Snow can turn a city into a magical winter wonderland, but it can also leave devastation and destruction behind. As the southeastern states are battered by yet another brutal winter storm, we look at some of the most powerful blizzards, hurricanes and snowfall, from the 1880s to today, that have left their mark on the USA.

March 1888 saw one of the most severe blizzards in US history. New York and New Jersey were hardest hit, with some parts buried under 3ft 4in (1m) of snow in what became known as the ‘Great White Hurricane’. 

 

Across 10 states, about a quarter of the population of 19th-century America felt the effects. The snowdrifts brought down telephone lines and buried trains leaving passengers stranded, while fierce winds caused 200 ships to flounder. In total it's believed more than 400 people lost their lives, the worst death toll in US history from a winter storm. 

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While temperatures across the country were unusually low during the early part of February 1899, it wasn't until the middle of the month that the chill really took hold. Thanks to anticyclones moving in from Canada, the Eastern states and the Midwest were the worst hit by the freezing outbreaks. By 10 February the mercury was sitting at below -28°C (-20°F) in some areas, with parts of New Jersey seeing 1ft 8in (0.7m) of snow. 

 

The area around Washington DC experienced 51 hours of straight snowfall, while further south ice flowed from the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico and blocked the river's traffic. Crops were destroyed and animals suffered badly too, with at least 100 people losing their lives to the extreme conditions. Captured here is the clean-up operation in New York City, where snow was gathered in horse-drawn carts and dumped into the river.  

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Also known as the ‘Big Blow’ or the ‘White Hurricane’ due to its blizzard-like qualities, the Great Lakes Storm is among the deadliest natural disasters in US history. It battered the Great Lakes Basin from 7-10 November 1913 with gusts up to 90mph (145kmh) and 35-foot (10.6m) waves.

Around 12 ships sank and dozens of others were wrecked, including the Charles S. Price, pictured here, which was thrown upside down near the southern end of Lake Huron. The storm is estimated to have killed up to 300 people – a higher number than all the other major Great Lakes disasters combined. 

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Beginning during the evening of 27 January, the so-called Knickerbocker Storm saw a total of 2ft 4in (0.7m) of snowfall in just over 24 hours in Washington DC, a record for a single storm. The huge snowstorm dump was a surprise as local forecasts had predicted mild weather just the day before.

There is a tragic story behind the storm's name. It took on the title after the Knickerbocker Theater in Washington DC, whose roof collapsed under the weight of the snow on Saturday 28 January, with hundreds of movie-goers inside. Wet snow and concrete fell on audience members during an intermission, killing 98 people and injuring 133 more. 

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This 1967 snowstorm really caught the Windy city by surprise dropping nearly two feet (0.6m) of snow on Chicago on 26-27 January – despite only a few inches being predicted to fall.

The storm paralysed the city, leaving around 800 Chicago Transit Authority buses and 50,000 cars abandoned on the city's streets and forcing the closure of O'Hare Airport. Many commuters didn't make it home on Thursday 26 January, forced to stay in hotels or at work. By the Friday morning the city's streets were impassable with helicopters needed to deliver essential supplies to hospitals.

Also known as the Superstorm of 1993, the violent weather wreaked havoc as it moved up the eastern states from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada from 12-15 March. It's believed to still be one of the most costly weather events of the 20th century in the USA, with the damage thought to have been $5.5 billion ($9.9bn today).

With a central pressure usually only found in Category 3 hurricanes, the storm left tornadoes, coastal flooding, crippling snow and freezing temperatures in its wake, including in Washington DC (pictured). Over 270 people lost their lives from 13 states.

From 6-8 January one of the most devastating snowstorms struck the USA, with at least 60 people losing their lives. As the storm moved from city to city it broke records in Rhode Island, Philadelphia, Virginia and Providence, with snow reaching heights of up to four feet (1.2m) in some places. This photo shows a four-wheeled drive vehicle stranded in the snow in Baltimore, Maryland. 

President Bill Clinton was forced to shut down the Federal Government for nearly a week due to the severe conditions and he declared DC and nine states to be disaster areas. The blizzard took a serious toll on property all over the country, with roofs collapsing due to the sheer weight of the snow and further damage caused by coastal flooding on Long Island.

Starting on 15 February and continuing until 18 February, the Presidents' Day storm of 2003 was the biggest to hit Washington DC since the infamous blizzard of 1996 and left the city shut for three days. Pedestrians outnumbered vehicles on the streets as mountains of snow piled up due to high winds, which created huge snowdrifts.

The storm caused transport mayhem along the East Coast. Flights into and out of Pennsylvania airport (pictured) were cancelled due to the weather. Meanwhile, passengers were forced to sleep on camp beds while waiting for delayed flights at LaGuardia airport in New York.

It's not often you can confidently ski through Boston city centre. However, the blizzard of 2005 hit much of Massachusetts hard, with 1ft 10in (0.5m) of snow falling in two days from 22-23 January. But with the bulk of the snow dump occurring over a weekend, many locals braved the cold to make the most of the pristine powder. 

The hurricane-force winds that topped 80mph (129mh) whipped the snow up into towering drifts. Pictured here is a house in Hull, just south of Boston Harbor. Many homes suffered damage in the storm with thousands of properties around Cape Cod left without power. 

