As the Northeast prepares for another blizzard, images from the deadly Great Blizzard of 1888 are circulating on social media. The black-and-white photos are stark reminders of the area’s history.
The current storm is predicted to bring heavy snowfall to the area, but not the same conditions as in 1888.
“The storm we are about to see will move away much faster,” said CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers.
“Although some spots away from the coast will see 24 inches of snow, rain will mix with snow at times in the major cities and that will significantly reduce the snowfall totals of this storm from Boston to New York City and to Philadelphia.”
Looking back at 1888
It’s been 129 years since the Great Blizzard of 1888 pummeled the Northeastern United States with nearly 50 inches of snow, bringing the region to a screeching halt.
The storm lasted from March 11 to March 14, and affected residents from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine. Large snowdrifts shut down the transportation system, which left thousands of passengers stranded and no coal deliveries to the area, which meant no heat.
“The morning after the blizzard, snowdrifts in New York City reached up to the second stories of some buildings — but intrepid commuters, undeterred, still made their way to the elevated trains only to find that snowdrifts had immobilized huge portions of the transit system and left up to 15,000 passengers stranded,” posted the New York Transit Museum on Facebook.
The storm claimed the lives of 400 people, including about 100 seamen, across the Eastern Seaboard, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.
“At the time it was called the ‘worst storm in living memory,’ and it still holds the distinction of the worst winter storm on record in many areas of the Northeast,” the National Weather Service said on its website.