5 historic Cleveland winter storms
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Snow and Cleveland go hand in hand. Photo: Angelo Merendino/Corbis via Getty Images
Winter is here, as Northeast Ohio residents who used their snowblowers and shovels found out Tuesday.
Driving the news: A winter storm brought several inches of snow and high winds to the area, with more expected through Wednesday morning.
Why it matters: Blizzards have been known to bring Northeast Ohio travel to a standstill.
Flashback: For as rough as the first major snowfall of the season can be, it could be — and has been — worse.
- We revisited five of Cleveland's worst winter storms since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1871:
Details: You know a storm is brutal when it has nicknames like "The Big Blow" and "The White Hurricane."
- It pummeled the Great Lakes in November 1913, taking down power lines and dropping 22 inches of snow on Cleveland.
Details: That holiday weekend saw 22 inches of snow and winds of 25 mph hit Cleveland.
- The city moved nearly 10,000 vehicles that had been abandoned.
Details: The worst blizzard in Cleveland's history began Jan. 26, 1978, when a cyclone produced sustained winds above 80 mph and a wind chill of 60° below zero.
- More than 110,000 Cleveland area residents lost power, and 51 people died statewide.
Details: Anyone dreaming of a white Christmas got their wish that year.
- A storm dumped 9-plus inches of snow on Dec. 22, followed by another 6 inches on Dec. 23. It tied 1995's record for the most snow on the ground (13 inches) on Christmas morning.
Details: The Christmas week storm of 2022 only brought 3 to 4 inches of snow to the Cleveland area.
- But freezing temperatures and high winds led to low visibility, deadly vehicle pileups and the grounding of nearly 100 outbound flights at Cleveland Hopkins Airport.
What we're watching: Cleveland residents can see which streets have been plowed via the city's snowplow tracker.