Brookline
Boulevard - 1950
The Great Thanksgiving Blizzard
The Thanksgiving Day Blizzard struck on November 25, 1950. The snowfall began in the early morning and did not taper off until evening. By then, the storm had dumped a record 30.5 inches of snow in Pittsburgh. The heavy accumulation was so severe that the entire city was immobilized. All traffic ground to a halt. The National Guard was called in, and tanks were used to assist in clearing the snow. The city was not fully reopened to vehicular traffic for nearly a week, until December 1. Across the eastern seaboard and the upper midwest, the devastating N'oreaster became known as the Great Appalacian Storm of November 1950. The massive storm affected twenty-two states and was, at the time, the most costly storm ever for insurance companies across the United States. Here in the community of Brookline, as in neighborhoods around the city, friends and neighbors came together to help clear the snow and do their best to survive the temporary paralysis that beset the area. To this day, those that lived through the Thanksgiving Day Blizzard of 1950 remember it as the worst snowfall ever in the Pittsburgh area. |