National Archives at Boston

Featured Documents of the Month from NARA at Boston

Blizzard of 1978

The Blizzard of 1978 was a catastrophic and historic nor'easter that brought blizzard conditions to the entire New England region. Boston received a then-record 27.1 inches of snow and brought the entire region to a complete standstill. Many people were stranded in their cars along roads and highways throughout the New England region. More than 3,500 cars were found abandoned and buried in the middle of roads during the clean-up effort. This figure does not include the countless other vehicles buried in driveways, on the sides of streets, and in parking lots. Other transportation links were disrupted and shut down region-wide, stranding public transit commuters in city centers. This photograph shows some of the abandon cars on Route 128 near Needham, Massachusetts.

RG 077, Army Corps of Engineers, Records of the Blizzard of 1978, National Archives ID #4688070.

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