Remembering the Blizzard of 1966 and its eye-popping eight feet of snow

Much like December 2015, it was a warm and green Christmas for residents of upstate New York in 1965, with highs in the mid ’60s. Then the weather pattern changed in January, and the temperature plummeted. Three winter storms brought snow up the Eastern Seaboard that month. The first two had little effect on New York, but the third became legendary.

The Blizzard of 1966 brought 13.8 inches of snow to Washington, but it was across much of central and western New York where weather history was made 50 years ago this weekend. Snowfall totals were eye-popping, ranging from 2 to 8 ½ feet of snow.

From a meteorological standpoint, the storm began as a nor’easter that churned up the East Coast and deposited a foot or more of snow from the mid-Atlantic to New England. In the upper atmosphere, low pressure closed off around the Great Lakes. When this occurs, storms slow down and become stationary but continue to produce incredible amounts of snowfall.

Photos from the Blizzard of 1966 at the bottom of this post…

Atlantic moisture continued to stream into much of Upstate New York for an extended period. The Atlantic moisture was greatly enhanced by moisture from Lake Ontario. This resulted in heavy snow, and with low pressure parked over northern New England, strong winds whipped the snow into high drifts. Wind gusts of 60 to 80 mph were reported along Lake Ontario.

Advertisement

As a 13-year-old living in Rome, N.Y., I experienced this storm firsthand. It began to snow late on Jan. 30 in Rome, and snow continued to fall through the next day. By the time the storm ended it had crippled central and western New York.

Accumulations exceeding 30 inches extended west from Rochester to Buffalo. Both Syracuse and Rome, N.Y., received over 40 inches. Just northwest of Rome, Camden, N.Y., ended up with over 50 inches.

Snowfall totals were even more extreme on the southeast side of Lake Ontario. Bob Sykes, a meteorology professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, reported a whopping 102.4 inches — 8 ½ feet of snow.

“Snowflakes were one-half to three-quarters of an inch in size,” Sykes described, “It was like taking a pillow and dumping the feathers over the area for hours.” Several years later, when I attended SUNY Oswego, I heard that some residents jumped out of our third-story dormitory windows into the snow.

In Syracuse, the city came to a halt after 42 inches of snow fell and winds gusted to 58 mph. Over $15 million of lost business was reported. Over 120 people and a Siamese cat were welcomed into the War Memorial arena to take shelter. A number of babies were born outside of hospitals in the area.

Advertisement

Much of Rome was shut down with over 40 inches of snow and high drifts. Some streets couldn’t be plowed right away because cars were stuck in the middle. Several small business owners, like Corgy’s Grocery in my neighborhood, actually opened their doors and we were able to trudge through waist-deep snow to purchase necessities. Schools were closed for an entire week — extremely rare for upstate New York. I remember having fun in the snow but also making a few dollars with a snow shovel.

The way that the media communicated weather information was about to change. Up until that time, most local TV stations around the nation employed non-meteorologists to cover the weather. During this storm, the ABC affiliate in Syracuse (WNYS) brought in a retired Air Force meteorologist named Horace “Stormy” Meredith to provide weather updates and insight on the changing situation. Meredith did such a great job on the air that the station hired him full time. He was the first true meteorologist on air in our area. Meredith held the job for many more years and became a TV icon in central New York.

The Blizzard of ’66 is still talked about and written about to this day. There are a number of events across the affected area this week to commemorate the greatest snowstorm on record. My obsession with weather was greatly enhanced by this legendary storm and that obsession continues to this day.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLumw9JompqomamurXnWnpitoJWneqitzaBmsKhfZ31ygo5paGhqaWS%2FprnEppmeqpmjtG7Ax55km6SZr8eivsNmpp9lYW6Dd3nAp5tmoaSoeqbFxGanqKignruoecSinqGsXZuypsCMqJ1mq56kxHA%3D