Worst Snowstorms in New England History
From nor’easters to Alberta clippers, New England is used to getting plenty of wintery weather visitors. Its worst snowstorms, though, are ones for the record books.
By Yankee Staff|Feb 03 2022|
New Haven, Connecticut, after the Blizzard of 1888
Credit: Yankee archives/New Haven Colony Historical SocietySnow in New England can yield the romance of a Currier & Ives print, wrapping our centuries-old homes and historical town centers in a soft mantle of white. But when winter weather really ratchets up New England — sitting as it does next door to the Atlantic Ocean, which often fuels the worst snowstorms — those Christmas card scenes give way to Snowmageddon. Snowpocalypse. Snowzilla.
Though any Minnesotan or Alaskan would argue that New England doesn’t have a monopoly on snow woes, the Northeast is so densely populated it can magnify many times over the effect of the worst snowstorms. In fact, U.S. meteorologists’ efforts to measure the intensity of winter storms — as we do with earthquakes and hurricanes — began in 2006 with the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS). The Northeast, stretching from Virginia to New England, was chosen specifically because it has so many people living in the path of any given storm.
That said, it still can be tricky to put the worst snowstorms in New England history into perspective. Timing, temperature, wind speeds, storm surge — they all have a role to play in determining which winter storms packed the biggest punch. But maybe one of the best indicators is the “lived through it” pride flaunted by hardy New Englanders: Look around when you drive in Massachusetts, for instance, and you just might spy an old “I Survived the Blizzard of ’78” bumper sticker.
Worst Snowstorms in New England History
Credit: Via Internet Archive Book Images
“The Great Snow” (1717)
Though official records are scant and there’s no clear death toll, this pre-Revolutionary War storm was undoubtedly a monster. It was actually a series of storms over roughly nine days in February and March that dumped five-plus feet of snow on the New York and New England colonies. In writing about the storm for The New Yorker, Harvard historian Jill Lepore notes that it caused 16-foot drifts in Connecticut, buried 1,100 sheep on Long Island, and forced some New Hampshire homeowners to exit via second-story windows (it also inspired some Bostonians to get around on stilts). The lack of modern snow-removal methods meant that much of the roads in the Northeast were left impassable for nearly two weeks. In the meantime, locals dug tunnels that allowed them to at least get from house to house, or to the town square.
Blizzard of 1888
Credit: Yankee archives/New Haven Colony Historical Society
The granddaddy of New England’s worst snowstorms was a nor’easter that punished the whole of the seaboard from New England to the Chesapeake Bay for two days in March. The toll it took is staggering: More than 400 people died, including more than 100 at sea (with winds reaching 85 mph, some 200 ships were lost in the storm). Connecticut and Massachusetts got the brunt of the snowfall, with around 50 inches, while New York City, with its crowded tenements, saw the highest number of deaths, at about 200 (among those who survived: Mark Twain, who was visiting the city and spent several days stranded at his hotel). However, the blizzard did teach city planners some vital lessons, such as the need to bury utility lines and the advantages of subways over elevated trains.
See More: Remembering the Blizzard of 1888 | Yankee Classic
Blizzard of ’78
Credit: Jim McDevitt/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Though other storms were bigger or caused more damage, the Blizzard of ’78 may loom largest in New Englanders’ collective memory of the worst snowstorms to hit our region. The timing (February 6-7) could not have been worse on all counts. It came on the heels of a January blizzard that had already dropped as much as 21 inches of snow. It developed during a new moon, resulting in unusually large high tides that would wreak havoc on coastal communities. Finally, its snowfall began piling up in earnest in the afternoon, stranding many people between work or school and home (the photos of 3,500 cars and trucks stuck on Route 128 outside Boston that day are unforgettable). Add to that, winds that gusted to nearly 100 mph and a load of snow that topped 40 inches in the hardest-hit areas, and the blizzard’s path to infamy was set. Some 54 New Englanders died in the storm, which also destroyed historical landmarks including the Outermost House on Cape Cod and Motif #1 in Rockport (the latter has since been rebuilt).
See More: The Blizzard of ’78 | New England by the Numbers
“Storm of the Century” (1993)
Credit: NOAAVisualizations via YouTube
The Blizzard of ’78 was often called the “Storm of the Century” until this March superstorm came along. Its ferocity was record-breaking: Affecting more than two dozen states and much of eastern Canada, it ranks as the costliest U.S. winter storm ($9 billion) and the highest-impact modern-day snowstorm in the Northeast (according to NESIS). Popular Mechanics’s John Galvin described the storm as “three days of crippling snow, whirling seas, coastal flooding, blizzards, tornadoes, and bone-chilling cold” and called the amount of snow and rain that it dropped — 44 million acre-feet — “almost biblical.” It knocked out power to some 10 million people and shut down every major airport on the East Coast (a first). But while New England did have to dig out from 15 inches to two feet of snow and suffer through widespread power outages, it got off lightly compared to the South and Mid-Atlantic, where most of the 300-plus fatalities occurred.
