What meteorologists are calling an “impactful snow event” is barreling towards Baltimore for the first time in perhaps a decade, according to National Weather Service historical data.
While January and February often have the most snowfall in Baltimore, there is usually no more than 7.5 inches in a month, according to NWS data. As of Thursday, the weather service warned that over 10 inches of snow could be possible in parts of Maryland this weekend, with much of the eastern United States experiencing heavy snow or freezing rain.
Although we won’t know the full impact of the storm until it arrives, it’s not the first time a ton of snow has been dumped on Baltimore or Maryland. Here’s a look at the city and state’s most historic winter storms.
Winter Storm Jonas in 2016
The last time Baltimore experienced a major snowstorm was a decade ago in January 2016, when over two feet of snow blanketed the city after a blizzard. Some nicknamed the storm “Snowzilla.”
The storm, named Winter Storm Jonas, brought about 30 inches to the area, according to the NWS. Harford County smashed records during the winter storm, with some parts of the county totaling 37 inches, according to Baltimore Sun reports from 2016. Cars were buried, and roadways were shut down after Jonas tore through the city.
“Snowmageddon” in 2010
Even the National Weather Service office refers to the mid-Atlantic snow storm in February 2010 as Snowmageddon in official briefings, a title coined by then-President Barack Obama.
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The blizzard dumped over 30 inches in Maryland and other nearby states, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power and 41 people dead. The following day, on Feb. 7, 2010, The Washington Post read “A HISTORIC MESS” on its front page.
Government buildings and schools were shut down for days after the major snow storm. A second blizzard hit less than a week later, The Washington Post reported, which continued to crush the region already under several feet of snow.
Blizzard of 1996
Three decades ago, another snow-ridden January buried Marylanders in over two feet of snow after a winter nor’easter whipped through the region, NWS said in a 1996 report. It wasn’t just snow: high winds, extremely low temperatures and some flooding made for a crisis.
An NWS employee at the time, Elbert W. Friday Jr. wrote in the 1996 report that the storm killed 60 people and caused $1 billion in damages across the region.
“The region was almost entirely shut down for 3 days with only limited movement and transportation of goods for nearly a week,” Friday wrote in his report, adding that two more snowfalls in the same week of the blizzard “added to the recovery frustrations.”
Knickerbocker Storm of 1922
The early 20th-century storm got its name from the Knickerbocker Theatre in Washington, D.C., because the snow piles caused its roof to cave in while moviegoers were inside. Nearly 100 people died in the collapse, and about 130 others were injured.
The storm swept through the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, dumping over two feet of snow in some parts of the region, according to the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Baltimore received about 31.3 inches of snow, according to NWS records. Weather forecasting was less sophisticated at the time, and many residents were unaware of the blizzard heading their way, according to records collected by NEH.
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