Great Blizzard of 1888



Surface analysis of Blizzard on March 12, 1888 at 10 p.m.

Type: Extratropical cyclone, Blizzard
Lowest pressure: 980 hPa (29 inHg)
Maximum snowfall or ice accretion: 58 inches (147 cm)
Fatalities: 400 fatalities
Damage: $25 million in 1888 (equivalent to $750 million in 2023)
Areas affected: Eastern United States, Eastern Canada

The Great Blizzard of 1888, also known as the Great Blizzard of '88 or the Great White Hurricane (March 11–14, 1888), was one of the most severe recorded blizzards in American history. The storm paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine, as well as the Atlantic provinces of Canada. Snow fell from 10 to 58 inches (25 to 147 cm) in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and sustained winds of more than 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) produced snowdrifts in excess of 50 feet (15 m). Railroads were shut down and people were confined to their homes for up to a week. Railway and telegraph lines were disabled, and this provided the impetus to move these pieces of infrastructure underground. Emergency services were also affected during this blizzard.

Storm details



Streets in New York City as the storm hit. Many overhead wires broke and presented a hazard to city dwellers.



Brooklyn Bridge during the blizzard

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Impacts

In New York, neither rail nor road transport was possible anywhere for days, and drifts across the New York–New Haven rail line at Westport, Connecticut, took eight days to clear. Transportation gridlock as a result of the storm was partially responsible for the creation of the first underground subway system in the United States, which opened nine years later in Boston. The New York Stock Exchange was closed for two days. A full two day closure would not occur again until Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

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