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American Morning

Ask CNN: What is the Worst Blizzard That Ever Occurred in United States?

Aired January 03, 2002 - 09:57   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER JONES, ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Hello, my name is Jennifer Jones, and I am from Atlanta, Georgia. And my question is, what is the worst blizzard that ever occurred in the United States?

JACQUI JERAS, METEOROLOGIST: A blizzard is a snowstorm with winds of at least 35 miles per hour, reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less for a period of at least three hours.

There are two blizzards that rival each other for the worst blizzard in the U.S. On March 11, 1888, two storm systems clashed over the Eastern Coast. Thousands of New Englanders were stranded after snow drifts piled up to 40 and 50 feet high. New York city received 21-inches of snow with drifts 20 feet high and winds blowing to 70 miles per hour. Amazingly, there were few deaths.

More recently, the blizzard of the century in 1996 was blamed for 100 deaths in The eastern U.S. The storm started January 6 and ended on the tenth. More than 30-inches of snow blanketed Philadelphia, and a swat of two feet deep snow covered much of Kentucky and North Carolina.

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