Biggest Snowstorms in NYC, Boston, Chicago and Buffalo History: The Top 10 in Each City (Mapped)

The 10 biggest snowstorms in each city, ranked by the storm total at its official weather station, with the storms of 2026 included.

What was the biggest snowstorm in NYC history? The blizzard of January 22–24, 2016, which left 27.5 inches in Central Park, the official record since 1869. The biggest snowstorm in Boston history is the Presidents' Day storm of February 17–18, 2003: 27.6 inches at the official station. Chicago's biggest is the Big Snow of January 26–27, 1967, with 23.0 inches. Buffalo's biggest is a lake-effect storm: 81.6 inches at the airport between December 24, 2001 and January 1, 2002. The winter of 2026 put two new storms on these lists: the February 22–23 blizzard is ninth in New York (19.7 inches), and the January 25–27 storm is eighth in Boston (23.2 inches). Below: the four lists, how storm totals are counted, the worst blizzards, a snowfall map, the warnings before recent storms, and the costs.

How a Storm Total Is Counted

Official snowfall is recorded per calendar day at one station in each city. A storm total adds up the days a storm lasted, and nobody publishes those totals as an official statistic. The National Weather Service office in Chicago says so plainly: "calendar day snowfall records are part of the official climate database for major cities around the country. However, storm total snowfall records are considered 'unofficial' and are mainly developed and maintained by local NWS offices and weather historians." Deciding where an old storm began and ended, it adds, "is somewhat subjective."

That leaves two kinds of list:

• New York and Chicago have lists published by their local NWS offices. We use them as published, and add the one 2026 storm that is newer than the New York list.
• Boston and Buffalo have no published NWS storm list, so we compiled theirs from the official daily record (as served by NOAA's Applied Climate Information System, ACIS), with one mechanical rule applied identically in both cities. A storm's dates come from the National Weather Service's own record of the event where one exists: NWS Buffalo's lake-effect event summaries, then NWS Buffalo's weather-history pages, then NWS Storm Data entries for the station's zone (in NOAA's Storm Events Database since 1996). Where no NWS event record exists, a storm is a run of consecutive days with measurable snow (0.1 inch or more). The storm total is the sum of the official daily snowfall on those dates. Undocumented runs longer than five days usually hold several storms, so we list them rather than rank them.

Where the National Weather Service has published an airport total for a listed storm, the rule matches it: 81.6 inches for Buffalo's 2001 storm, 51.9 for 2022, 34.4 for 1985 and 28.3 for 1984; 25.4, 23.8 and 23.2 inches for Boston's 1997, 2022 and 2026 storms. Two differ: NWS Storm Data gave Boston's 2003 storm as 27.5 inches, while the official daily values add up to 27.6, and NWS Buffalo's summary of the November 20–23, 2000 storm gives 25 inches for "Buffalo NWS", against 26.4 in the daily values.

Where the rule matters. Boston has one undocumented run that the five-day rule leaves out: February 8–13, 1994, with 26.9 inches over six days, which the daily values suggest held two storms (18.7 inches on February 8–10, then 8.0 inches on February 11). Counted as one storm it would rank third. In Buffalo, 13 undocumented runs of six days or more would make the top 10 if counted whole, and three places (1936, 1958 and 1961) rest on undocumented runs of up to five days.

Periods of record: Central Park since 1869; Chicago since 1884; Buffalo since 1884; Boston since 1891. Every value in the tables below is OBSERVED: snow measured at the station.

The Biggest Snowstorms in New York City History (Central Park)

Official National Weather Service list (NWS New York), with the February 2026 storm added from the NWS storm total.

Source: NWS New York, "Biggest Snowstorms (One Foot or More) at Central Park (1869 to Present)", last updated January 1, 2026; February 2026 storm total from the NWS New York storm summary (19.7 inches).

