January 6, 1996: The Northeast Blizzard of '96

January 6, 1996: The New York Tri-State Area is hit with its biggest snowfall since official measurements began, 30 inches. That's two and a half feet.

The City had been hit by big blizzards before. The most celebrated one was from March 11 to 14, 1888: It paralyzed the City for days, and led to the construction of the Subway system, and to the City's electric company, Consolidated Edison, moving most electrical lines underground as well. The snowfall was officially measured at 21 inches.

This record held until December 26, 1947, 26 inches. Fortunately, by then, snow removal equipment was mechanized, so the City's paralysis didn't last nearly as long.

A "nor'easter" dropped 20 inches on New York from February 8 to 11, 1969. This one was terribly mishandled by Mayor John Lindsay, who got Manhattan plowed fairly quickly, but not the Outer Boroughs. People there were outraged, and when the Republican Primary for the Mayoral election was held that year, Lindsay was dumped for John Marchi, a State Senator from Staten Island.

The Democrats nominated the City's Comptroller, Mario Procaccino, but he made racist statements, and it looked like any chance for social progress in The City was doomed. But due to New York State's unusual 4-party system, Lindsay was nominated by the Liberal Party, and narrowly won re-election, partly because he had tied his fortunes to those of the Mets, who won the World Series 19 days before the general election. (The 4th party, the Conservative Party, nominated Marchi.) Lindsay won 42 percent of the vote, Procaccino 36, and Marchi 22.

The 1st big blizzard that I can remember struck on February 11, 1983. I was in the 8th grade in East Brunswick, New Jersey, and we were let out at 12:00 Noon instead of the usual 2:05 PM. I spent much of the night dipping a yardstick into the backyard. When the snow topped out, I had it measured at 22 inches. Fortunately, that was a Friday, so most people who worked Monday-to-Friday jobs didn't miss much time, or pay.

That would also be the case with the Blizzard of '96. Still, it was, at least at first, beyond The City's capacity to get people out. Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. were clobbered as well, getting 18, 30, 22 and 24 inches, respectively. Topping it out was eastern West Virginia, at 48 inches -- 4 feet.

Janice Huff had recently become the main weathercaster on WNBC-Channel 4 in New York. She seemed to enjoy this "baptism by ice" a little too much. My father called her "the Weather Witch."

The federal government was paralyzed politically, as President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled Congress couldn't agree on a budget, so the government was shut down for a while, before Clinton's public popularity forced the Republicans to cave.

Kids sledding on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building.

A better January 6 for the building than would happen in 2021.

That same day, Willie Brown, long the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the State of California, forced to leave that post because of a stupid newly-passed term limits law, was sworn in as Mayor of San Francisco. After his Inaugural Address, he got a congratulatory phone call from Clinton. Brown told him, "Mr. President, you'd love it here: There's no snow, and no Republicans!" As Brown laughed, a big cheer went up from the crowd in what is, perhaps, America's most liberal city.

Sure, New York has to worry about snow, and extreme heat in the Summer. And San Francisco doesn't. But look at the bright side: We don't have to worry about earthquakes.

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January 6, 1996 was a Saturday. The Tri-State Area's basketball teams were lucky: Neither the New York Knicks nor the New Jersey Nets were scheduled, and neither had to postpone a game. There were 7 games played in the NBA that day:

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Atlanta Hawks, 96-90 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic, 105-94 at the Gund Arena in Cleveland. (It's now named the Rocket Arena.)

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Washington Bullets, 90-82 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. 

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 113-84 at the United Center. Michael Jordan scored 32 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Indiana Pacers, 99-87 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The Miami Heat beat the Denver Nuggets, 88-86 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver. Alonzo Mourning scored 38 for the Heat.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Golden State Warriors, 115-106 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

There were 10 games played in the NHL. Amazingly, both the Devils and the Islanders got their games in before the worst of the blizzard hit, while the Rangers had the day off:

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals, 3-1 at the Brendan Byrne Arena. Reid Simpson scored a goal for the defending Stanley Cup Champions, and Bill Guerin scored 2. The attendance was listed as a full 19,040, but that may be tickets sold, not people actually showing up.

* The New York Islanders beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-4, before 12,175 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 7-6 at the Montreal Forum. The Forum closed 2 months later, replaced by the Bell Centre.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Hartford Whalers, 5-2 at the FleetCenter in Boston. (It's now the TD Garden.)

* In the opener of the CBC's Saturday night broadcast of Hockey Night In Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Avalanche, 5-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-0 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 at the Kiel Center in St. Louis. (It's now the Enterprise Center.)

* The Calgary Flames beat the Florida Panthers, 2-0 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks, 7-5 at The Forum in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California.

* And in the nightcap of Hockey Night In Canada, the Vancouver Canucks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 9-2 at General Motors Place in Vancouver. (It's now Rogers Place.)

Also, Arsenal drew with Sheffield United, 1-1 at Highbury in North London. This was in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup, so a replay was required. On January 17, at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, Yorkshire, Sheffield United won, 1-0.