PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — This week marks the 30th anniversary of the blizzard of 1996, which impacted the East Coast, including Hampton Roads, from Jan. 6-8.
An area of low pressure to the west merged with an area of low pressure in Georgia, creating a powerful low that slowly made its way along the East Coast, traveling just offshore. To the north was a strong area of high pressure that wasn’t budging.
This allowed a lot of gulf and Atlantic Ocean moisture to get wrapped up into this system while cold air got pushed in from the north. That led to the perfect conditions for heavy snow to fall. Strong gusty winds of 25 mph to 35 mph also prevailed and it created 4 to 7 foot snow drifts in some locations…