Utica Snowstorm
Oneida County Historical Society
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Well, the leaves are falling, and in Central New York that's never a good sign of things to come. For a select few of us, snowfall means skiing, snowboarding, hot chocolate and the fun of ice skating. Still for others, it means three months of being sequestered in your home, trapped by a never-ending gray sky and the fear that one well placed snow storm is the only thing keeping you from becoming a one man Donner Party.

Recently, we've had some strong blizzards roll through, including the late February 2010 snow storm that destroyed all hopes of an early spring, and the storm that struck in 2007 for almost a month.

In Utica, people tend to talk about two storms in particular; the blizzard of 1966 and the blizzard of 1925. Obviously, I don't remember either one, but thanks to the Oneida County Historical Society we call relive the horror of being buried alive in 28 feet of snow.

The Blizzard of 1966:

This was one of those storms that made you feel like you were never going to make it to spring, let alone the end of January. The massive Nor'easter originally struck the lakeside city of Oswego, but later buried the state in ridiculous amounts of snow. Oswego took the brunt of it, receiving more than 100 inches of snow during the five day storm.

Utica Snowstorm
Oneida County Historical Society
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Utica didn't fare much better, as the city saw 31 inches of snow between January 29th and February 1st. The storm ranks at the top of the city's accumulations chart by more than three inches, topping an almost equally dastardly storm from 1970.

Utica Snowstorm
Oneida County Historical Society
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The Blizzard of 1925:

Many of us weren't around for this one, but the blizzard of 1925 struck like a lion. On January 29th, the city of Utica saw about 22 inches of snow fall on the city, covering it in a thick layer of white. Crews worked feverishly to clear the streets, and the storm still ranks among the city's top ten. But, people mainly remember it as "The Big Snow."

Utica Snowstorm
Oneida County Historical Society
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Utica Snowstorm
Oneida County Historical Society
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Here's hoping for another mild winter this year.

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