The Blizzard of 1888 (March 11, 1888 – March 14, 1888) paralyzed the Northeastern United States. In this blizzard, 400 people were killed, 200 ships were sunk, and snowdrifts towered 15 to 50 feet high. Earlier that year, the Great Plains states were struck by the Schoolhouse Blizzard that left children trapped in schoolhouses and killed 235 people.

It was known as the "Great White Hurricane ," and it paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine. Telegraph and telephone wires snapped, isolating New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington for several days. Two hundred ships were grounded in port, and at least one hundred sailors died. Fire stations were useless, and property loss from the subsequent fires alone were estimated at $25 million.

The days leading up to the storm were unusually mild, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s along the East Coast of the US. Heavy rains started, and on March 12, 1888, the rain changed to heavy snow, the temperature dropped quickly, and the very strong winds started. The storm spanned 36 hours. The National Weather service estimated that fifty inches of snow fell in Connecticut and Massachusetts and forty inches covered New York and New Jersey. Winds blew up to 48 miles an hour, creating snowdrifts forty to fifty feet high. The resulting transportation emergency led to the creation of the New York subway, approved in 1894 and begun in 1900.

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• Blizzard of 1888