Snow days Info:

copy from CNN 9 Decmber 2003

When the days grow shorter and temperatures drop, people from California to Maine anticipate whether or not this winter will bring snow, sleet, hail, ice and rain to their doorsteps. CNN.com looks back two and a half centuries to chronicle some of the toughest, coldest and most deadly winter snowstorms and blizzards to hit the United States.


February and March 1717
A series of four storms struck New England in "The Great Snow of 1717." Four feet of snow blanketed the ground and drifts stretched 25 feet high.


January 1772
A heavy snowstorm dropped three feet of snow across Maryland and Virginia, stranding both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in their homes. It became known as "The Washington and Jefferson Snowstorm."


November 1798
"The Long Storm" was said to be the snowiest on record for November. A foot-and-a-half of snow fell from Maryland to Maine, and New York City received 18 inches. The three-day drop was followed by a long, severe winter.


December 1811
Ships and harbors were damaged in New York City, Long Island and southern New England when gale-force winds and dangerous tides ravaged the shores.


January 1857
The eastern seaboard experienced "The Coldest Storm" with temperatures dipping to 9-degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Snowfall was between one and two feet deep.


March 1888
"The Blizzard of '88" battered New York City with below-zero temperatures, strong wind gusts and deep snow drifts. Several other cities were left without communication and transportation, but New York City suffered the most damage.


November 1898
"The Portland Storm" is named after the S.S. Portland, the ship that sank off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the snowstorm. The blizzard brought moderately heavy snows to the region.


January 1922
Almost 100 people were killed when the "Knickerbocker" storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow on Washington, D.C., causing the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre to collapse.


December 1947
A post-Christmas storm covered New York with two feet of snow in 24 hours.


November 1950
"The Great Appalachian Storm" resulted in the deaths of 160 people after rain and snow pummeled the region for two days with record wind gusts in late November 1950. Pittsburgh received almost 30 inches of snow, Cleveland was covered in two feet and West Virginia, western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio suffered in equal proportions.


January 1967
It took Chicago more than two weeks to clear highways after a series of winter storms battered the west coast of Lake Michigan. Heavy looting took place in unattended stores.


February 1969
A foot-and-a-half of snow blanketed New York City and buried snowplows in their storage lots. The city hired 10,000 snow shovelers and workers to clear the streets.


February 1977
Twenty-eight people were killed when a storm hit Ontario, Canada, and western New York state. Thousands of vehicles were stranded on the highways. The city of Buffalo was shut down for more than a week.


February 1978
Record snowfall, blizzard-like conditions, floods and hurricane winds paralyzed New England from Long Island, New York, to Boston for a week in 1978. The "New England Blizzard" stranded thousands in their cars and homes.


March 1993
The "Blizzard of the Century" raked the mid-Atlantic states from Alabama to Massachusetts. Several other states were hit with tornadoes, thunderstorms and floods. Snow fell at a rate of one-to-two inches an hour in some areas.


January 1996
The blizzard of 1996 caused more than 100 deaths in the eastern United States. To make matters worse, two more storms pummeled the region within the following week-and-a-half.


5, 6, 7, 8, December 2003
The largest snowfall amount measured over the weekend was 47 inches at Mount Washington's base in Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire, and 38 inches in Randolph, New Hampshire.
Peabody, Massachusetts, was blanketed with 36 inches of snow, while 32 inches covered nearby Beverly on the northeast coast. Wind gusts hit 58 mph in Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod.
Rangeley in northwest Maine reported 41 inches of snow. Averill Park in northern New York saw 32 inches.