Video: 'Weather History: The Great Blizzard of 1888'

(Sunday, March 11, 1888, snow started falling at about 8:00 p.m. in Winsted, Connecticut) — The Great Blizzard of 1888, one of the most severe recorded blizzards in U.S. history, began inundating the northeastern United States tonight, shutting down commerce and resulting in some 400 deaths.

The storm, referred to as the “Great White Hurricane,” paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine, as well as the Atlantic provinces of Canada.

Snowfalls of 10 to 58 inches fell in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and sustained winds of more than 45 miles per hour produced snowdrifts in excess of 50 feet.

Video: 'Blizzard of 1888, Eye witness account by Albert Hunt recorded in 1949'