New York City has weathered countless winter storms, but the Blizzard of 1996 stands out as one of the most dramatic moments in its modern history.
Arriving in early January, the storm swept across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic with relentless force, transforming everyday routines into a struggle against nature.
For three days beginning on January 6, snow fell in staggering amounts, creating a frozen landscape that New Yorkers would remember for decades.
Central Park recorded 20.2 inches of snow, the city’s fourth-largest single snowfall since records began in 1869.
Many neighborhoods beyond Manhattan saw even more, with totals exceeding 30 inches in parts of the outer boroughs and suburbs.
The scale of the storm brought the city to a rare standstill. Public schools shut down for the first time since 1978, a striking moment in a city where closures are uncommon due to easy access to underground subways.
This time, however, even the transit system struggled. Buses were pulled off the streets, surface-level subway lines froze in place, and service across much of the network was severely limited for two full days.
As conditions worsened, officials urged residents to stay indoors while essential workers—police officers, firefighters, and hospital staff—continued their duties.
Streets emptied, traffic stopped, and thousands found themselves stranded in airports, bus terminals, and along highways.
The city’s grocery stores were stripped of supplies by nightfall, their barren aisles adding to the growing tension.
Power outages added to the disruption, including one in Gravesend, Brooklyn, that left 1,500 customers in the dark until the following evening.
The storm’s impact stretched far beyond New York. From Washington to Boston, damages reached an estimated one billion dollars, and roughly one hundred deaths were reported from Kentucky to Connecticut.
In New York City, the most vulnerable residents faced the harshest conditions. Efforts were made to relocate people living on the streets, yet only 7,200 beds across 39 shelters were ultimately used, highlighting the scale of the challenge.
The Blizzard of 1996 remains one of the most powerful winter events ever to hit the region.
Alongside the March Superstorm of 1993 and the January 2016 blizzard, it is among the few to earn the highest rating—Category 5, or “Extreme”—on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale.
(Photo credit: Pinterest / Flickr via The New Yorker / Upscaled and enhanced by RHP).