Seven of New York's ten biggest storms have come since 2000, and five since 2010. The 2016 record was a blizzard; the 1888 storm is the Great Blizzard of 1888, and the December 1947 storm dropped 26.1 inches on December 26 alone. Next on the list, at 18.1 inches, are January 22–24, 1935 and March 7–8, 1941. The Blizzard of 2026 is the newest: 8.8 inches on February 22 and 10.9 inches on February 23, both record snowfalls for those dates, for a storm total of 19.7 inches, one-tenth of an inch behind Presidents' Day 2003.

The Biggest Snowstorms in Boston History (Logan Airport)

Compiled by DisasterAWARE from the official NWS daily record (rule above). NWS Boston publishes no storm-total list.

Storm totals from the official daily snowfall record for Boston (NOAA ACIS, threaded station record), with storm dates as shown. Next on the list: 21.5 inches, January 20–22, 1978.

Boston's top two are 25 years apart and only half an inch different: 27.6 inches in 2003 and 27.1 inches in the Blizzard of '78. Two of the ten fell in early 2015, the winter Boston set its seasonal snowfall record of 110.6 inches. The January 25–27, 2026 storm brought 16.7 inches on the 25th, a record for the date, and 6.5 inches on the 26th, for 23.2 inches (NWS Storm Data gives the same figure for Logan) and eighth place. The Blizzard of 2026 a month later, on February 23, dropped 17.1 inches at Logan, the date's record, but did not make the top 10.

The Biggest Snowstorms in Chicago History (O'Hare and Midway)

Official National Weather Service list (NWS Chicago).

Source: NWS Chicago, "Chicago's Top 10 Largest Snowstorms" (list updated in 2015 and verified in 2025). Midway Airport was Chicago's official station for the 1967 and 1979 storms; O'Hare is the official station today.

No Chicago storm has broken into the top 10 since 2015. The biggest of the 2025–26 winter, around November 29–December 1, 2025, left about 10 inches at O'Hare.

What was the worst blizzard in Chicago history? On snow totals and on impact, the January 26–27, 1967 storm. Snow began at 5:02 a.m. on January 26, and by 10:10 a.m. the next day 23 inches had fallen, with gusts to 53 mph at Midway. NWS Chicago records that 20,000 cars and 1,100 CTA buses were stranded in the city. About 60 people died, and business losses were an estimated $150 million at the time. NWS Chicago counts only the 1967 and 2011 storms as true blizzards among its top four, measured by the strength of the wind and how long visibility stayed near zero. In 2011 the visibility at O'Hare stayed at or below a quarter mile for 11 consecutive hours, and drivers were stranded on Lake Shore Drive. The January 1979 storm was not a blizzard by that measure, but it closed O'Hare for 46 hours, and roofs collapsed under the snow.

The Biggest Snowstorms in Buffalo History (Buffalo Airport)

Compiled by DisasterAWARE from the official NWS daily record (rule above). NWS Buffalo publishes no storm-total list.

Storm totals from the official daily snowfall record for Buffalo (NOAA ACIS, threaded station record), with storm dates as shown. Next on the list: 25.6 inches, December 31, 1944 – January 4, 1945.

Buffalo's top storms are mostly lake-effect: narrow bands of snow off Lake Erie that can bury the airport while nearby towns see far less. The Christmas week storm of 2001 is in a class of its own: 20.5 inches on December 24, 21.9 inches on the 27th and 26.2 inches on the 28th, and 81.6 inches over the whole event as NWS Buffalo dates it. The Blizzard of '85 (January 19–22, 1985) is fifth: NWS Buffalo records 34.4 inches in four days, with a driving ban across five western New York counties.

Thirteen undocumented runs of more than five days would make this top 10 if counted whole, so we name them rather than rank them. The largest are December 9, 1985 – January 1, 1986 (64.2 inches over 24 days), December 10–17, 1945 (40.7 inches), January 2–10, 1892 (34.3) and January 4–11, 1982 (32.5).

What was the worst blizzard in Buffalo history? Two storms, and neither won on snowfall alone.

