January 1966 North American blizzard

On January 22–23, 1966, a cyclone that preceded the Blizzard of 1966 impacted Western New York and Southern Ontario. Toronto received of snow. The city of Batavia, New York, and Genesee County had of snow fall on that Saturday night alone. The only thing that prevented that snowstorm from becoming a true blizzard like this infamous one of the very next weekend was the lack of high winds. ==The blizzard==

Within days, at least 142 people would be killed. 31 had frozen to death, and 46 died in fires that started while they were trying to heat their homes. Others died from heart attacks while shovelling snow or pushing cars, or from traffic accidents caused by slick roads. The death toll reached 201 by Wednesday, February 2, as the storm eased. New Market, Alabama, recorded a state record low of on January 30, On Monday, January 31, federal government employees in Washington were excused from reporting to work, and international airports were closed from Boston to Washington, D.C. The additional accumulation raised the snow level to in Norfolk, Virginia. == East of Lake Ontario ==

Heavy lake effect snow fell southeast of Lake Ontario on January 27, 28, and 29, before the heavy snows from the cyclone reached the area on January 30. Lake effect bands continued to impact northern Cayuga, Onondaga, Madison, Oswego, and Oneida counties even during the cyclonic portion of the event on January 30–31. The last day of the blizzard the winds subsided and snowburst conditions prevailed, with the snow falling straight down. Fair Haven did not have official snowfall records at the time, but state troopers reported measuring of snow on the level, where none had been prior to the storm. Syracuse, New York received a record snowfall of which remained their heaviest storm on record, until the Blizzard of 1993. At Oswego, the storm lasted from January 27 to January 31, 1966, a total of 4½ days. The daily snowfall totals for Southwest Oswego, as measured by Professor Robert Sykes Jr, are as follows. • January 27, 1966: • January 28, 1966: • January 29, 1966: • January 30, 1966: • January 31, 1966: ==See also==