If you think about it this storm was not all that great when you read the many other great blizzards of the past. The only thing that made this storm great to me was places of Texas and Oklahoma seeing alot more snow then usuall and breaking records.
Taken from the Farmers Almanac:
http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather/a/historic-blizzards
By definition, a blizzard is a violent
[COLOR=#660000 !important][COLOR=#660000 !important]winter [COLOR=#660000 !important]storm[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]
with winds about 32 mph (51 kph) and visibility less than 500 feet (150 meters) due to falling and blowing snow. Sometimes the term "ground blizzard" is used to describe a storm in which wind causes fallen snow to be blown back into the air.
With the winter season almost here, we thought it might be interesting to look back on some historic blizzards:
1888 March Blizzard of '88
The “Blizzard of '88” produced temperatures plummeting well below zero degrees Fahrenheit, ravaging gusts of wind and deep snowdrifts that stranded several cities, leaving them without transportation or
[COLOR=#660000 !important][COLOR=#660000 !important]communication[/COLOR][/COLOR]. New York City suffered the most damage, particularly to its harbor areas.
1914 March 1 Heavy Wet Snow/High Winds
“The worst since '88,” crippled New York and New Jersey; Asbury Park, NJ, received 24" of snow; New York’s barometer dipped to a record 28.38"; downed wires and poles disrupted communications and power in New Jersey.
1940 November 11 Armistice Day Storm
Over the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes; blizzard conditions in Manitoba, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and western Ontario; 49 dead in Minnesota alone; gales on Lake Michigan caused wrecks and the loss of 59 sailors; 17" snowfall in Iowa;
[COLOR=#660000 !important][COLOR=#660000 !important]barometer[/COLOR][/COLOR] at 28.66" in Duluth, MN.
1941 March 15 Severest Blizzard of Modern Era
Struck on a Saturday night; 39 lives lost in North Dakota; 32 died in Minnesota; also buffeted parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba; 85 mph winds at Grand Forks, ND; 75 mph. winds at Duluth, MN. In Minnesota, 27" fell at Collegeville, and the Twin Cities recorded 16".
1960 December 12 Pre-Winter Blizzard in Northeast
20.4" of snow at
[COLOR=#660000 !important][COLOR=#660000 !important]Newark[/COLOR][/COLOR], NJ; 17" at New York City, NY; 13" at Boston, MA: Nantucket, MA, had 15.7" with wind averaging 36 to 51 mph.
1961 January 19-20 The Kennedy Inaugural Snowstorm
Occurred on the eve of John F. Kennedy's Presidential inauguration in Washington, DC; second of three huge snows to hit the Northeast during the winter of 1960-61; Washington and Baltimore saw 8" of snow; New York City got 10"; 25" in Connecticut and New Hampshire; 24" in Massachusetts;
[COLOR=#660000 !important][COLOR=#660000 !important]barometer[/COLOR][/COLOR] fell to 28.59" off Nantucket, MA.
February 3–4 Third Big Snow of the Winter of '60-'61
Produced near-record snow cover in the major metropolitan areas since snow fell on unmelted accumulations from the previous storms; also produced paralyzing gale-to-hurricane-force winds along coastal areas; Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD, saw 8 to 11"; New York City, NY, received 19 to 24"; Boston, MA, got 14.4"; highest amount fell at Cortland, NY, with 40".
March 4 Severe Northern Plains Blizzard
Raged in North Dakota and Minnesota for over 100 hours; wind gusts to 100 mph; snowfall up to 35"; traffic paralyzed for three days; also affected parts of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and western Ontario.
1976 February 2 The Groundhog Day Storm
Storm system rapidly intensified off Delmarva Coast (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) and raced northeastward; briefly brought blizzard conditions and, in just a few hours, a 20 to 40 degree drop in temperature to the Northeast; brought wind gusts of 100 mph. to Nova Scotia; barometric pressure fell to 28.30", much lower than many summertime hurricanes.
1977 January 30 The Buffalo (NY) Blizzard
Worst blizzard on record to hit east side of
[COLOR=#660000 !important][COLOR=#660000 !important]Lakes [COLOR=#660000 !important]Erie[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] and Ontario; wind gusts to 69 mph.; zero-visibility whiteouts; wind chill factor of -50°F.
1978 February 6-7 Blizzard of '78
Hurricane-force winds and record-breaking snowfall made this storm one of the more intense ones to occur this century across parts of the Northeast; small area with 50 or more inches of snowfall was reported in northern
[COLOR=#660000 !important][COLOR=#660000 !important]Rhode [COLOR=#660000 !important]Island[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]; Washington, DC, received 2.2"; Baltimore, MD, 9.1"; Philadelphia, PA, 14.1"; New York City, NY, 17.7"; Boston, MA, received 27.1" and was subsequently completely shut down for a week.
1979 February 19 The Presidents' Day Storm
Chiefly affected the Middle Atlantic States, with record snowfall in many areas; Washington, DC, 18.7" in 18.5 hours at the airport with a total depth of 23"; Baltimore, MD, airport had 20".
1993 March 13-14 The Blizzard of '93
Described by the
[COLOR=#660000 !important][COLOR=#660000 !important]National [COLOR=#660000 !important]Weather [/COLOR][COLOR=#660000 !important]Service[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] as “one of the worst storms of the century"; the onslaught left 13" of snow in Birmingham, AL, and 36" in Syracuse, NY; dozens of tornadoes were reported in the South; more than 200 lives lost.
1996 January 7-8 The Blizzard of '96
An immense blizzard paralyzed much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast States, with snow accumulations of 1 to 2 feet common in many areas; 100 dead; major airports in the Northeast Corridor were shut down for at least two days.
2003 The Blizzard of 2003, also known as the Presidents' Day Storm of 2003, or Presidents’ Day Storm II
This historical and record-breaking East Coast snowstorm lasted from February 14-19, 2003; it started on the East Coast of the US and spread into Canada; all cities from Washington DC to Boston were covered in 15 to 30" of snow, and those cities were brought to a standstill due to problems caused by temperatures and the snow; in Baltimore and Boston, this was the biggest snowstorm on record, with 28.2" and 27.5" of snow respectively.
2006 February 11 Blizzard of 2006
A nor'easter that began on the evening of February 11, 2006, this storm dumped heavy snow across the Northeast United States from Virginia to Maine through the early evening of February 12 and ended in Atlantic Canada on February 13; major northeast cities from Baltimore to Boston received at least a foot of snow, with an all-time record amount of 26.9" in New York City, the most since at least 1869, the start of record keeping.