A comparison of the impacts from Nor'easters in 1978 and 2013

The Blizzard of 1978 was a major disaster for the Northeast and a record setting snowstorm for Boston, in particular, where thousands of motorists were stranded for hours in gridlocked traffic. Thirty-five years later, a similar storm approached the area and dumped more than two feet of snow across much of New England. This storm, however, caused significantly less disruption. This paper will compare the impacts of the two storms and explain why the Blizzard of 2013 did not cause the same disruption as the Blizzard of 1978.