April Fool’s Day Storm (1997)
Credit: Paul-W via Flickr
The city of Boston had already taken the plows off its street-clearing equipment by the time this surprise storm hit, burying southern New England in more than two feet of snow between March 31 and April 1. At its most intense, the storm — one of the biggest late-season snowstorms the region had ever seen — was dropping three inches of wet, heavy snow an hour. Winds kicked up to near hurricane force, and among the casualties was the venerable USS Constitution, which lost part of its foremast. Commuter trolleys in Boston were briefly closed for the first time in nearly two decades, and at Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum, more than 100 trees were so damaged by the storm that they were subsequently removed. There were three deaths in Massachusetts and Rhode Island as a result of the storm, all heart attacks suffered by people shoveling the wet, heavy snow.
Presidents’ Day Storm (2003)
This powerful, slow-moving nor’easter struck the East Coast from Washington, D.C., to Boston from February 14 to 19, blanketing the cities and towns in its path with 15 to 30 inches of snow. Though its impact on New England pales in comparison to, say that of the Blizzard of ’78, the storm did set the all-time record (since modern record-keeping began in 1892) for the highest snowfall measured in Boston, as well as the most snowfall in the city in a 24-hour period: 27.5 inches.
Winter Storm Nemo (2013)
Credit: Sgt. Evan V. Lane/U.S. Army
Two storms over the Northeast converged to trigger this February 8–9 storm that pummeled southern New England and Maine and dumped some of the greatest snowfall accumulations on the region since the Blizzard of 1888. Connecticut was particularly hard-hit: At the blizzard’s height, snow was falling at four to five inches an hour. (Hamden, just north of New Haven, got a total of 40 inches, the most of any city in the storm’s path.) In Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick issued a statewide travel ban for the first time since the Blizzard of ’78; similar bans were also issued in Rhode Island and Connecticut. More than a dozen deaths in the Northeast and Canada were blamed on the storm.
Winter Storm Juno (2015)
Credit: Corey Templeton Photography/Portland Daily Photo
Originally forecast to strike at New York City, this snowstorm instead brought blizzard conditions to parts of New York and much of New England on January 26 and 27. The Bay State was hit hardest, especially Nantucket, which saw hurricane-force winds and severe flooding and lost power for most of a day — the local police chief told The Boston Globe it was the worst storm he had seen in his 10 years on the island. Inland, Worcester saw a record-breaking 34.5 inches of snow, making Juno the city’s largest snowstorm on record. (The Massachusetts towns of Auburn, Hudson, Lunenburg, and Westford had even more digging out to do, with all reporting 36 inches of snow.) Elsewhere, the tall ship Providence, a 110-foot replica of the vessel used by John Paul Jones in the late 1700s, was knocked off its dry-dock berth in Newport, Rhode Island, tearing a hole in the hull and damaging the mast and eight spars.
Have you lived through one of New England’s worst snowstorms? Tell us about it!
This post was first published in 2018 and has been updated.
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1978 snowstorm. I am a nurse and was scheduled to work 7pm=7am in a hospital in Norwich Connecticut. My husband put cement blocks in the trunk of my car and I followed the state snowplows in. Like the rest of the staff I worked a 12 hour shift 7am-7pm that night. Today 12 hour shifts are common but not with a blizzard to contend with.
The photo of New Haven in 1888 is the ” polar”( ha ha) opposite of our current situation in Boston. Back then,it seems they shoveled it all into the street- if you try that now you will risk censure.The street is now hallowed ground; in fact,snow from the street is regularly dumped on the sidewalk,from where we are compelled to futher remove it.That’s progress.By the way a true Yankee,risking bad taste,would call these the BEST storms in new england history.
I was living south of Portland, Maine in 1978 – near Saco. After the storm I remember driving to Boston and cross country skiing to a friend’s house since the streets were impassable. Not sure where I parked!! Then – the flooding at my small house in Ocean Park was immense once the snow melted.
1978 the governor declared a state wide emergency in Mass but western Mass didn’t need it. Schools closed for no reason!
I lived in Providence in 1978. I watched as doctors went to see patients on cross country skis. My car was literally buried in snow and we had run out of oil, so no heat as well. So I packed a small suitcase, headed out on foot toward the train station. I hitched a ride on the back of a army truck filled with National Guardsmen and they dropped me off at the Capitol. I walked over to train station and being the first day the trains were running, I stood for the entire trip to NYC. I also remember the kindness and how so many were willing to help others under such difficult circumstances.
