As your author is writing this newsletter on Tuesday in Alexandria, Va., it's 71 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny, with an estimated high of 81 degrees. That's a far cry from what the Atlantic coast of the U.S. was facing on this date in 1888, when one of the most destructive blizzards in the country's history began hitting communities as far south as the Chesapeake Bay to the easternmost provinces of Canada. It ended up killing hundreds of people and causing property damage at a massive scale.
The snow fell for a day and a half, coating parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts with as much as 50 inches. Parts of New York and New Jersey got up to 40 inches. Severe winds tore through towns at up to 80 miles per hour. Rail and road transport were cut off across several states, and telegraph wires between major cities like Washington, D.C., Boston, and Montreal were severed.
For more on the Great Blizzard of 1888, check out this article from Weather Underground.
