What are the worst blizzards in U.S. history? Here are 5 of them.

Packing fierce winds, bitter cold, and often heavy snow, the blizzard has earned a reputation as the most severe type of winter storm. A number have been powerful and deadly enough to become among the most memorable United States weather disasters.

The National Weather Service defines a blizzard as an event in which strong winds, exceeding 35 miles per hour, coincide with blowing or falling snow to reduce visibility below a quarter mile. This type of storm need not involve monumental snowfall: A ground blizzard, in which already-fallen snow is blown about by strong winds, can happen beneath sunny skies.

Many storms that meet blizzard criteria, though, are powerful behemoths with very low pressure that pull in massive quantities of air. In these storms, the same jets of moving air that allow sustained 35 mile per hour wind also transport plentiful moisture from the south and frigid temperatures from the north. Where the two clash, there is often heavy snowfall, coinciding with bitter cold and howling wind.

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In the Lower 48 states, blizzard conditions occur most frequently in the central and northern Plains. The flat landscape, just east of the Rockies, is ideal for powdery, windswept snow north of developing storms and along powerful cold fronts; a small handful of blizzards occur in this part of the country each year. The Northeast also typically sees a blizzard or two per year, particularly portions bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Here, intense nor’easters often foster heavy snow and powerful winds simultaneously.

The three coexisting hazards make blizzards uniquely dangerous, as people can find themselves stuck outside in cars or on foot in near-zero visibility and accumulating snow without the ability to find shelter. In these conditions, frigid wind chills can lead to frostbite and hypothermia. The storms also can lead to power outages, exposing even those within built structures to dangerous cold or, at the hands of faulty generators, the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Low visibility can also lead to deadly car crashes.

The most severe blizzards in U.S. history have killed dozens, or even hundreds. Here are five of the worst to have struck the country.

How to prepare your home before a blizzard and freezing temperatures

March 12-13, 1993: The Storm of the Century

Often known as the Storm of the Century, the 1993 blizzard saw a low-pressure system strengthen rapidly while racing up the East Coast. The powerful storm dragged a massive shield of snow, accompanied by howling wind and followed by extreme cold, from the Florida panhandle to Maine. Roofs collapsed, ships sank, millions lost power, every major airport on the East Coast shut down, and hundreds of Appalachian hikers were stranded as portions of 15 states saw more than 20 inches of snow.

More than 270 people were killed across fourteen states, including 44 from an ocean surge and severe thunderstorms in Florida; the blizzard caused $11.3 billion of inflation-adjusted damage to become America’s costliest winter storm until the February 2021 cold wave.

Jan. 25-27, 1978: The Cleveland Superbomb

One of the strongest nontropical storm systems in U.S. history explosively intensified over eastern Michigan in 1978. The storm, which had the third lowest pressure recorded in the United States outside of a hurricane, pulled exceptionally cold air into the Midwest and the Ohio Valley with winds that gusted above 80 mph.

Punishing wind chills as low as minus-50 degrees and up to a foot of powdery snow overwhelmed the region; where the Great Lakes were near enough to add moisture to the air, as many as three feet of snow accumulated. Known as the Cleveland Superbomb, the epic storm killed more than 70 people and shut down infrastructure across the region.

Nov. 25-27, 1950: The Great Appalachian Storm

Aside from a small handful of hurricanes, no storm has ever proved as destructive in the Northeast, Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions as the Great Appalachian Storm of 1950. An immense low-pressure zone, powered by a massive dip in the jet stream and blocked from sliding out to sea, took an unusual east-to-west track across the Mid-Atlantic. Extreme cold air spilled toward the cyclone, with temperatures reported below zero as far south as Georgia and Arkansas.

A steep change in pressure over a relatively short distance, because of a high-pressure zone over Southeast Canada, allowed extreme wind to develop, with gusts in excess of 100 mph in Newark; Hartford, Conn.; and Concord, N.H. All of that wind pulled plentiful moisture into the low, leading to flooding rain, destructive icing, and, along the spine of the Appalachians, more than 60 inches of snow. The storm also induced severe coastal flooding and erosion. West Virginia and Ohio set statewide single-storm snowfall records, as did the city of Pittsburgh. More than 350 people may have died, and the storm was the single costliest weather event in U.S. history at the time.

March 11-13, 1888: The Blizzard of 1888

New York and southern New England, hardly strangers to snow, saw their most severe blizzard of record in the late 19th century. A low-pressure area intensified while sliding north along a stalled Mid-Atlantic front, and sustained winds above 50 mph pulled frigid air into the cities of the Northeast. Heavy snow continued to fall for nearly two days as the storm stalled near Long Island. New York City was hit particularly hard; the temperature plummeted as low as 6 degrees, and up to 3 feet of snow fell amid roaring winds and near-zero visibility in the outer boroughs. In Upstate New York and portions of Connecticut, temperatures were even colder, and 45 to 60 inches of snow accumulated.

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The March 1888 blizzard paralyzed the economy and infrastructure of New York City and killed an estimated 200 residents, mostly those caught without shelter as the temperature dropped. Another 100 people died in the Northeast, and 100 more aboard offshore boats, making the storm probably the deadliest blizzard in American history.

Jan. 12, 1888: The Schoolhouse Blizzard (or Children’s Blizzard)

Little snow fell during the first major blizzard of 1888, which struck exactly two months before the crippling March storm in the Northeast. But the few inches of fine, powdery snow that did accumulate were whipped by wind into one of America’s most infamous natural disasters, the Schoolhouse Blizzard.

A powerful cold front roared across the U.S. Plains, accompanied by a brief period of snow that was quickly followed by powerful winds and temperatures as low as minus-30 degrees. Hundreds of children were trapped either at or commuting home from school, and died after becoming disoriented and lost in the blowing snow and frigid temperatures. More than 200 people were killed.

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