I was stuck at work at Rhode Island Hospital for 5 days during the Blizzard of ’78. I worked 68 hours in 4 days and was finally sent home on the 5th day. My room mate had made it home the night of the Blizzard. She was stuck on Route 117 near the entrance of our apartment complex from 2:30 PM until she finally abandoned her car about 9:30 PM and walked the distance to our apartment with nothing on her feet but pumps and pantie hose. Her fiance had decided not to try to get home and was waiting for her there. He taught at Warwick Vet’s and decided the drive to Narragansett was too risky. When I finally got home my roomie was thrilled to have another person to talk to but I immediately went to sleep for 6 hours, being so exhausted from all the hours I worked. Back at RIH we had managed our shifts around available staff and patient needs. A couple of parents were stranded and spent the time with us. We had a laundry facility in the unit where I worked and soon staff from the entire 759 bed hospital was sending laundry so they would have fresh uniforms. I remember one of the pediatricians coming in from the East Side using skis. Another physician, a resident, made it in from Barrington. We asked him why he did that (it was only day 2 of the blizzard) and he noted that in addition to their 2 small children his wife had found out she was having twins. “I had to come in. She’s gonna kill me!” he laughed. Those twins are now almost 40 years old! The physician is still working as one of RI’s top orthopedic physicians. When we finally had some down time and worked a regular 8 hour shift we gathered in the Auditorium to watch movies. A Seabee headed for Boston was carrying about half a dozen reels of recent movies, such as Earthquake. They were shown 24-7 in the Auditorium. Being a large hospital near I-95 many people had sought shelter with us. I’ve never forgotten the sight of people sleeping on and under tables in the cafeteria, in the lobby, in the hall that connected the pediatric building to the main building, and pretty much anywhere they could find enough space to lay down. I never heard an official count of how many people were there but some estimates were in the low thousands. The sight of the paralyzed interstate from the 11th floor of the Ambulatory Center was incredible. Some cars were simply mounds under snow. Tractor trailers were stranded along side box trucks, cars, delivery vehicles, you name it. There were some laughs and some OMG moments like when I saw the bumper and license plate of my car on the national news. Best of all was the hyperactive child we had as a patient. He had a full-time attendant with him but that had not stopped him from pulling the fire alarms because he loved firetrucks. The Providence Fire Department had made several visits to us only to find out that the patient pulled the fire alarm. During the blizzard he got to it and pulled it again. Shortly after the phone rang. It was the PFD. “Please tell us that was our little friend again because we aren’t sure we can even navigate our way in!” said the captain. We still laugh about the events during the blizzard, and how ti changed us from a state that ignored snow warnings because we had been fooled so often. Now if they forecast an inch of snow everyone is out buying milk and bread. I think a lot of other New Englanders do the same thing!
I took a bus from Pawtucket, RI to downtown Providence just as the snow started falling in Feb. 1978. I ended up getting off the bus at 10 PM where a group of us were invited into a bank to spend the night. Walked back to Pawtucket the next day on top of snowmobile tracks (and car roofs!). Had to literally roll down my side street to get to my apartment door as walking in the 4 – 5 feet of snow was impossible.
I lived in the North End of Boston, MA on Charter St. and I worked on Newbury St. between Clarendon and Dartmouth Sts., to which I walked from my apartment to work during the Blizzard of 78. I mailed a letter to a cousin in Lowell, MA on 2/6/78 and she never received it! My best friend lived right around the corner from me on Snelling Place, which is an alley off Hull St., across the street from the Old North Church. My mother, God Bless Her!, taught me to always have adequate food in the house. She was one of 6 children and helped her mother cook for the family as soon as she was old enough because so much food preparation was involved feeding a family of 8 every day. I shopped regularly at the Stop and Shop store on Cambridge St., which was their original, and only at that time, Stop and Shop store location. It is now Whole Foods. When I was able to drive I drove to another Stop and Shop store in Somerville because the prices in the Somerville store were much cheaper than the Cambridge St. store and it was very close to my apartment. I “decided” at Christmas-time to buy a frozen Goose at the Cambridge St. Stop and Shop store to keep in the freezer because I was an adventurous eater and had never had Goose. I always loved to bake, so I had plenty of baking supplies on hand, too. I always kept at least a half gallon container of ice cream in my freezer, too, which came in handy! I bought a lot of fresh produce in the produce markets in the North End frequently (a lot of them were still open on my way home from work!) and there was literally a bakery on every corner for fresh bread, pan pizza, gorgeous Italian pastries and cookies, etc. I went “regular grocery shopping” every week at least once, so I had plenty of everything. I always had at least a couple of cans of tuna and other handy canned goods in case of an emergency! My mother went shopping with me for “staples” when I moved into that apartment, too. My friend and neighbor had a friend who lived in the Harbor Towers apartments on Atlantic Ave.. He always kept champagne in his apartment and it wasn’t too difficult for him to walk to our apartments…soo I roasted the Goose (talk about “a cooked Goose”!!!!!!), which I really didn’t care for. It was very strong tasting to me. I have always loved duck but that was a little too intense for my palate! I even had enough eggs to bake, so we even had dessert (while most other people I have heard were attempting to survive on canned goods). I remember vividly watching Governor Mike Dukakis on TV wearing his turtlenecks! He was an avid Filene’s Basement shopper (they made commission in the mens’ suits department!) and dressed impecably “for his regular work”! When I was starting to run low on perishables (eggs and milk) I was able to walk to the Cambridge St. Stop and Shop as long as I didn’t buy stuff that was too heavy to carry. There was a homeless man who was always in the subway Park St., especially, stations whistling Yankee Doodle. That’s what we called him. He took the subway trains incessantly and he was literally everywhere whistling Yankee Doodle. He was on the street near that Stop and Shop store whistling Yankee Doodle during the Blizzard of 78. I couldn’t believe it! My “Blizzard of 78 story” is probably better than most!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry,but the stop&shop on cambridge street was certainly not their first location,nor was it ever their only location. They began in 1948, when Economy Supermarkets renamed their 86 existing stores. They also started Bradlees and Medi Mart,the latter of which sold out to Wallgreens.The Cambridge street Stop & Shop was in Charles River Plaza,which was built in the 60’s.
