Blizzard, Western Whatcom
- When
- December 27, 3:00 AM PST to December 28, 11:00 AM PST
- Where
- Western Whatcom forecast zone
Blizzard in Washington, December 27 to 28, 1996
By 430 am friday morning Bellingham had gotten nearly 7 inches in the last 10 hrs, total snow depth downtown was almost 12 inches. By saturday night roughly 3 feet of snow had fallen and they had wind up to 50 mph with wind chills near 50 below.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS SEW wrote it up.
By 430 am friday morning Bellingham had gotten nearly 7 inches in the last 10 hrs, total snow depth downtown was almost 12 inches. By saturday night roughly 3 feet of snow had fallen and they had wind up to 50 mph with wind chills near 50 below. Whatcom county was declared a disaster area as there were drifts to 10 feet. Snow plows were getting stuck as there were no passable roads in the county. There were 100's of cars abandoned and they had to send out search and rescue crews to go after state patrol, some of the rescue crew couldn't get out of their own homes. Most of Bellingham's commerce was shut down, hotels were full, and businesses closed. The airport had no air traffic for 3 days and postal service was cancelled for a while.
Event by event
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Blizzard
- Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Dense Fog in Florida, December 27, 1996
- Winter Storm in Iowa, December 27 to 28, 1996
- High Wind in Utah, December 27, 1996
- Winter Weather in Minnesota, December 27, 1996
- Winter Weather in Wisconsin, December 27 to 28, 1996
- Winter Storm in Illinois, December 27 to 28, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Washington, December 27, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, December 27 to 28, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Montana, December 27, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, December 27 to 28, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, December 27, 1996
- High Wind in Hawaii, December 27, 1996
More
Every storm in Washington in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5577220.