A powerful nor'easter unloaded 2 feet of snow and more from Virginia to southeastern New England on Jan. 6-8, 1996. Up to 4 feet of snow was unleashed.
Philadelphia was at the heart of the storm, getting buried by 31 inches of snow. The Blizzard of '96 still stands as the all-time biggest snowstorm for Philadelphia.
High winds howled across the region, causing massive drifting and blowing of snow that significantly reduced the visibility.
Two cars remain sit buried in the snow as pedestrians walk on 21st Street in Philadelphia Monday, Jan. 8, 1996. Many of Pennsylvania's streets and roadways were closed after Governor Tom Ridge declared a state of emergency and imposed a ban on non-essential travel. (AP Photo/Nanine Hartzenbusch)
- [h=2]Photos and Memories of the Blizzard:
"My son was born January 28th that year. I remember the intensity of that storm and prayed that he wasn't born in the middle of the blizzard. My wife and I lived in a condo at the time and the maintenance guys, in an effort to plow the parking lot, literally buried all the parked cars. You couldn't see my car whatsoever. My upstairs neighbor noticed that our car had 'vanished' and called the property manager immediately and informed him that my wife was expectant. As a result, four guys armed with shovels, dug out my car in just about 20 minutes. I've never seen human beings move that fast," AccuWeather ******** fan Tommy O'Donnell said.
"We were living in central NJ at the time, and it was very windy outside. My daughter, then 3 years old, wanted to go outside and play in the swirling snow, but asked what the noise was. Trying to distract her as she was *not* going to go outside and play, I told her the noise was a snow-shark. She said, in a very matter-of-fact manner, that I was wrong -- she knew it was a big lizard. My husband thought we were both crazy, but asked her how she knew it was a big lizard. She said, "I saw it on television, the big lizard of 1996." We still laugh about this every time we have a big snow storm forecast," AccuWeather ******** fan Pamela Winterhalter Garbini said.
"Looking out the back sliding glass doors, in Hamilton, NJ January 8, 1996," AccuWeather ******** fan Cindy Grote wrote (picture above).
"My cousin got married that Sunday January 7th. The wedding was in Wilmington DE and we had several family members piled into an SUV to make the trip from southern NJ that morning to make sure the grandmother of the bride got to the ceremony. We eventually made it to the venue, the Hotel DuPont, as the ceremony was taking place. We had a lot of fun at the reception, and then the reality became we had to spend the night there because we were not allowed to leave due to the state of emergency. At least we were all stranded in a delux hotel with a fun group! Our family finished up at the reception, checked into our rooms and all settled into the lobby and coffee shop area to play cards, laugh and just enjoy each other and the situation. It turned into a very fun and certainly memorable event!" AccuWeather ******** fan Amy Suchanoff Hoey said.
"Haha! I had to jump out my bedroom window to shovel out the front door so the dog could go out..he was a St. Bernard! We were pretty happy to watch him in his natural element! He helped dig us out! It took days in Wanaque, NJ to dig out!" AccuWeather ******** fan Deborah Faber said.
"We lived in Philly at the time and my youngest was 2 and a half. Our station wagon was completely covered in snow! That's when we decided to move to Tennessee!" AccuWeather ******** fan Laura Helton Bradley said.
"We didn't have school for almost 2 weeks in the Poconos," AccuWeather ******** fan BJ Hickey said.
"My Home Video of the 1996 Blizzard. This was in Plattekill NY. 2.5 feet fell," AccuWeather ******** fan Ryan Ribeth said.
"Stuck in Deptford, NJ. over 30+ inches of snow. Cars looked like bumps in the road," AccuWeather ******** fan Chris Peria said.
"I went into labor my husband drove me to the hospital in the drifting snow with two small children in the back seat, almost hitting a pole. He managed to get us to the hospital in time. My little girl was born on Jan. 8, 1996, a year I will never forget," AccuWeather ******** fan Jessica Jackson said.
"Spent over a week solid running fire calls in my hometown of Burke, VA (Fairfax Co). It was a MESS to say the least. Nothing like carrying a stretcher 1/4-1/2mi in 30+ inches of snow!" AccuWeather ******** fan Henry Dralle III said.
