international – PanahonTV

A snow storm dubbed as the “Blizzard of 2015”, spared the Northeastern United States, including New York City and Boston. The blizzard caused destruction to homes, power outages, flight cancellations, road accidents and even flooding.

In Boston, around three feet of snow triggered high tides, breaking sea walls and causing storm-driven coastal flooding. According to FlightAware.com, more than 4,000 US flights were cancelled. More than 80 percent of these flights are in the airports of New York, Philadelphia and Boston. More than 45 thousand customers have experienced power outage. Authorities are currently working on its restoration.

According to a report from the National Weather Service (NWS), the highest snowfall on Tuesday was recorded in Auburn with 32.5 inches or 83 centimeters with wind gust of 78 miles per hour in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defines blizzards as dangerous winter storms in which blowing snow and winds result to very low visibility. There are also instances that intense winds pick up snow that has already fallen called as the “ground blizzard”.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service officially defines blizzard as a storm that contains enormous amount of snow or blowing snow with winds of 35 miles per hour or higher, with visibility of less than 1/4 mile for at least 3 hours.

Blizzard History

45th Street and Grand Central Depot, New York, March 1888, Source: NOAA’s National Weather Service Collection

The blizzard experienced in the US is not the first of its kind in the country’s history. In fact, what happened in the last decades was even worse. On March 11, 1888, a snow storm slammed New York. Referred to as the “Great White Hurricane”, heavy snow buried the city in drifts of up to 30 feet high. Communications were cut off, transportation was paralyzed and ships sunk. At least 400 people were reported dead from the extreme weather event.