• The Blizzard of '77 (January 28–February 1, 1977) dropped only about 12 inches at the airport, much of it snow blown in off frozen Lake Erie. But it struck a city already holding a 37-inch snowpack. Winds averaged 46 mph and gusted to 69 mph at the airport, with wind chills of 55 to 60 below. NWS Buffalo records 29 deaths. President Carter declared a federal disaster area, the first ever for a snowstorm in the US.
• The Blizzard of 2022 (December 23–27) brought both the wind and the snow: 51.9 inches at the airport, 22.3 inches of it on December 23 alone, a daily record. Blizzard conditions lasted 40 consecutive hours at the airport, with gusts to 72 mph. NWS Buffalo reports that the Thruway closed from Rochester to the Pennsylvania line, that travel bans in Erie and Niagara counties lasted a day or two beyond the blizzard, and that the Buffalo airport closed for several days. The storm was deadly in Buffalo; Climate Central's billion-dollar record attributes 87 deaths to the whole storm and cold wave, across the US.

Map: Snowfall From the Biggest Storms Since 2008

The map shows each city's official station; click one for its full top 10. The layer menu holds NOAA's NOHRSC snowfall analysis for all 14 storms on the lists since 2008, one storm per layer. Each city's highest-ranked storm in it is on at load, drawn up to the lines midway between cities. The analysis is MODELED: it interpolates thousands of reports onto a grid, so its value at a station can differ from the official measurement. NOHRSC's archive begins in late 2008. Also in the menu, off at load: NWS warnings for the 15 storms since 2006, NWS storm reports since 2010, observers' snow totals for 22 storms back to 1947, and radar at the height of 11 storms.

Open map full screen ↗

NWS Warnings Before the Storms Since 2014

Nine storms on the four lists have come since 2014. For each, the table shows the National Weather Service winter storm, blizzard or lake-effect snow warnings in force for the official station's forecast zone during the storm, when the first was issued, and when snow began at the station. These are NWS warnings (IEM): issued products, the ALERT tier, not measurements.

Source: NWS warnings (IEM): Iowa Environmental Mesonet archive of NWS VTEC products, by forecast zone (Manhattan NYZ072, Suffolk MA MAZ015, Cook County IL ILZ014, northern Erie NY NYZ010). "First warning issued" is the time of the product that first issued it, often an upgrade from a watch. "Snow began" is the first hourly or special observation (IEM ASOS archive) of the continuous run of snow reports that led into the storm. Standard time.

For every one of these storms a warning had been issued before steady snow began at the station, from about 4 hours ahead for Boston's February 2015 storm to almost two days ahead for its January 2026 storm. In three cases the warning changed type as the storm went on: Chicago's 2015 Winter Storm Warning was upgraded to a Blizzard Warning, and Boston's January 2015 and Buffalo's December 2022 Blizzard Warnings were followed by Winter Storm Warnings.

For Insurers and Reinsurers: What Big City Snowstorms Cost

In big cities, snowstorm losses come through three channels.

• Roof collapse and snow load. In early 2015, Boston's storms came one after another and roof snow compacted. 106 roofs caved in across Massachusetts in the two weeks to February 20, 2015, including a commercial plaza, a daycare centre and a lumber retailer (Insurance Journal, citing the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency). Climate Central's record for the February 14–20, 2015 storm and cold wave notes "load-stress on buildings" in Boston and direct Massachusetts losses above $1.0 billion. Chicago's 1979 storm also collapsed roofs (NWS Chicago).
• Business interruption and transport. The 1967 Chicago storm caused an estimated $150 million in business losses, in the money of the time, and O'Hare closed for 46 hours in 1979 (NWS Chicago). Buffalo's 2022 blizzard closed the airport for several days and the Thruway across western New York; Climate Central puts the whole December 21–26, 2022 storm and cold wave at $9.5 billion; it notes widespread frozen water pipes that led to extensive water damage.
• Regional loss. The Groundhog Day Blizzard of February 1–3, 2011, Chicago's third-biggest storm, cost $2.7 billion and killed 36 people across the central and eastern US (Climate Central). The January 23–26, 2026 storm, Boston's eighth-biggest, is the costliest winter storm of 2026 so far in Climate Central's database: $4.5 billion and 171 deaths, with snow, ice and record cold from the Central US into the Deep South.

