North American blizzard of 1996
Satellite image of the storm system on January 7, 1996 | |
| Type | |
|---|---|
| Formed | January 6, 1996 |
| Dissipated | January 10, 1996 |
| Lowest pressure | 980 mb (28.94 inHg) at 7:00 am EST on January 8th |
| Maximum snowfall or ice accretion | 48 inches (120 cm), Pocahontas County, West Virginia |
| Fatalities | 154 fatalities total (another 33 took place during flooding after the storm) |
| Damage | c. US$3 billion |
| Areas affected | Continental United States; especially the Northeastern United States |
The North American blizzard of 1996 was a severe nor'easter that paralyzed the United States East Coast with up to 4 feet (1.2 m) of wind-driven snow from January 6 to January 8, 1996. The City University of New York reported that the storm "dropped 20 inches of snow, had wind gusts of 50 mph and snow drifts up to 8 feet high." This storm was a classic example of a nor'easter, but the storm would not have been as historically significant without the presence of the arctic high pressure system located to the north of New York. It was followed by another storm, an Alberta Clipper, on January 12, then unusually warm weather and torrential rain which caused rapid melting and river flooding in the Northeast Floods later that month. Along with the March Superstorm of 1993 and the January 2016 United States blizzard, it is one of only three snowstorms to receive the top rating of 5, or "Extreme", on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS).