The Blizzard of 1996 original coverage: New York area digs out!

[@walterjohnson1873]

Rescued a cat in Queens during that storm. Had her for the next 17 years, miss you Kitts!

[@ajaugenti1976]

Well done!

[@FreedomtowerStudios]

I take it shes no longer with you, im so sorry, she lasted a long time!

[@ajaugenti1976]

@@FreedomtowerStudios She passed away in February of 2004. My Grandfather passed away in April of 1998.

[@smokeDablue]

🤡

[@brandongarretson9475]

God bless you for that!!!

[@TheAbracadabra1988]

I was 8, or going to be 8, when this happened. School was closed, and everything was closed. We were out and playing in the snow. The best days of my life. 😀

[@richiebee1984]

I WAS IN THE 6TH GRADE IN BROOKLYN AND SCHOOL WAS CLOSED FOR A WEEK!! MADE LOTS OF MONEY THAT WEEK!!💵💵💵💵!!

[@str-jd3yo]

Same here I literally thought about that when I looked this up😂

[@jschnabes13]

Was a freshman in high school in New Jersey, school was canceled for the week, and it was during Mid Terms!! Was so awesome

[@igorgerlovin3185]

I recently came from Russia, and I've never seen so much snow before! I was in 5th grade at the time, and had 4 snow days!

[@thetruth7906]

Wow this brings back great memories I was six years old making igloos hiding inside them 😂.

[@AddisonScott1]

Millennial people like me watching old news and respectfully having old souls still

[@juanitaflorescabrera537]

😆😃

[@mordys6305]

Millennials. the most useless generation

[@ibedatnexgangsta420]

i was 8 years old.... I remember walking on piles of snow with my friends not even knowing we were walking on top of cars, so much fun we had playing

[@Nswix]

I moved from Alaska to NYC in December 1995 and remember feeling culture shock that this felt normal to me, but no one else.

[@neiko9251]

It was the first Blizzard I could remember. I was 3 years old turning 4 in April. I was living in Queens. My father took me outside and dropped me in the snow , and I literally was covered from head to toe. The only time in my life I could remember looking up out of a hole in the snow.

[@yanalicious87]

Lol that’s a cute story

[@itsyourgirlnat]

So nostalgic. I was 7 yrs old and remember this broadcast vividly (because I had no school the next day and was too excited to stay up late). My siblings and I had so much fun in Long Island ❤. Bill Beutel is one of the reasons I got into broadcasting. What a time

[@TheNameisPlissken1981]

Around 1993 to 1997 or '98, it seemed like there were two or three blizzards a year (in NJ). It was crazy!

[@TommyRibs]

This was INSANE. I lived in Westchester County at the time. The National Guard had to be called in to remove snow and they dumped it in the Hudson River.

[@Keith_McDaniel]

R.I.P. Bill Beutel 🙏💯💐🌹

[@Jean0987654321]

Personally, the best anchor ever

[@fancyface2848]

I survived Blizzard 1996. I can never forget this. I was in Rhode Island with my then 7 year old son spending time with my family, when the news of the impending blizzard aired. Knowing how messy snows could get in New England, I quickly packed my son and my things in my Ford Taurus Station wagon, drove back to NYC. It's February 2nd, 2023 we still haven't had an inch of snow in NYC this winter. How things have changed.

[@ajaugenti1976]

My late grandparents were still alive back then, and both were living in NYC. They were both my biological Father's parents until my Grandfather had passed away in April of 1998, and my Grandmother had passed away in February of 2004. Both are resting in peace with God. I miss them alot!

[@TheRedRaven_]

I was 10 when it hit, it was awesome, I built tunnels in my back yard, making an igloo out of a bigger pile. When the snow started to melt and freeze in the street, we were actually able to ice skate down our entire street! I’ll never forget it 😆

[@GiordanDiodato]

I was almost 3 when it hit. Only thing I remember was my dad not being able to go to work and going outside and seeing almost nothing but white.

[@johncunningham3475]

I was 28

[@DTD110865]

I was just over 30.

[@SneakySnacks]

I was 14 and this blizzard made me love weather and made me study and understand it. Because of it I became a weather freak. In my life I have at least predicted two mistakes that meteorologist were making at the time of their predictions. All in all I remember it was Sunday and I was heading to church and the weather men were predicting 8-12. Sunday 9am I begged my mom not to leave the house because i felt by looking at the radar on the weather channel that there would be alot more snow on the floor by 3pm Sunday, then they are predicting. Was it a hunch or natural instinct? . We left anyways and by the time we left church at 3pm 7 inches had fallen and continued falling . The vans were stuck and the roads were impassable. We had to walk through blizzard home. I became the household weather man after that . Till this day my brother and sisters and mom call me the Weatherman.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Cool story.

[@Gildhattie]

Omg I have literally the same story! I was 16 and grew up on LI, and this, and the blizzard of '93, were the storms that got me to study meteorology!.. it's still fascinating to this day to reminisce!!

[@lokomotive28]

i don’t need to study weather to see there are no more blizzards

[@BrianImpastato]

Almost the same story to a T. I was 14 as well and loved every minute of it even though we only had one day off from school and a two hour delay the next day

[@Snarkister]

Memories of my young and dumb years. Like an airhole, I drove my z28 through that blizzard. Eventually hit a snow bank and the car engulfed in flames while trying to free it. Electrical fire. Fortunately there was plenty of snow to pile on the engine. I left it there in a parking lot and found it a week later encased in mountain of ice. I have know idea what I was thinking.. luckily I grew out of the nitwit stage.

[@Charmedone9805]

i remember this, we had a week off of school and lost are spring break. i remember the 1995/1996 winter being a snowy one

[@Abel646]

I was 7 when this blizzard happened and I remember it clearly

[@latieraqueen17]

I remember looking out the window. Couldn't see anything. Not even the trees in my parents yard.

[@LADYROXXY129]

I was 8... & I wish I can see this one more time ... I removed it like it was yesterday a child’s dream

[@Kreege]

I was 6, I remember walking outside after my dad had shoveled away the walkway from the front door of our house to the street and the wall of snow on either side of me was taller than I was.

[@jonagro558]

Me too bro classic times man the 90’s air really hit different then now it feels like we are in a different time warp I can’t explain it man lmao

[@djsthemetereman]

Yeah, I'm in a town right next to Elizabeth & I think this snowstorm Orlena will rival this one, we'll be calling it the storm of February 2021. We are expecting 12-18 inches, could be more they have to keep adjusting it. There's also a State of Emergency & we could possibly be in the house for three days.

[@andrew.a.mcgovernmalpc1588]

Remember this storm well. I was 17 years old and a senior in high school. Many of my friends who graduate the year before were all home from college and my high school was on the tail end of Christmas break when this storm hit. Needless to say we had another week of break added on b/c of this storm. Simpler times

[@julzGoLDZenAlchemica]

Best childhood winter memories of growing up in Brooklyn:))))) - covered in snow, turned into something magical for me and the kids on the block it didn't matter how cold or frozen our bodies were we didn't have waterproof gloves or waterproof boots, but we stayed out in the snow and we endured and we had the time of our lives is every snow covered car turned into a slide. Good times good times.

[@DejaDrewit]

That was the best blizzard ever

[@merfwriter]

I was about 13 1/2 years old during this time. One one of craziest winter storms I ever experienced. We were out of school for a week.

[@josephhoman8602]

I'm from Baltimore..I love watching old news stories from nyc

[@Flash3477]

I was home in Somerset County NJ on semester break from college when this happened. We had 2.5 feet and stepping out onto the front porch at our place, the snow was up to my knees, and I'm about 6'4" for perspective. I was eager to see what it looked like back on campus, but it nearly all melted by the next weekend.

[@OllieProphet]

This was the winter that prompted me to get my first of many Subarus later that year (Outback version of Subie at 3:15....). Seemed like I had to shovel every day for a month living in Easton, PA. Of course, it hardly snowed the following couple of years....figures. But that year, it never stopped. The plows knocked over my mailbox at some point, and it finished the season with the wooden remnant stuck in snow and ice, with adjustments to height made as needed. RIP Bill B., miss ya.

[@saiman10]

My mom says now that storms like this don’t happen no more

[@rosannasmom1]

I was a senior in HS and school was closed for a week! 🎉

[@TerraziUtopia2010]

Can’t believe this all happened 24 years ago & I wasn’t even born until the very end of 1996. 😲

[@iancrossley6637]

You missed a Doozy

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

What brought you here? How do you even know about the blizzard?

[@TerraziUtopia2010]

@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 Because I was looking back at all the events of 1996 and what occurred that year before I was born

[@mermaidlu5125]

Good for you

[@hiddendragon1001]

Me too bro

[@psychoshamrock]

NYC spent its entire salt budget on these storms. From December 1995 thru February 1996, it was snow snow snow. Mother Nature was in a BAD mood that winter! The budget was $59 million, if I remember correctly, and it was all gone by March 1996. It was insane.

[@sergiodarosa1034]

I was 11 i remember alittle

[@mermaidlu5125]

I think those numbers are exaggerated

[@shadowsinmymind9]

Lol. It happened again in 2015. That year was one blizzard after another. We had 4 to 5 feet of snow in my yard and it didnt melt until late march

[@RapidCycling07]

Mother Nature does not exist. Bad weather either just happens or is a result of HAARP weather manipulation/warfare. Peace!

[@alfrede.neuman3782]

The nostalgia 🥰

[@3dplanet100]

Yeap. I feel that too, man. I remember I only was 13 years old and I having fun, and I didn't had to worry to commute, or to call work to call out, or to shovel, etc😅 Wow, those are part of my childhood memories. Now, when there is snowstorm, I have to commute and find parking to go back home, (or just to go in an Uber) and if is a huge snowstorm, I have to call out to work cuz the city havent shovel the snow in the street and streets are impasible. Man, am glad when that storm happened i was a kid, lol

[@Bobby06607]

I was 9yrs old when this snow storm happened 😮 I’ll never forget that snow storm when I lived in NYC on ADEE AVE in the bronx. The snow was taller then me 😂😂😂

[@The2Coolest2]

Not sure why people constantly refer to this storm as the worst in recent times for NYC when the 2010 blizzard dropped up to 29" in Staten Island

[@alllivesmatter3561]

I think because it snowed days on end, whereas the 2010 one was a day or 2. Even storm of 03 felt worse than 2010 to me.

[@nickcollins9170]

Thats because the 03 storm had some crazy wind making it a true classic blizzard white out.

[@golferpro1241]

Held a Blizzard party in a bar in Sunset Park Brooklyn. One of the best nights ever. Remember it well. The girls hitched a ride home in the snow plow with the sanitation guys. Lol.

[@zarinahgrant4634]

I remember this we was out of school for a whole week I was 12 years old

[@diazjd93]

I was 3 years old and remember this !

[@vivic4617]

I was also twelve good times for us kids 🤗

[@JGrhm97]

I was 21 years old...I remember it like it was yesterday.

[@lorie1482]

I was 21 as well. That snow storm was epic 🥶🥶

[@joetamburello4223]

This storm was crazy. Out of school for about a week

[@camillemckenzie3235]

It was the first time I could remember the NYC schools being closed

[@KennyGBeBopTV]

Yes nyc days I was 7. This was yesterday

[@shadowsinmymind9]

I remember this blizzard. I was 9 and it reached up to my knees or thighs

[@mnmcards5251]

I was 22, it was awesome had a 6 foot drift across my back yard

[@ForeignerFan74]

I Was 22 Years Old Too!

[@craigc1879]

Look how nice Sam Champion looks, plastic surgery should be illegal, it’s a weird odd look.

[@lawsonransom8318]

My wife told me that she wanted a divorce and had plane tickets to fly back to Sweden...then this storm hit and all the airports were closed. We were both stuck in the house for 2 weeks trying to avoid each other before she could get another ✈️ flight.

[@adamwalentynowicz3128]

I was 10 it was awesome

[@yanalicious87]

I was 3 yrs in America when the blizzard happened. It was amazing , I was a little kid.

[@rrlogosable]

“Are those your skis? Both of them?”

[@billwalsh4554]

No joke ,I walked about 3 miles through this to get to my then girlfriend/now wife. 😎

[@Nephelangelo]

Legend.

[@vondumozze738]

I remember this one quite well. My wife (RIP) and I and our 7 years old daughter walked the one mile to the WaWa. What I'm looking for is the Christmas storm of December 26, 1969. My squadron mate Jimmy Irizzary left San Diego at about the same time. My flight to EWR landed a half hour early, his to JFK 2 hours late. I thought we would bingo to DC but we made EWR. My father picked me up and we made it home to Wallington in an hour.

[@bridgetisjonesing5007]

I was 14 when this happened, I was a freshman in high school and we had to go to school the next day in Long Island... nobody showed up lol

[@vivic4617]

I was 12 when this happen us kids was happy to be home and playing in the snow 🤗

[@informativeclassics]

Happened today 29 years ago! My story: I was on the way to DC on the bus back home to Bristol, Va . When we left Newark, Nj it wasn’t snowing at all. But once we got to DC ( which was five hours away on the bus) it was snowing, but not bad. My layover was like an hour, during that hour it had to drop like 5 inches of snow every 10 minutes. Then the person came over the intercom and said, “ All buses headed south, and southwest have been cancelled “ I was like wtf. The only buses that were running were headed back to New York, so I called my grandfather and told him what was going on. And thirty minutes later jumped on the bus heading to Penn Station 🚉! I was sleeping the entire time 😂. I closed my eyes looking at the White House and woke up in the Lincoln Tunnel 😂😂😂. Shi I was tired. But that’s my story from this day. Crazy

[@roflbotfpv9168]

During this storm a tagger went out to get some work in and fell in to a stream with both his legs broken. My buddies and I heard him and rescued him from freezing to death.

[@codecracker87]

Who else remembers when abc wasn't completely biased? Those were the good days.

[@moniquepeterson3327]

I just relived my childhood

[@TaccRaccoon]

I wasn’t around yet, but my grandpa recorded footage on an old vhs camera My cousin made a big snowman and named him buckethead He had a bucket for a hat The dogs climbed the snow and it looked like fun

[@readyrose3558]

we were living in vandyke in the projects, but we had a ball. I was 8 and I remember the snow being up to my waist lol. Those were the days...

[@jackpwade]

I remember plowing this storm awake for 3 days straight. Can you imagine if the millions of people in the city helped shovel. Neither can I

[@mohammedrehman4578]

It's great to look back. That time wasn't KZbin. I used to live in Brooklyn NYC. Now I live in Connecticut i told the story of that snow storm when subway was shut off. This 8 inches snow nothing.

[@chriswright2250]

In my town the snow was dumped into the south river. It looked like giant ice cubes.

[@treygray2817]

Had so much fun playing in this!

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I got robbed at gunpoint trying to shovel my car out.

[@dco2006]

Rest in Peace to our friends Key (cat) and my friend Ralph (dog) who were found in this storm. 1996-2018.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

What do you mean found? They were wandering in the snow?

[@dco2006]

@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 Yes. Walking around the Ocean County Mall in Tom's River NJ.

[@brannon5311]

@@dco2006 People keep your animals indoors during extreme weather. This is disgusting.

[@dco2006]

@@brannon5311 This was 25 years ago. Plus - the cat wasn't anyone's pet. She was weeks old.

[@edwardfights4900]

@@brannon5311 learn to read

[@c165vin]

I remember that Doug Hill from channel 7 from DC said that we here in frederick MD were only going to get 1-3" of snow. Boy was he wrong, we got right around 40" of snow with drifts to 12 feet deep,what a joke. He went on the air and said that we misunderstood him lol. Never again will we watch him

[@EvilLink88]

I remember the snow being above my knee. I was 13 at that time.

[@shinebrightlikeadiamond5329]

I was 16 when this storm hit

[@litoace-sw9zf]

Who remembers those old heavy metal shovels😂

[@taton5]

After the recent bad weather here in NJ I wouldn’t be surprised if we got another one this winter

[@sammysoul]

Awesome coverage. I was 17 and sad to say I have no recollection of this blizzard 😯

[@Final_Fantasy_7]

There's nothing like it compared to now...i was 16 years old of East NY Brooklyn.

[@blastradius7193]

I was 16... Out my window I could see the buried cars on the Manhattan bridge.

[@omzizo715]

I was 12 just coming to America, it was the first time seeing real snow!

[@Imjustherelol]

0 year old me was not alive yet 🤣

[@SamuelGriffin-zt1ze]

Snow began Sunday afternoon in 1996 as far as I can remember total inches 6 to 10

[@informativeclassics]

January 6th 1996 was on a Saturday. By Sunday the snow covered everything

[@oliverrando6463]

Man I like remember this my mom told me this I was only 2 this was one of the biggest blizzards

[@SalomonSeverin-v5i]

Bill beutel and Diana Williams are ultimate news leaders of channel 7 nobody at that station did it better not just that time but ever.

[@ThePandaPhotographer]

Bill you are always loved friend

[@melvinjackson7631]

I remember this I was 18teen years old

[@ronaldcabral7506]

Wow now I remember was stuck in Rhode Island trying get back to kentucky remember after New Years eve Rhode Island got hit hard with snow flight was cancelled was 12 years old

[@jndmmn9]

was this filmed in the bronx?

[@flybabyjake]

Back when Giuliani was sane

[@DrRockso79]

I remember it was so bad they actually had to stop mail delivery and it had to be the day I was waiting for an important package, heh.

[@DJaySplitSecond]

I got stuck at work at FedEx in Newark along with a female coworker I got to chill and snuggle with her!! 🙂🙂

[@jessicafetty7946]

I was three years old this is crazy

[@kevinhoward9593]

i dont think new York city will ever seen something as powerful again.

[@CAPTJ696]

Snow of 96.....my Nissan had to be pulled out and cost me 50 bucks just to go a few feet. Tim Minton works at Public Information at Mta. I saw him recently. Alot of reporters head to Public Information jobs with City Agencies.

[@Chirtopher-x4e]

I remember this storm very well, I was the only pizza delivery driver in RVC LI and I made 60 deliveries that day with my 1970 VW beetle. When i arrived to work my boss said: "what are you doing here?" I'm here to make bank boss! the phone was already ringing off the hook. He said you think you can do it? lol I said just take the orders and let me do my thing!

[@ForeignerFan74]

I Remember This Blizzard!

[@McRemmyBaby]

Our driveway in lower Pa was 6ft tall no cap, was a slope kinda down, +drift, lord it was nuts

[@Jasmine_887]

I remember this ❤

[@myworkouts3029]

Ugh...I remember that one. ⛄

[@CR-ou4hl]

I was a plebe at West Point when this happened. Standing outside in formations was... less than fun.

[@dadocta8355]

Oooh, that sounds bad. What was PT like?

[@GiantsJets718]

Back when people didn’t have cars that couldn’t get around in the snow, well very little anyway with that amount

[@HelloooThere]

There's still remnants of snow left stuck around those places..

[@adamkuestner2961]

Shoveling the snow into the street is fine, passing cars will break it down. The whole oh, they'll skid on it and crash is a myth.

[@MiniMarilynMonroe]

I was born that July in Brooklyn, my parents carried the stroller haha in alllllll of that

[@genebigs1749]

RUDY!!!!!!

[@dblockvillin]

I shoveled for the neighborhood and make enough money to buy my family dinner that blizzard

[@user-yz2cx3dq5t]

Like a comment before me, can't believe this happened 24 years ago. I wasn't even close to born when this happened.

[@goolag6536]

I was 10 and lived in Queens.

[@slapshot68]

Maybie this wknd we will get a storm like this

[@mordys6305]

When NYC wasn't a complete s hole.

[@Scambush]

Christ Bollwage as of December 2023 is still the mayor of Elizabeth.

[@mermaidlu5125]

I was 15 and remember traveling to nyc with my friend lol

[@byronthomas153]

2:49

[@wkeil1981]

I was in 8th grade when this happened