On This Day in 1983: Megapolitan Blizzard

On this day in 1983, a blizzard crippled the urban Interstate 95 corridor from Washington, D.C., to Boston, giving the snowstorm the nickname the Megapolitan Blizzard.

The setup on February 10 was classic for a major Nor’Easter. A strong high pressure had anchored itself over eastern Canada, allowing cold air to spill south into the eastern U.S. At the same time, a coastal low-pressure system was moving northward just off the Eastern Seaboard.

Snow began to fall by February 11 across the Mid-Atlantic and quickly spread up through the Northeast and New England. Throughout the day, the coastal low-pressure continued to strengthen, driving increasingly heavily snowfall rates inland. From Washington, D.C., to New York City, snowfall rates peaked at 2 to 5 inches and even widespread thundersnow was reported.

By February 12, snowfall totals of 10 to 20 inches stretched from southwestern Virginia all the way up through New Jersey into New England. More localized reports of 30 inches dotted parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and western Maryland, including Glen Cary, W. Va., that picked up 35 inches, or nearly 3 feet of snow..

Needless to say, The Megapolitan Blizzard of February 11, 1983 was impressive. 24-hour snowfall records were set for Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Allentown, Pa., with the cities receiving 21, 24 and 25 inches of snow, respectively. The storm also caused 46 fatalities as result of the dangerous weather.

February is notorious for bringing some of the most extreme snowstorms to the Northeast. While cold air is still entrenched over the area, the southern branch of the jet stream turns more active, allowing moisture to tap into the winter air, producing snowfall.

Sources: weather.gov, ncdc.noaa.gov
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Story Image: Snowfall map for parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast from February 10-12, 1983 (Wikimedia Commons/NCDC).