The Great Storm of 1950

The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 was a very large storm that moved through the Eastern United Sates during November. It was one of the coldest and deadliest storms ever recorded in U.S. history. In all there was about 50 or more inches of snow and allot of rain. The storm killed 383 people and caused more than 70 million dollars in damage. The storm began with an arctic storm front passing through Kentucky and the other Eastern states on the 23rd and into the 24th. As the storm reached across the other states temperatures drastically changed. The areas in front of the large storm front where around 40 to 50 degrees. As the storm passed through the temperatures plunged to the teens and then into the negatives. States across the Upper Midwest reported all time monthly lows. Low pressure rapidly developed in South and North Carolina. The storm slowly died down and ended up blowing up into Canada before stopping.

            The impact of the Strom was huge. The rain and snow caused massive flooding problems. The coastal flooding breached dikes at LaGuardia Airport in New York and flooded runways delaying flights for days at a time. This caused the air port millions and millions dollars in flood damage. Large wind gusts also knocked out power to over 1 million houses. New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire all reported wind gusts up to over 100 mph. Because the flooding was so bad many fire stations and other emergency places were closed. If these fire stations were open many of these deaths and injuries would have been easily preventable. Many people were also trapped in their homes because of the massive flooding.

During the storm some states reported 50 inches or more of snow in just a few days! Cars and houses where completely buried in snow. Some people trapped in large blizzards froze to death. People in the hardest hit towns could not even open the door to their house. Other things that had a huge impact on the states were damaged crops. Thousands of dollars were lost on crops because of this storm. All traffic during the storm ground to a halt. Almost all businesses had to shut down for a few days because no one could get to work. Ships and boats were also damaged on the Great Lakes.

       This was one of the most deadly and costliest storms that the U.S. has ever faced. Millions in dollars of damage were recorded and hundreds of people lost their lives to this storm. A few good things did come out of this storm though. This storm is used to help simulate the large destruction and damage if another storm like this hit again. Emergency responders have a better idea of what to do and how to prevent many of the deaths that happened during this storm. Tests were also run on this storm to predict what the weather would be like in the near future and the warning signs of a storm like this one. These tests led to the development of the National Centers of Weather Prediction which notifies people of bad weather and tries to prevent as many deaths and injuries as possible.