 Historical Winter Storms - 1960-80The twenty years between 1960 and 1980 exhibited some remarkable winter storm events. Record snow fell - and stayed - in cities across the Great Lakes. Remember Buffalo in the mid-1970s? Ash Wednesday StormOn March 7, 1962, snow and winds pounded New England. Waves rearranged the coastline from North Carolina to New Jersey and when the waters receded, the town of Ocean City, Delaware, was covered in sand.View the story of this storm through our Special Report area. Click on the "Related Video - Historical Nor'easters" for video documenting the event. The Chicago Blizzard Of 1967The new year began with a bang! Long time residents of Chicago will never forget January 26 and 27, 1967. Over a two day span, the city experienced its worst blizzard on record as an astounding 24 inches of snow fell in 29 hours and 8 minutes.For several days in a row, a city generally used to the hardships of snowy weather was paralyzed as close to 24 million tons of snow lay across the area. Cars and buses were stranded all over the city, while trains were frozen in and could not make their usual commuter runs. O'Hare Field, now O'Hare International Airport, was closed for an unprecedented three days! The Lindsay StormFrom February 8 through 10, 1969, the New York City and Boston metropolitan areas were under the brunt of a blizzard. Beginning as an area of low pressure that came out of the Rocky Mountains, it moved up through the Ohio Valley and began to weaken.Meanwhile a secondary area of low pressure formed off the Virginia coast, intensified rapidly and moved up to the east of Cape Cod. The heaviest snow fell in the New York metro area, the higher elevations of western Connecticut and Massachusetts and from the Boston metro area up through the White Mountains of New Hampshire eastward into southern Maine. Both the New York City and Boston areas received an average of 25 inches of snow each. The storm is known as the Lindsay Storm because Mayor John Lindsay's hopes for reelection were dashed when angry voters blamed him for the fact that snow removal crews were slow to respond due to inaccurate forecasts throughout this entire winter weather event. The Blizzard Of 1978Although the winters of the late '70s were notable for their length and severity across the Northeast, some events stand out.On February 5 through 7, 1978, a weak area of low pressure moved across the Great Lakes and weakened even further. Meanwhile, a secondary area of low pressure developed off the middle Atlantic coast and underwent rapid intensification before drifted slowly to the north. It became nearly stationary off the southern New England coast for over 24 hours. Tremendous amounts of snow fell and winds exceeding hurricane force were felt along the southern New England coast. Over three feet of snow fell in some areas, as heavy snow fell from the upper Chesapeake Bay area, up through the mountains of New Hampshire, with the heaviest falling from Long Island through Rhode Island. The storm caused major problems when the snow moved into New York City at the height of the morning commute to work. Drifting northward, heavy snow moved into New England, paralyzing the region for the remainder of the week. Some areas of Rhode Island reported snowfall of four feet, not including drifts, while over 23 inches of snow fell in Boston in 24 hours. Presidents Day StormOn February 22, 1979, snow and winds blanketed much of the Northeast, closing down Washington, D.C. and icing up the Potomac. Parts of the Mid-Atlantic region experienced over 20 inches of snow. At one point, reports showed Baltimore receiving a snowfall rate of 5 inches an hour.View the story of this storm through our Special Report area. Click on the "Related Video - Historical Nor'easters" for video documenting the event. | 
