Great Blizzard of 1899

Great Blizzard of 1899

Snowball fight on the steps of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee on February 1899.
Type	Winter storm
Formed	February 10, 1899 (1899-02-10)
Dissipated	February 14, 1899 (1899-02-14)
Casualties	Over 100 deaths
Areas affected	East Coast of the United States

The Great Blizzard of 1899 also known as the Great Arctic Outbreak of 1899 was an unprecedented winter weather event that affected the Southern United States. It was notable for both the severity of winter weather and the extent of the U.S. it affected, especially in the Southern states. The first reports indicated record-high barometric pressure over Assiniboia (now Saskatchewan) due to the weight of the frigid and dense air. Later reports of the impending freeze were relayed down through Florida by the Florida East Coast Railway.

The event started out on February 11 as a severe cold wave in which every state on the East Coast from Florida to Maine received sub-zero temperatures. The coldest-known temperature ever recorded in the history of Florida occurred during this event, when Tallahassee in extreme north Florida recorded a low of −2 °F (−19 °C). The following record low temperatures for February were achieved:

During the days proceeding the storm, cold temperatures were hitting starting with the West Coast with Los Angeles reached temperatures of 33 °F (1 °C), 9 °F (−13 °C) in Portland and 9 °F (−13 °C) in Boise in February 4, and by February 6 30 °F (−1 °C) reaches up to North Carolina.

On February 12, snow flurries were reported in some areas from Fort Myers and Tampa in Florida west towards New Orleans. The storm crossed the Florida peninsula and intensified as it rapidly moved up the Eastern United States. High Point, North Carolina, recorded 10–12 inches (25–30 cm) of snow, and temperatures as low as 10 °F (−12 °C) on February 11, 5 °F (−15 °C) on February 13, and 3 °F (−16 °C) on February 14. It was said to be the coldest weather known to the oldest inhabitants. Washington, D.C., recorded a single snowfall of 20.5 inches (52 cm), which was a record for the time. (The "Washington and Jefferson snowstorm" had left 36 inches (91 cm) of snow in the Washington area on 28 January 1772, but that had been before official weather recording began.) Cape May, New Jersey, recorded 34 inches (86 cm), which is the highest single storm snowfall total ever in New Jersey, in what is normally the least-snowy part of the state.