Wild Winter Storms!
In 1999, a blizzard hit the midwestern United States dropping 22 feet of snow on Chicago. A record was set the first day of the storm when 18.6 inches of snow fell combined with record low temperatures of negative 20 degrees farenheit 32 deaths were caused by heart attacks from shoveling snow.
“The Great Ice Storm of 1998” knocked out power for over three weeks! The storm was tricky because daytime temperatures were not very cold, but at night ice accumulated on surfaces causing dangerous conditions. Over 30 people died because of this storm.
The “Storm of the Century,” in 1993 was one of the strongest Nor’easters of all time. It stretched all the way from Canada to the mid-United States and had hurricane strength winds. The storm was responsible for nearly 300 deaths and 10 million power outages.
Storm of the Century · Mar 11-15 · 300 deaths
Nor'easter Image Source: Superstorm of 1993 | National Weather Service
On November 18-21, 2014, areas of upstate New York received nearly 85” (or over 7’) of snow due to lake effect snow. The combination of very cold air temperatures (0˚F recorded by a weather balloon only 5,000 feet above the ground), the 48˚F lake water and westerly winds, turned Lake Erie in a snow making machine.
The snow caused damage to power lines and roads, trapped people in their houses, and flooding issues when the snow melted.
The record New York lake effect snow event is 102” over a 5-day period in Oswego, NY in January 1996.
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