Blizzard in Maryland, January 7 to 8, 1996

A winter storm and blizzard of near record proportions affected the entire Middle Atlantic States on January 7th and 8th. The storm formed along the Gulf Coast on Saturday morning the 6th, moved to Alabama the evening of the 6th, reached Savannah the morning of the 7th, Cape Hatteras the evening of the 7th, passed just to the west of the Delaware Buoy the morning of the 8th, before reaching coastal New England the evening of the 8th.Snow began around midnight on the 7th and became very heavy by the morning 7th. Increasing northeast winds produced blizzard conditions in Cecil County and near blizzard conditions elsewhere along the Maryland Eastern Shore. Warmer air above the ground helped change the snow to sleet across southern parts of the Eastern Shore and held down accumulations. Accumulations averaged 12 to 18 inches in Talbot County, 12 to 24 inches in Caroline, Kent and Queen Anne's Counties and around 24 inches in Cecil County. There was a lull in the precipitation for a while after midnight on the 8th, before a final parting shot came across the region that morning.A state of emergency was declared noon on Sunday throughout Maryland and the state received disaster area declaration on Wednesday the 10th. Estimates of the clean-up costs and damaged caused by the storm for the state was $48,000,000. Two-thirds of all schools were still closed on Wednesday. It was fortunate that the snow began falling on a weekend day and by Sunday morning (the 7th) it was obvious that it was going to be a bad storm. This cut down considerably on accidents and rescues as most people were already trapped in their homes. Four wheel drive vehicles were deployed to get emergency personnel to and from work and to bring seriously ill patients to hospitals. Humvees were used to help plow and clear roadways. There was only one reported weather related death along the Eastern Shore, a Cecil County man suffered a heart attack and died after shoveling snow.