Blizzard of 1966
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The Blizzard of '66 is to date the most famous blizzard to hit Oswego, New York and holds the record for the most snowfall in a single storm in Oswego.
It began as a nor'easter which effected the New York City metro area and was followed by heavy "wraparound" lake effect snows. Winds were more then 60 mph. during the storm and at Fair Haven, New York they are believed to have exceeded 100 mph. The snow was badly drifted and roads and schools closed as long as a week. Drifts covered entire 2 story houses.
A total of 102" of snow was recorded at Oswego, 50" of this falling on the last day of the storm alone. 50" of snow were also recorded at Camden, New York on the same day. The last day of the blizzard the winds subsided and snowburst conditions prevailed, with the snow falling straight down. Fair Haven did not have official snowfall records at the time, but state troopers reported measuring 100" of snow on the level, where none had been prior to the storm. Syracuse, New York received a record snowfall of 42.3" which remained their heaviest storm on record, until the Blizzard of 1993.
The storm lasted from Jan. 27th- Jan. 31st 1966, a total of 4 1/2 days. The daily snowfall totals for Oswego are as follows.
27th 8" 28th 12" 29th 11" 30th 21" 31st 50"
