With hundreds of victims trapped in cold and snow, paralyzing America’s largest city for a week, the “Great White Hurricane” is one of the most significant weather events in history.
And yet, it’s not a hurricane, but a blizzard: a blizzard that intensified over the eastern United States in the space of a few hours. Blizzards are one of the most violent and dangerous phenomena in the world. It is a combination of snow and ice. take outtake out Stormy weather causing chaos. In the United States, we talk about a blizzard when winds average 56 km/h, for at least 3 hours, accompanied by heavy snow that reduces visibility to 400 meters or less. It decreases.
The most famous and violent blizzard in history is that of 1888.The Great Blizzard of 1888also a nickname The Great White Hurricane) occurred in the northeastern part of the country between March 11, 1888 and March 14, 1888: the states of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut were buried under unusual snowfall. Services Weather reportWeather report 1.5 meters of snow recorded in 2 to 3 days, average wind speed of 72 km/h, gusts of 130 km/h, 15 Meters of snowfall and 400 deaths, including 200 in New York.
Among these victims are about a hundred sailors who died at sea during the storm. All transport was paralyzed for a week and in some areas residents were unable to leave their homes for more than a week.
One of the worst weather disasters in New York history
This year, thewinterwinter It was quite mild in these states and weather forecasts were very unpredictable at that time. Despite the start of the storm, many New Yorkers went to work Monday morning before getting stuck in the accumulating snow. Many died of cold on the streets.
Blizzards cause temperatures to drop dramatically: the combination of snow and wind can cause deadly wind chills. The feeling can easily drop to -50°C, or even lower: -60 to -70°C! The iconic Brooklyn Bridge was closed and even firefighters were forced to stay at their stations.
Only in 2012 was Hurricane Sandy responsible for such chaos in New York after 124 years.
