North American Blizzard Of 1966

The Blizzard of 1966 swept across most of the United States and Canada east of the Rocky Mountains on January 26, 27, 28 and 29, and brought record low temperatures, high winds and heavy snowfall in its wake. Within days, at least 142 people had been killed — 31 had frozen to death, 46 died in fires that started while people were trying to heat their home. Others died from heart attacks while shoveling snow or pushing cars, or traffic accidents caused by slick roads. The death toll reached 201 by Wednesday, February 2, as the storm eased.

On Monday, January 31, federal government employees in Washington were excused from reporting to work and international airports were closed from Boston to Washington, D.C. or of snow fell on Oswego, New York, and the additional accumulation raised the snow level to in Norfolk, Virginia. By February 1, additional snow brought the level to or to Oswego. (This held the record for the most snowfall in a single storm in Oswego until the Lake Effect snow storm of February 2007).

The storm began as a nor'easter, which affected the New York City metro area and was followed by heavy "wraparound" lake effect snows. Winds were more than during the storm, and at Fair Haven, New York they are believed to have exceeded .
The snow was badly drifted and roads and schools closed as long as a week. Drifts covered entire 2 story houses.

A total of of snow was recorded at Oswego, of this falling on the last day of the storm alone. of snow were also recorded at Camden, New York on the same day. This was the largest single day snowfall in New York history. The last day of the blizzard the winds subsided and snowburst conditions prevailed, with the snow falling straight down. Fair Haven did not have official snowfall records at the time, but state troopers reported measuring of snow on the level, where none had been prior to the storm. Syracuse, New York received a record snowfall of which remained their heaviest storm on record, until the Blizzard of 1993.

The storm lasted from January 27 to January 31, 1966, a total of 4½ days. The daily snowfall totals for Oswego are as follows.

*January 27, 1966:
*January 28, 1966:
*January 29, 1966:
*January 30, 1966:
*January 31, 1966:
On January 22–23 of 1966, the city of Batavia and Genesee County had of snow fall on that Saturday night alone. The only thing that prevented that snowstorm from becoming a true blizzard like this infamous one of the very next weekend was the lack of high winds.

See also

*List of Regional Snowfall Index Category 4 winter storms

References

External links

YouTube - Blizzard of 1966

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1966 in Canada
1966 natural disasters in the United States
January 1966 events in Canada
January 1966 events in the United States
January 1966 events in North America