Sorry, Zofia, I was given that, apparently, incorrect Stop and Shop information by a long-term employee of that company who worked in their in-house advertising department. I believe you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those were interesting times. Living in Pembroke , i was called up to Active Duty at Hull CG station. Not having a 4 wheel drive , i used next best thing, Jawa 350 with sidecar. To stations surprise , i got there b4 most others. The next 5 days all i remember is being wet cold help folks, dogs out of flood houses in Hull. I think i lots 10lbs easily just Shivering . That cemented my resolve Never to live on beach front unless in travel trailer – so i can leave EARLY. Now living in Houston TX I’m very aware of Elevation of property . Snow can make a week miserable But Flooding take months out of ur life.
We moved to Conroe Texas. In 1970 coming down from Ohio. We going to buy a house in a low lying area but the loan fell through (my Dad was a 30 year vet), we found a nice place three miles north of town called sunset ridge. It’s never once got high water. You have my condolences over the flooding.
We lived in a 4 apartment complex during the Blizzard of ’78 with room for four vehicles to park in the back. After the storm, there was no traffic for a week, the roads having to be shut down to only emergency vehicles. We couldn’t see the vehicles in back, one of which was a full size pick up. The landlord ploud the driveway but we had to shovel around our own vehicles. It took a week to get out. Our son,who was tree at the time, was psyched about all that snow. We have pictures of him standing on top of what looks like a snow bank but was really the top of the car.
Rob, my husband grew up in Hull and served in Department of the Navy of the United States of America from 11/6/73-11/5/79. He was a Gunners Mate aboard USS Robison and attained SN rank. He was in the Gulf of Tonkin when Saigon fell and wasn’t allowed (by Presidential and Congressional orders) to leave there when his active duty was “officially over”. It was 120 degrees F most of the time. He was also all over the South China Sea and in Guam. He said Guam was the hottest place he ever served. He was forced to command his ship when its Captain panicked in a Typhoon with 35 foot waves. His father always had boats and he was very sea-savvy. He told me it was “standard operating procedure” to send ships out to sea in Typhoons so they don’t get smashed into oblivion in port! He was dry docked in Subic Bay, Philippines, also, for ship repairs. His shipmates and he were allowed 2 1/2 weeks R&R there and he really had fun there. He said it was very hot there, too. I have his DD 214 and I calculated his Foreign and Sea Service as 67% of his active duty time. He wasn’t allowed to take 13 1/2 days leave because they needed him, so they had to pay him for that unused leave time. He was also allowed 10 days “travel time” between his active duty and reserve time (3 years required). He was stationed in San Diego, which he really loved. He rented an apartment with a Navy guy and they had a sports car (a Hemi cuda!) and a Triumph, I think it was, motorcycle. I am very familiar with the Coast Guard Station at the Hull Gut, as a matter of fact. His father waited until 10/15 (the last day) to “pull his boat out of the water” that was docked at a Hull marina for the season in very rough seas and he came close to drowning while I was standing there watching the whole thing. We had several small fun boats, too. The first during our marriage was a Boston Whaler 14′ skiff that got us soaked regularly! The Boston Whaler factory was still in Rockland, MA when I met him and he took me there! During time off from my job celebrating July 4th that year he had me sit in the bow facing him while he was driving the boat and decided to see what would happen to me if he “gunned it” there (with 3′ swells!). I came off the teak seat (spare wood we had from the guy we bought our home from) and broke it in half with the force of making contact with it. I didn’t weigh very much then, either!!!!!!!!!!!! It was “an interesting experience” I will never forget!!!!!!!!!!!!
Winter storms do not have names (“Nemo”, “Juno”) that is a ploy of the Weather Channel to get points I guess. Meterologists do not name winter storms. There is good reason for this – where do you draw the line? There was a storm last year that the weather channel put a name to and storm only dropped 3″ of snow. Do we start naming April showers? Drop the name thing. It’s ok for hurricanes but weather is weather – deal with it.
Too many kids prayed for no school. I was 16 and going to a private Catholic school the nuns gave us a choice-forget February vacation or double the work (the option we chose). I don’t know why public schools don’t give the same option…at least for the upper grades.
Having attended a private Catholic school, in retrospect your experience is rather in tune to the thinking of “some” nuns. Now? I tend to psycho- analyze and wonder “what the hell were they thinking?” Compared to current “days off” due to safety conditions, they (the nuns) most likely had feet(minimal distance) to walk to the classroom, while the students were akin to the characters in A Christmas Story….God how I’m glad that short-sighted thinking has changed….I think:)
I thought the blizzard of “78” was 3 storms converging on Mass. at once… doesn’t really matter….never again…LOVING tiki bars and HIGHS 73-92 all year… Pictures of pretty leaves on my lanai while sitting in my floating lounge chair…
I moved to the West Coast the summer following the Blizzard of ’78. Moved back to New England in ’90–experienced the Storm of the Century in ’93. Moved again in ’96–this time in a southern direction. I can take a hint! lol! Mother Nature can deliver a real wallop when she wants to! Visits to my extended family take place in summer or fall–I appreciate the beauty of winter from afar these days.
Wasn’t there another big blizzard in ‘68-‘69? They said nobody on the roads unless you had to be. Had a heck of a time shoveling, just me and my sisters. We managed a tunnel to the street, but you had to walk to the corner store. It made for great sledding and skiing in the neighborhood, though. We lived on a cross street in Dorchester, between two streets that had great hills.Boston probably had too many wicked snowstorms to count. When I got married, we were tranferred to Virginia. Thought it would be warm; ha! We got snowed in our first winter!
Yes, A few giant crippling snowstorms late Jan, into February I think. I was in college, and student teaching in Brookline. School was closed for days, and people were skiing to get to the few places open. It hit most of coastal New England as far north as Portland.
There were two major blizzards in February 1969. I was a sophmore in high school (Haverhill, MA) and between the two major storms, a flu epidemic, and a scheduled vacation week off , I’m not sure I went to school that month. The NOAA web site ranks the second storm as #1(over the storm of the century) in northern Mass/southern NH.
I was stationed in Quonset Point, RI during the February 1969 blizzards. All this FL kid could think about was when does it stop? And how I longed for the warm sunshine back home!
Yes. I was a kid in Portland, CT during the late 60’s and remember whopper snowstorms and blizzards moving up the Connecticut river. Our driveway was like a tunnel. I love winters here.
The numbers for the Blizzard of 78 in RI always give the inland totals. Those of us on the coast got a lot more than the inland areas. I can remember the utter silence after the storm passed. No cars, no power no nothing! Great time for a high school senior.
I was a Senior in HS in Portland ME. That was BRUTAL and they didn’t have any place to put the snow. We ended up with 2 weeks OFF from school (Portland High is in the city itself) and had to give up our Spring Vacation. That was simply wild!
I was also a senior. We lived in Pawcatuck, CT, a five-minute walk into Rhode Island. We would find out we didn’t have school the next day, walk into Westerly to get beer, and party all night. We did that Wednesday and Thursday evenings. LOL!!
When the snow began falling in ’78, I was eating at a restaurant with friends in Henniker, NH . When we left to drive approx. 8 miles to one of those friend’s house, a car went through the intersection due to the slippery conditions and slid into our car.There was approx. 4 inches of snowfall at that time. I was in the back seat and that’s where most of the damage was. After impact, I felt like my legs were fractured and glass from the side window embedded in my face. An ambulance was called (no one else was injured) and they transported me to Concord Hospital (NH). I remember as I was in the back of the ambulance, the amount of snow that was falling at that time. Looking back, the ambulance went over and above to drive in those conditions. Visibility was poor to say the least. After waiting for an xray (the hospital was short-staffed due to the snowstorm), they determined that it was severe bruising. I could only walk on crutches. Somehow, a friend that was there throughout the incident was able to pick me up (To this day, I don’t know how he was able to navigate through the storm).
The next day- with limited mobility, I was back in Henniker, NH. I was amazed at the snowfall rate, but at the same time marveled at its beauty. Just one of my memorable events and the first observation of what a storm like that can do in so many respects- not simply my own. So years later,- and with an impending snowstorm here in NH (yes- I moved back some years ago from warm and sunny FL)), I was compelled to write about my experience and personal witness to that brutal storm. I- like many have a tale to tell.
There is no mention of the 1984 storm we had in Vermont. We woke up to 39″ of new snow and unable to get out of our house due to the doors being blocked by the snow. It was 3 days before the plows made it up our dirt road and finally someone was able to shovel their way into our house. If my memory serves me correctly – it was a freak storm with no prediction of us getting that much snow. On the plus side…the skiing was fabulous!!!
I received about 42 inches in CT from Nemo, that’s one storm that will always remain in my memory
What about the freak storm that hit iin October just a few years ago? Trees, power lines down out of power for over a week.
68-69 Christmas eve storm I’ll always remember. First year I ever plowed snow on the highways. Got stuck in an 8ft snow drift around 2oclock Christmas morning and didn’t get unstuck until about 5 am. Started plowing again and it took 3hrs to go 1mi. Finally got home New Years day. Slept for 36 hours straight.
If my memory is right…October 8, 1968 there was atleast 8 inches snow in Shaftsbury, Vermont I would have been 10 years old, and I was home, with the mumps.
I grew up in Moultonboro and went to grades 7-12 at Kingswood in Wolfboro. In my entire school career never once was school called off because of weather, aside from sending us home early a few times. It was 30+ miles away too. Of course back then large dumps of snow were fairly common so we would have missed a lot of time without powering through it. I do well remember having to crawl out an upstairs window a few times when drifts block the front door. Good times.
Hi everyone. I remember a storm that was in the period of 1964-66. At the time we were stationed at DOW AFB in Bangor ME. It started snowing with about eight inches on the ground. It snowed for about twenty-four hours plus. We ended up with seventy plus inches. The storm hit on or about December 29-30th. People all over the base who had been to the various on base clubs and restaurants were stuck overnight. If you have ever been to an Air Force Base there is a check point security gather at all the road entrances. These are small things. Basically the size of a garden shed, with two to three Air Security Policeman standing guard. These poor guys were stranded in those Guard houses for almost an entire night. Although Air Force Bases in cold areas do have sufficient snowplow’s their priority is to clear the runways, and keep them clear, as DOW AFB was a Strategic Air Command base, with its B-52 bombers on constant alert. When I woke up the following morning, my Father, and my cousin and her fiancee who were visiting for the holiday, had managed to clear the walkway from the front door to the side door of the garage. That was about twenty feet, and took four hours steady work. They opened the main garage door to see a drift just six inches shy of the top. At that point my Father called me out to join them handed me the snow shovel and told me to get after it. This was my punishment for going out of my parents second story bedroom window with my red metal dyna-soar snow sled to sled down the huge snowdrift that reached all the way up to their window. Fortunately for me the drift on the garage side of the house only stretched out about halfway down the driveway. Nothing! Besides as a boy in Maine, I earned all my pocket money to by Christmas and birthday presents for my parents, and others. I am sixty-six, and my aluminum snow shovel still hangs on my garage wall here in Texas.
I remember that storm. We lived on Dirago drive across from the elementary school. It took us three days to shovel down to the street. Everyone thinks I exaggerate about the storm but your memory matches mine.
I remember the storm very well. I grew up in the Moosehead Lake area of Maine where we always get more snow than anyone in the state as a rule. We received 12 feet of snow over three days where I lived. Snow plows cannot even keep up with the snow that was coming down and eventually had to stop plowing and some of them got stuck as well. There was so much snow when the storm ended that even the plows could not move the snow. Special equipment used by the Air Force to clean their runways had to be brought to remove the snow. The snowblowers used were enormous in size, Larger than me big graders used in construction. The snow could not be moved because it was so deep in no place to put most of it. It took the Air Force equipment days to be able to blow the roads free of snow.
We were living in Vernon, CT when the Blizzard of ’78 hit (that was also the year when the roof of the Hartford Civic Center collapsed). I was working in Newington, CT, and everyone got to leave work early. My husband was working in Hartford, and I stopped to pick him and a co-worker up. Dropped the co-worker at his house, then husband and I drove home. First thing husband did was put chains on the car, then head to the grocery store. Our oldest daughter was babysitting for neighbors one street over; once the parents arrived home, my husband picked her up and brought her home. Somehow we never lost power, but Governor Grasso issued a driving ban for all but emergency vehicles.
The other memorable storm was the one that hit northern New England on Christmas Day afternoon in 1969; it snowed for 2-1/2 days straight! We were living in Burlington, VT at the time, and our youngest child was only an infant. Only vehicles allowed were emergency ones as well as snowmobiles which at the time were new on the scene ~ people were transported to and from hospitals on them, and owners of such were also pressed into service to deliver medicines and food to shut-ins. So much snow fell that the ski areas couldn’t operate!!! The following June, our family moved to Australia for two years!!
my school bus had a sign up front, inside that said; we survived the winter of 69
I worked in the Mayor’s (Kevin White) Office of Housing at the time and was assigned to the Boston Housing Authority and charged with performing an energy study of public housing units. The data I had collected was used to determine which BHA developments were most in need of oil/fuel to run their furnaces. With that data we had we were able to distribute fuel based on need and with the help of the National Guard able to get fuel where it was most needed. In addition by only running the furnaces from 6 am to 9 am and 4 pm to 8 pm, we kept people comfortable and did not run out of heating fuel. Those of us who were working that week in the basement of City Hall slept on cots that were brought in. It was an interesting time and being an active participant of it, in the city that I love opened my eyes to the amazing citizens of Boston who willing to jump in and assist us in any way that was needed.
I recall many blizzards during my childhood in the 50’s and 60’s in North Central Massachusetts. We lived high up on a hill in an old 18th century farm house. The wind would blow snow through any crack in the old barn and the house would create sounds that were unlike any other type of storm. We were always stranded after these storms until the town grader would come up and plow us out a day later or more.(a plow truck was useless) The last one I recall was the Thanksgiving Day blizzard in 1971. All the relatives perhaps a dozen or more had to spend the night because of the high drifts blocking the the long drive to the house. I myself loved those snowstorms from long ago feeling warm and cozy inside by the fireplace.
With a travel ban in place after the the 1978 Blizzard I felt for sure that I would get ahead completing work on my studies to complete my Master’s Degree within the 1 year goal I had set for myself. Wrong!
Neighbors in the apartment complex visited, a ski patrol buddy skied from quite a distance to just say hi, have lunch and ski home again and a police friend used his professional privilege to travel over during the ban. We all experienced cabin fever during that week of uncertainty.
I learned to ski that winter and joined the Ski Patrol Association making an intention to still be skiing 40 years later on my birthday. I met that goal in March at the age of 72!!
North of NYC we had our first snow fall of the season totaling 4 inches yesterday. I will start today in the warmth of the sun with my newest intention: to be skiing on my birthday in 20 years!!
Having been born and raised in Massachusetts, once a New Englander – always a New Englander!! Think Snow ❄️ ⛄️
I love reading all the comments, I was working an living in Worcester, Ma in 1978 and didn’t get home till 3 days later. Had to stay at work. I had a small VW then took some time to find it. But also remember how people came together.
I have lived through all of the major storms since the blizzard of ‘78 but the most terrifying was 2015. My 67 yer old husband had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and the decision was made to allow him to pass in a familiar home environment at my brothers with the guidance of hospice. The last week of his life we had endured one storm after another until finally all roads were closed for lack of space to put anymore snow. It was a frantic time. Even the undertaker stated he may not be able to retrieve the body and we may have to “preserve” him until they could get vehicles out.
January 27-28 weather brought much anxiety added to the stress of watching a loved one struggle with end of life. He passed on the morning of the 29th just as the roads were clearing. Making the 50 mile trip back home to retrieve his FD uniform was mind boggling as there were walls of snow that looked more like tunnels.
Of all the storms the Blizzard of 78 and the 2015 storms will forever be embedded into memory.
After that came the storms of February 2-3 and 8-9 and 15-16. It wasn’t just that storm but the relentless and endless snowing all the time until late February. Bless you for your tender care and may your husband’s soul be at rest.
I remember the Blizzard of ’78 very well. I was 20 years old, worked in Taunton MA lived in Randolph MA…..Took me over 3 hours to get home in a 1965 Impala with a gas tank held up by rope….I was lucky to make it home.
The April Fools 1997 storm I remember, because it starter the night of March 31st. At that time I was in Derry NH, and was on my way to a Town Council meeting (I was on the Council at the time) couldn’t get up a hill, had to turn around and go home.
Not a blizzard. but I remember a quick 12 inches of Snow on May 10 1977, was buying a car that day, the sight of snow on the Green Leaves was pretty unusual.
Finally, the Halloween Storm in 2011 (I was in Epping NH by then, where I live now), that was quite the storm as well, especially because of the earliness in the season. Ironically, I remember the winter of 2011-12 was NOT snow at all, though quite cold.
This year 2019-20 feels like no winter at all!
I remember that weird May snowstorm. All of the trees had leafed out, which caused extensive tree and limb damage. The clean-up was a boon to my brother’s new landscaping endeavor.
what about the storm in Boston around 1960 that shut down the mbta and I had to walk through the snow from appleton St to South station to the A&P Tea co. to work. It was a mess high drifts ect. I was only 5’2″ and had to man the phones at work.
Doris, I was in southern NH for that one living in a cottage high on a hill. Between the snowfall and the wind effect both front and rear dorrs were sealed shut so I had to jump off a second story porch roof and wade around to shovel out the door. I then waded down to the highway and caught a ride with an 18 wheeler to high school. NH never had any snow days unlike to day in Massachusetts when two inches causes shutdowns … bless the lawyers and those happy to sue.
I had on class in the afternoon at Andover Newton Theological School, my usual route was 128 from Quincy. Watched the weather on Channel 4 (Bruce the weatherman) said it was going to be big. I decided to stay home and skip class, glad I did, would have been stuck at school or 128
I was living in Worcester,MA. at the time of the Blizzard of ’78. The front of our split level ranch home was buried in snow up to the roof and you could actually see grass in the backyard ! I’ve never been through anything like that storm in the 50 years that I’ve lived in New England.
I was a senior in high school in 78. What struck me was how bad Aquidneck Island was hit but the news was all about Providence. I remember standing outside at night and listened to how quiet it was because nothing was moving.
