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There's a wind advisory in effect until 5 o'clock this afternoon. Brisk weather has returned! It should get a little bit cooler each day through Thursday. Cooler than normal by Wednesday. Snow sneaks back into the picture late-Friday or Saturday. Not much, just a slight chance of snow showers, but snow has been so rare this winter that Gothamist thought we should mention it.
Today is the 28th anniversary of one of the most memorable snowstorms ever to strike the Northeast. The Blizzard of '78 was a hurricane strength nor'easter that paralyzed the east coast from Delaware to Maine. The storm's winds were clocked at 86 m.p.h. with gusts to 111 m.p.h. Central Park received 18 inches of snow. City schools were closed (there would not be a weather-related closing until the 1996 blizzard). I-95 was shut down. Several drivers on Route 128 around Boston asphyxiated when snow blocked their car tailpipes. Northern Rhode Island had 50 inches of snow and drifts reached 15 feet in height. The blizzard followed close on the heels of the Great Blizzard of January 25-27, a storm of similar magnitude that struck Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Michigan and especially Ohio. If you were a kid in central or western New York at the time you'll remember the Great Blizzard as the Phantom Blizzard as the storm took a last-minute, unexpected northward turn.
How does the Blizzard of '78 compare to the Blizzard of '96? Up until recently there hasn't been a shorthanded was of comparing storms. Last week, however, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), parent agency to the Weather Service released a new Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale, or NESIS. The NESIS rates storms after the fact based on meteorological conditions and population affected by the snowfall. The five categories of storm are Notable, Significant, Majore, Crippling and Extreme. The 1978 storm only rates as a Major storm. 1996 is one of only two storms to receive the Extreme label, the other being the even higher impact March 1993 blizzard.
Brooklyn under snow in 1978 by Bina Hyman, as found on the Digital Snow Museum
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loving the walk down Blizzard of 78 memory lane - walked a couple of miles on Rt. 10/Whitney Ave from New Haven to Hamden CT - bus never came - home the next 3 days - and a pic of my father standing on a 5'+ snow drift swinging a golf club.....
Ooh, this is so so awesome. During the 1993 blizzard, I had to hack the ice (3 inches deep!) from our driveway by myself; we missed so much school that not only was our spring break cancelled, our school year was extended!
I remember the 78 blizzard. I was just a little kid and the snow was drifted over my head.