Nobody knows, of course. But we’ll soon find out. Here’s hoping that this winter turns out to be calm and mild, as winters go. In other words, let’s hope that this winter is not particularly memorable.
But just as a reminder of what winter can be – and we hope won’t be – here’s a look back at some of the more memorable winters from Maryland’s past.
- January 1772: This storm dumped 3 feet of snow in a short time in the D.C. area. Interestingly, this storm is known as the “Washington and Jefferson” snow storm, because both Founding Fathers recorded the storm in their personal diaries.
- Winter of 1779-1780: Temperatures dropped so low, and stayed so low, that ice piled up 20 feet high along parts of the coast. Those ice walls stayed in place until the spring thaw. And so much of Chesapeake Bay froze that people were able to walk from Annapolis to Kent Island.
- February 1852: The Susquehanna River froze so solid that at one point railroad tracks were laid across the ice. 1,378 loaded railroad cars rolled across the river on that temporary ice bridge!
- March 1888: This blizzard went down in history as the “White Hurricane.” Baltimore was blanketed with snow and ice. Ferocious, gusting winds blew down trees and utility poles. In some places, the icy winds reached an estimated peak of around 75 miles per hour, burying homes and buildings in snow drifts as deep as twenty feet.
- February 1899: The Great Arctic Outbreak of ’99. Three feet of snow in D.C., with wind driving the snow into drifts 10 feet high. Transportation was brought to a standstill, resulting in the rationing of coal and food. Throughout the U.S., this winter was so cold that for only the second time in recorded history ice flowed into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River.
- January 1818: The coldest winter in 100 years. The entire Chesapeake Bay froze solid, with three times the normal snowfall for the month of January.
- March 1921: The greatest short-term temperature drop in the recorded history of Maryland. Within 24 hours, the temperature plummeted from above 90 to below 20. Fruit trees had been in bloom statewide, and the unprecedented cold snap devastated orchard production for that year.
- March 1958: A late-season blizzard of wet, heavy snow devastated Maryland’s infrastructure. A million homes lost phone service. 300,000 lost electricity. All told, the storm caused an estimated $10 million in damages, and resulted in 8 deaths.
- March 1962: The Ash Wednesday Storm. Considered to be the most devastating nor’easter to occur during the 20th century. Resulted in $200 million in property damage and 40 deaths.
- January 1977: The coldest winter on record since the founding of the nation.
- January 1996: The Blizzard of ’96. So much snow was dumped upon the D.C. area that many government offices, along with schools and businesses, were closed for an entire week. A series of consecutive blizzards dumped up to 4 feet of snow throughout portions of Maryland.
Are You Prepared for Winter’s Worst?
Hopefully this winter won’t find it’s way onto the list above. Hopefully this winter will be quite unremarkable.
But we never know what Mother Nature is going to throw at us. So it’s always wise to be prepared for the worst. And now is the time to make sure that you’re prepared for the worst by making certain that all your snow removal equipment is in good shape and ready to go.
Or alternatively, purchase snow removal insurance from TLC, and let us handle it for you. That way, we’ll make sure that you’re prepared for the worst.
Either way, though, here’s hoping that the worst doesn’t happen this winter!