The storm of October 4, 1987 in Western Massachusetts and Eastern New York was a very scary and destructive storm. We all went to bed Saturday night with a nice October evening. We woke to a major snowstorm that caused much destruction, lost electricity for days and several lives were lost. The beautiful foliage that fall was still on the trees. It took weeks to get back to normal and it wasn’t even close to winter yet!
Please refrain from using the ridiculous names of winter storms. They are simply a cheap marketing tool of the Weather Channel.
Gary, these storms have been named long before the weather channel was even thought of
Never saw any name for a snowstorm until recent years, pushed by the Weather Channel. Happy to see that the Boston station I watched during last weekend’s storm refrained from naming it anything but a blizzard.
Possibly you are thinking of hurricanes, winter storms and not named by the NWS.
I must agree with you Gary about the ridiculous naming of winter storms by the Weather Channel. They definitely hype their forecasts with antics of all sorts.
You left out the very well predicted, but still highest snowfall of all time storm in Boston in late January of 2005.
That said, the period between 2003 and 2018 was one of the snowiest of all time, mostly due to the increasing polar vortexes due to heat disturbances in the arctic. Snow is now an intense episodic phenomenon. My sons were born in the late 90s and they relate to the Decemberist’s January Hymn line of “how we lived a childhood in snow, and all our teens in tow, stuffed in a strata of clothes”.
My 50th birthday was March 31, 1997 and my husband decided to surprise me with a special lunch at the hotel next door to where we both worked in Springfield MA. When we arrived and were led to our table, there was my sister who had taken the train in from NYC where she lived and my 2 brothers who each drove in from Eastern MA! I was shocked and delighted and we all had a wonderful lunch together. When it was time for them all to leave, The “April Fool’s Day” storm of 1997 had begun and they each had a 1-1/2 to 2 hour journey home!!! I couldn’t wait to hear from each of them saying they made it home safely … and they did!!!
I was 12 in 1978 and only remember how fun the storm was, but as an adult and living in Lunenburg, the hardest I remember was 2015 with 3 back to back storms with around 1-3′ of snow per storm. Not listed was the Ice storm…I think it was in 2009. Folks were without power for weeks and the National Guard was called in to clear streets. Having said and read all that, we still live in the best, beautiful and safest part of the USA!
The 2011 storm was the worst for us. Here in East Longmeadow, my particular neighborhood was without power from 5:00 p.m. Saturday until 4:30 p.m. the following Saturday. We dragged a mattress to the basement where it was somewhat warmer. The 1978 blizzard was also quite a storm. I was teaching across the state line in Enfield, CT at the time. The governor of CT closed the state for three days so they could clean up the roads sufficiently for safe travel.
I have vivid memories of the nor’easter that hit the mid-Atlantic region from Washington, DC to New England during the first week of December 2003. I was travelling from Washington to Boston for a medical convention and, with all the planes grounded, was forced to take a train. The trip, which typically took six hours took 13 hours that day, arriving in Boston well after midnight. When I arrived, the city was deserted and the severe snow fall blocked the streets in every direction. Four of us who were looking for transportation to our various hotels across the city were able to find a lone taxi driver who, after much urging, took all of us, with me being the last drop off since I helped him plan his route across the city (and gave him a tip worthy of his gracious service). Unfortunately, I was forced to cancel a scheduled a trip at the end of the meeting to see my elderly mother who lived 40 minutes northwest of the city. We spoke and planned another visit for the spring. Sadly, my mother suffered a debilitating stroke shortly after that. She lived until June, and I spent time with her in the spring, but she never spoke again. And I have never forgotten that brutal storm.
Just occurred to me that I have shoveled out after every New England snowstorm from the age of 8 in March 1956 to this past winter of 2021-22. Seems hard to believe but I recall all the major ones as well as many of the now less-celebrated.
Do you remember the winter 66-67? I was born early February 67. My parents are gone now but I remember I was born in a blizzard they said . New Bedford. I’ve looked it up and it seems there was already snow from late January . Thank you for any information from you and anyone that reads this.
How does the Ice Storm of ’98 not fit in here? I am not trying to be snobby/a know it all and I do apologize if I am coming off as that. I am legit curious as to the criteria that was used in naming the worst snowstorms in New England history. I think I might have answered my own question given the fact that it was an ice storm and not a snowstorm but I’m still curious.
These are all worthy storms are note. You forgot two storms in February of 1969 which brought over four feet of snow to the Boston area. A third storm at the very end of the month brought another foot and a half to the region. It may have been the snowiest month in history. Additionally, I lived in Central Maine for nearly 40 years. Storms of this magnitude were fairly common. This is a Southern New England survey.
I was stationed at NAS South Weymouth and living in Navy Housing Squantum Gardens in Quincy. I was working on my Master’s Degree at the University of Rhode Island. I was at the main Boston Library when we were told the Library was closing early. I made it home, but it was a week before we could get back to work. It was quite the experience I would rather not experience again. Oh, the high tide, flooded our housing complex.