Climate Central costs are CPI-adjusted and cover each event's whole footprint, not one city. Several storms on these lists, including New York's 2016 record, do not appear in the billion-dollar database at all.

The data question. A storm total at one airport is a poor proxy for a portfolio's loss. In November 2022, NWS Buffalo reported 81.2 inches at Hamburg, more than twice the airport's 36.6. In 2016, the NOHRSC analysis shows more than 30 inches southwest of New York City, where Central Park measured 27.5. An underwriter needs where the snow and wind actually fell, how long warnings were in force over each location, and what was exposed beneath them. DisasterAWARE's Historical Event Intelligence assembles alert footprints and durations, measured hazard data and exposure in one event record, across every hazard; the free sample datasets show the format with no signup.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the biggest snowstorm in NYC history? The blizzard of January 22–24, 2016: 27.5 inches in Central Park, according to the National Weather Service. It edged out the February 11–12, 2006 storm (26.9 inches) and the December 26–27, 1947 storm (26.4 inches). The most recent storm on the top-10 list is the Blizzard of February 22–23, 2026, ninth with 19.7 inches.

What is the biggest snowstorm in Boston history? The Presidents' Day storm of February 17–18, 2003, with 27.6 inches at Boston's official station, just ahead of the Blizzard of '78 (27.1 inches, February 6–7, 1978). The January 25–27, 2026 storm, with 23.2 inches, is eighth.

What is the biggest snowstorm in Chicago history? The Big Snow of January 26–27, 1967: 23.0 inches, measured at Midway Airport, which was then the official station. Second is the New Year's storm of January 1–3, 1999 (21.6 inches) and third the Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011 (21.2 inches).

What was the worst blizzard in Buffalo history? By impact, the Blizzard of '77 (January 28–February 1, 1977): 29 deaths, and the first federal disaster declaration for a snowstorm in the US, although only about 12 inches of new snow was measured at the airport. The Blizzard of 2022 combined blizzard winds with 51.9 inches of snow at the airport, Buffalo's second-biggest storm total. The biggest storm by snowfall is the lake-effect storm of December 24, 2001 – January 1, 2002: 81.6 inches.

Why do snowstorm totals differ between sources? Official snowfall is recorded per calendar day; storm totals are an unofficial sum, and sources choose different start and end days. Some lists also use a rolling two-day window, which can count one storm twice. This article uses the National Weather Service's published lists for New York and Chicago, and for Boston and Buffalo the storm dates in the National Weather Service's own event records, summed from the official daily record.

Related Reading

• Worst Winter Storms in US History
• Winter Storm Risk in New York, NY
• Winter Storm Risk in Boston, MA
• Winter Storm Risk in Chicago, IL
• Winter Storm Risk in New York State (including Buffalo)

Sources: NWS New York, Biggest Snowstorms at Central Park (updated 2026-01-01), Record Event Reports (February 22–23, 2026) and storm summary; NWS Chicago, Chicago's Top 10 Largest Snowstorms (verified 2025), the 1967 and 2011 storm pages; NWS Boston Record Event Reports (January 25–26 and February 23, 2026); NWS Buffalo lake-effect event archive and summaries, and This Day in Weather History pages; NWS Storm Data (NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database); NOAA Regional Climate Centers' ACIS daily snowfall for Central Park, Boston, Chicago and Buffalo (threaded station records); NWS warnings and station observations via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet; NOAA NOHRSC National Snowfall Analysis v2; Climate Central, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters; Insurance Journal (February 20 and 23, 2015, citing the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency).