Big storms around the holidays tend to etch themselves into memory.
Take Thanksgiving weekend 2024, when heavy lake effect snow fell, or the Christmas Blizzard of 2022, when wind chills fell to 40 below.
But how many of you remember the Great Appalachian Storm of 1950?
While it has been 75 years, the memories of the slow-moving and powerful storm have been preserved at the Cleveland Public Library in photographs.
Pictures that captured the stark reality of the deadly five-day winter storm that pummeled NEO over the Thanksgiving weekend.
The National Weather Service has said the storm was one of the most unique and damaging winter storms on record, with blizzard conditions, crushingly cold temperatures, heavy snow, and fierce winds spanning 22 states.
The conditions were bad enough to close the airport, and then-Mayor Thomas Burke called in the National Guard to try to remove 22.1 inches of snow that blanketed Cleveland, but a frozen gridlock of 10,000 abandoned cars blocked their efforts.
The city came to a halt. Nonessential cars were banned downtown until the storm weakened and temperatures warmed quickly the following week, but the damage had been done.
Over 20 Clevelanders lost their lives due to the paralyzing storm, which cost over $1 million in 1950, and has gone down in history as one of the worst winter storms the Ohio Valley has ever seen.
Want the latest Power of 5 weather team updates wherever you go? Download the News 5 App free now: Apple|Android
Click here to view our interactive radar.
Follow the News 5 Weather Team:
Trent Magill: Facebook & Twitter
Katie McGraw: Facebook & Twitter
Phil Sakal: Facebook & Twitter
Allan Nosoff: Facebook & Twitter
