Thirty years ago one of the biggest snowstorms ever blasted through South-Central Pennsylvania, leaving behind feet of snow and setting the stage for historic flooding weeks later. Video above: WGAL promotional spot after the Blizzard of ’96.’It was a doozy’The Blizzard of 1996 arrived on Jan. 6. The heaviest snow fell the next day and it didn’t stop until Jan. 8. “It was a doozy, one of the largest storms that we ever have had here in the Susquehanna Valley,” WGAL Meteorologist Ethan Huston said. “The third largest snow for us on record 22.2 inches officially out of Harrisburg International Airport. Some spots of York County received more than 30 inches.”Snapshots from the stormThen the floodThe blizzard wasn’t the end of historic weather that month.More snow fell a few days later. Then temperatures spiked suddenly and rain followed in the next week.The melting snow, along with the rain led to massive flooding and the eventual collapse of Walnut Street Bridge in Harrisburg on Jan. 20.Video below: Bridge collapseWGAL retrospectiveOne year after the storm, WGAL looked back at the unforgettable events of January ’96, from waist-high drifts and buried roads that forced snowmobile trips for essential travel, to the sudden thaw that helped push the Susquehanna River out of its banks. We’ve posted that original report below.Susquehanna Valley’s top five snow storms (as measured at HIA)Jan. 23 to 24, 2016: 30.2 inchesFeb. 11 to 12, 1983: 25 inchesJan. 7 to 8, 1996: 22.2 inchesJan. 16, 1945: 21 inchesFeb. 19, 1964: 20.5 inchesAll of the storms on the list above were coastal storms, meaning they moved north up the eastern coast of the U.S. before hitting Pennsylvania.
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. —
Thirty years ago one of the biggest snowstorms ever blasted through South-Central Pennsylvania, leaving behind feet of snow and setting the stage for historic flooding weeks later.
Video above: WGAL promotional spot after the Blizzard of ’96.
‘It was a doozy’
The Blizzard of 1996 arrived on Jan. 6. The heaviest snow fell the next day and it didn’t stop until Jan. 8.
“It was a doozy, one of the largest storms that we ever have had here in the Susquehanna Valley,” WGAL Meteorologist Ethan Huston said. “The third largest snow for us on record 22.2 inches officially out of Harrisburg International Airport. Some spots of York County received more than 30 inches.”
Snapshots from the storm
WGAL
The great dig-out of ’96.
WGAL
Clearing snow with some serious horsepower.
WGAL
Kids crawl into an igloo built along a city street.
WGAL
All bundled up inside the igloo.
WGAL
Snow piled high in front of WGAL’s studios.
Then the flood
The blizzard wasn’t the end of historic weather that month.
More snow fell a few days later. Then temperatures spiked suddenly and rain followed in the next week.
The melting snow, along with the rain led to massive flooding and the eventual collapse of Walnut Street Bridge in Harrisburg on Jan. 20.
Video below: Bridge collapse
WGAL retrospective
One year after the storm, WGAL looked back at the unforgettable events of January ’96, from waist-high drifts and buried roads that forced snowmobile trips for essential travel, to the sudden thaw that helped push the Susquehanna River out of its banks. We’ve posted that original report below.
Susquehanna Valley’s top five snow storms (as measured at HIA)Jan. 23 to 24, 2016: 30.2 inchesFeb. 11 to 12, 1983: 25 inchesJan. 7 to 8, 1996: 22.2 inchesJan. 16, 1945: 21 inchesFeb. 19, 1964: 20.5 inches
All of the storms on the list above were coastal storms, meaning they moved north up the eastern coast of the U.S. before hitting Pennsylvania.