placed underground, subways were constructed to replace many surface street car lines, and weather balloons were employed to aid in weather forecasting..