The Blizzard of 1888 began on March 11 as a soft, gentle rain. But it quickly turned to heavy snow, accompanied by wind gusts up to 80 mph and temperatures that dropped to near zero.
Three days later, 400 people were dead, damages were estimated at $20 million and snowdrifts reached to the tops of houses from New York to New England.Accumulations included 50 inches in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; 48 in Bennington, Vt.; and 45 in New Haven, Conn. New York City received only 22 inches - but that was enough to paralyze the city.
Elevated trains stalled for hours; horse-drawn street cars were abandoned; cabbies charged as much as $50 a ride (more than $600 today) - if they could find the way. Some people who refused to pay walked instead - and were found dead in snowbanks days later.
Hotels filled up and rented space in their closets, stairwells and on top of pool tables. Hundreds of trains were stuck, and their passengers had to scrounge food from local residents.
The storm helped persuade New York and other cities to replace their elevated trains with subways and to bury utility wires.