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When the Big Apple was hit by a big dump of snow from 11-12 February 2006, it was the largest on record. The two days of appalling conditions saw New York enduring 'thundersnow', a lightning storm where the precipitation is snow rather than rain and a very rare weather event for the city.

A total of 2ft 3in (0.7m) of snow fell in Central Park over a period of 16 hours. Three airports were closed and there were reports of thousands stranded.

The blizzard of 5-6 February 2010, known as 'Snowmageddon', stretched from California to the East Coast, covering around 69% of the country in a thick blanket. Pictured here is a parking lot at Pentagon City, Arlington, Virginia.

It was actually President Obama who dubbed the storm – which dumped up to 2ft 9in (0.8m) of snow in places such as Pennsylvania and Washington DC – as 'Snowmadgeddon'. The area was hit by a second blizzard known as ‘Snoverkill’ just five days later in what became Washington DC’s snowiest winter on record.

Those who missed out on a white Christmas got more than their fill of snow when a blizzard carved a path of disruption along the East Coast just after the festive season in 2010. Pictured here is West Village in New York, on 27 December 2010.

New York's transportation system took a harsh battering, with reports of passengers being stranded on the subway for up to nine hours and others sleeping overnight at Penn Station. All three of the Big Apple's airports were closed too.

Starting on 1 February 2011, more than 1ft 8 in (0.5m) of snow fell in Chicago, making it the third-largest blizzard in the city's history. Nearly 1,000 cars were stranded, with power outages disrupting life in the Windy City and across Northern Illinois.

Other cities in the storm's path included Tulsa, Detroit and New York. A state of emergency was declared in Missouri. Kansas City, pictured here, received a blizzard warning for only the third time in its history.

The whole country was watching Buffalo, New York, and its weather in 2014. The second-largest city in the state saw a total of seven feet (2.1m) of snow falling from 17-19 November due to two separate storms.

The heavy snow closed a 100-mile (160km) section of the New York State Thruway and postponed the NFL game between the Bills and Jets. The game was subsequently held in Detroit.

From 22-24 January 2016 Storm Jonas brought deep snow to the Eastern Seaboard. In New York Jonas beat the snowfall record of 2006 with levels reaching around 2ft 6in (0.8m) at JFK Airport.

Three days after the storm passed, cars in Washington DC were still stuck. The storm caused over 50 deaths and a state of emergency was declared with travel bans put in place until the snow was cleared.

From 2-6 January 2018 a 'bomb cyclone' battered the northeastern states. As this snowed-in vehicle in the Dorchester neighbourhood shows, Boston was one of the worst-hit areas, with around one foot (0.3m) of snow falling. 

 

The fearsome and sudden storm caused Niagara Falls to appear as if frozen (although the water continued to flow underneath). High winds were also a problem, with the cruise ship Norwegian Breakaway sailing from the Bahamas to New York suffering severe flooding. The 'bomb cyclone' was the cause of 22 deaths. 

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Arctic winds brought staggeringly low temperatures across the Midwest in January 2019, transforming Chicago into an icy wasteland. Temperatures dropped to a record-breaking minus -31°C (-23°F) and the mercury dropped so low that parts of the Chicago River froze over. 

The weather was so bad that the Illinois governor declared a state of emergency due to the plummeting temperatures, which at times were colder than Antarctica. To keep the city's trains running gas fires were used on the rail tracks while those at home were requested to turn down their heating to conserve much-needed energy. However, it was those who were homeless or working outdoors that were hardest hit, with 21 fatalities and many others treated for frostbite. 

February 2021 brought some of the coldest temperatures to Texas for 30 years, as the mercury dropped to -18ºC (0ºF) on Valentine’s Day. The freezing weather resulted in at least 21 deaths reported across Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, North Carolina and Missouri, but 100 million people were affected as snow covered over 70% of the US. 

In Austin (pictured) the snowfall was around five inches (13cm) and caused more than just traffic jams. The low temperatures prompted a surge in power usage in the Lone Star State, that resulted in blackouts as the energy grid failed. Some of the deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning due to people seeking alternative ways to stay warm, such as running cars or generators in homes and garages not built to retain heat. 

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The new year brought a new winter storm to the eastern states, which saw record-breaking snow fall in Washington DC. The capital was hit with 8.5 inches (22cm) of the white stuff on 3 January, the most it's seen since the same time in 2016. Two children were killed after trees were uprooted and fell on houses, while hundreds of thousands of people were left without power across the East Coast.

Even President Joe Biden felt the brunt of the blizzard. His helicopter, along with thousands of other flights across the US, was grounded in Maryland, choosing instead to drive to the White House for duties. He's pictured here at Andrews Air Force Base. The full extent of the storm is still not known.

The West Coast has been hit hard by both heavy rain and snowstorms in the first weeks of January 2022. A whiteout on 7 January forced Interstate 90 (pictured) over the Snoqualmie Pass to close for nearly four days. Heavy snow – two feet (0.6m) fell in just over 24 hours – caused a whopping 38 avalanches, which made the pass too dangerous for general traffic, with only freight vehicles able to travel first when it finally reopened on 9 January. There was further bad news for the region when a house in the Magnolia neighbourhood of Seattle partially collapsed, sliding 15 feet (4.5m) down a steep slope during a landslide caused by recording-breaking rain.