Great Blizzard of 1888 - Photos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Blizzard_of_1888The Great Blizzard of 1888 or Great Blizzard of '88 (March 11 – March 14, 1888) was one of the most severe recorded blizzards in the history of the United States of America. Snowfalls of 20–60 inches (51–152 cm) fell in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, 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 houses for up to a week.
The storm, referred to as the Great White Hurricane, paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine,[3] as well as the Atlantic provinces of Canada.[1] Telegraph infrastructure was disabled, isolating Montreal and most of the large northeastern U.S. cities from Washington, D.C. to Boston for days. Following the storm, New York began placing its telegraph and telephone infrastructure underground to prevent their destruction. From Chesapeake Bay through the New England area, more than 200 ships were either grounded or wrecked, resulting in the deaths of at least 100 seamen.[5]
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Impacts -
In New York, neither rail nor road transport was possible anywhere for days,[6] 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.[7] The New York Stock Exchange was closed for two days.[8]
Fire stations were immobilized, and property loss from fire alone was estimated at $25 million (equivalent to $656.2 million in 2015).[6] Severe flooding occurred after the storm due to melting snow, especially in the Brooklyn area, which was more susceptible to serious flooding due to its topography.[5] Efforts were made to push the snow into the Atlantic Ocean. More than 400 people died from the storm and the ensuing cold, including 200 in New York City alone.
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Now this should make those of us dealing with our current storm feel like it's nothing but a bitty little flurry.
= new reply since forum marked as read
These amazing pics are a reminder of why some DUers remain in the south in spite of The Red Evil.
Stay warm and safe, all you Northeasterners!
I am so tired of hearing otherwise sane DU members slander the entire South, forgetting that we DO have Dems down here who need understanding and support!
and btw...we DID have a blizzard here. 2010..almost 3 inches of snow. Remained on the ground for 2 days and paralyzed the whole state!
the Blizzard of 2010. The second blizzard of my long lifetime.
I had to put on ...a coat!!
complete awe here!!!!!!
my little sister is in Brooklyn and i'm posting this to her FB wall.
thanks again
that is horrible
I don't screw with nature
I had just been saying in another post here...
No one had expected this at all. Temperatures had been rather mild with a lot of rain but they suddenly plummeted into the single digits in a matter of hours. People were out and about when the storm hit so violently and not at all dressed for such weather. Some people died in the street on the way from here to there just going a couple of blocks. I think most of those people died from exposure and exhaustion trying to fight their way through the storm and just couldn't go on anymore combined with disorientation as to where they were with the white out conditions. Others stepped into monstrous drifts they didn't know where there with the white out conditions and couldn't get themselves out. Last year I found out the hard way that just having one leg plunge into a drift nearly up to the crotch is DAMN hard to get out of. Thank goodness I didn't get both legs stuck or I wouldn't have been able to get out! It was such a struggle that one boot came off down at the bottom of the drift and I had to dig it out. It was terrifying.
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I'm still trying to find out more information about how many people were found dead in the snow. I'm trying to read photocopies of newspaper article at the time, but the copies are so bad or so small they're really hard to read. I did find a drawing of the extrication of one body (wealthy man George Baremore) from the snow on 7th street by accident though. Back then photography was still pretty young, and newspapers still used drawings instead of real photos. Interestingly though I also found it it was one of or the first time that amateur photographers took most of the photos of this event. Glancing at other drawings in newspapers they seem to tell the story of what happened to people on the streets during the storm pretty eloquently.
And I just found this, too...
http://history1800s.about.com/od/crimesanddisasters/ss/Great-Blizzard-Of-1888.htm
In the freezing and blinding conditions, it was estimated that 400 people died, including 200 in New York City. Many victims had become trapped in snowdrifts.
In one famous incident, reported on the front page of the New York Sun, a policeman who ventured out onto Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street saw the arm of a man protruding from a snowdrift. He managed to dig the well-dressed man out.
"The man was frozen dead and had evidently lain there for hours," the newspaper said. Identified as a wealthy businessman, George Baremore, the dead man had apparently been trying to walk to his office on Monday morning and collapsed while fighting the wind and snow.
A powerful New York politician, Roscoe Conkling, nearly died while walking up Broadway from Wall Street. At one point, according to a newspaper account, the former U.S. Senator and perennial Tammany Hall adversary became disoriented and stuck in a snowdrift. He managed to struggle to safety, but his health was so damaged that he died a month later.
Last edited Mon Jan 26, 2015, 04:24 PM - Edit history (1)
Schoolhouse Blizzard
This article is about the blizzard in the Great Plains of the United States. For the blizzard during the same year in the Eastern United States and Canada, see Great Blizzard of 1888.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoolhouse_Blizzard
The Schoolhouse Blizzard, also known as the Schoolchildren's Blizzard, School Children's Blizzard,[1] or Children's Blizzard,[2] hit the U.S. plains states on January 12, 1888. The blizzard came unexpectedly on a relatively warm day, and many people were caught unaware, including children in one-room schoolhouses.
The blizzard was preceded by a snowstorm on January 5 and 6, which dropped powdery snow on the northern and central plains, and was followed by an outbreak of brutally cold temperatures from January 7 to 11.
The weather prediction for the day was issued by the Weather Bureau, which at the time was managed by Adolphus Greely; it said: "A cold wave is indicated for Dakota and Nebraska tonight and tomorrow; the snow will drift heavily today and tomorrow in Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin."[1]
On January 11, a strengthening surface low dropped south-southeastward out of Alberta, Canada into central Montana and then into northeastern Colorado by the morning of January 12. The temperatures in advance of the low increased some 20–40 degrees in the central plains (for example, Omaha, Nebraska recorded a temperature of ?6 °F (?21 °C) at 7 a.m. on January 11, while the temperature had increased to 28 °F (?2 °C) by 7 a.m. on January 12). The strong surface low rapidly moved into southeastern Nebraska by 3 p.m. on January 12 and finally into southwestern Wisconsin by 11 p.m. that same day.
The blizzard was precipitated by the collision of an immense Arctic cold front with warm, moisture-laden air from the Gulf of Mexico. Within a few hours, the advancing cold front caused a temperature drop from a few degrees above freezing to ?20 degrees Fahrenheit (?40 °F/?40 °C in some places). This wave of cold was accompanied by high winds and heavy snow. The fast-moving storm first struck Montana in the early hours of January 12, swept through Dakota Territory from midmorning to early afternoon, and reached Lincoln, Nebraska at 3 p.m.
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My grandmother used to tell stories about her older brothers and sisters (recent immigrants to Nebraska) being caught in this white hell.
but obviously, it's from a later era. Thanks for catching that.
Here are some drawings and a photo that purport to be from the time:
...like snow-digging and the Internet and such. 
But when it comes to architecture and things requiring craftsmanship, you can't beat old-school.
Japan's record snowfall still not the deepest ever
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/01/japan-record-snowfall-not-deepest-ever
?w=1000
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Now, that's some serious snowfall--and it happens regularly on Japan's most northerly island.
Yikes!
The most famous area for snow on Honshu Island is Niigata Prefecture, where it's not unusual for drifts to go up to 2nd story windows.
I took a car trip to Niigata one year and was surprised to find that in some places there were still some roads closed by snow in May. 
Those are the photos i was talking about! Thanks for finding them.
when you consider how big steam locomotives were:
Back then NYC was so crisscrossed with so many power/telegraph lines that it was like a giant spider web overhead all the time.
