North American blizzard of 2010

The North American blizzard of February 5–6, 2010, colloquially known as Snowmageddon, was a major and widespread blizzard in the Northeastern United States. The storm's center moved from Baja California Sur to the east coast on February 2, 2010, before heading east into the Atlantic. The effects of this track were felt in northern Mexico, California, and the southwestern, midwestern, southeastern, and, most notably, mid-Atlantic states. Severe weather, including extensive flooding and landslides in Mexico as well as historic snowfall totals in every Mid-Atlantic state, claimed the lives of people in Mexico, New Mexico, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.

The most crippling factor was the widespread accumulation of 20 to 35 inches (50 to 90 cm) of snow across southern Pennsylvania, the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, and South Jersey, which halted air and interstate highway travel. Rail service south and west of Washington, D.C. was suspended, and only limited service was available between D.C. and Boston. Blizzard conditions were reported in a small area of Maryland, but near-blizzard conditions were experienced across much of the Mid-Atlantic region.

This event was the second of four nor'easters during the 2009–2010 winter that brought heavy snow to enough of the Northeast's population to be numerically recognized by NOAA's NESIS intensity rating. The first and third of these systems, the December 2009 Nor'Easter and the February 9–10, 2010 North American blizzard, respectively, combined with this event to bring the snowiest winter on record to much of the Mid-Atlantic. Additionally, this event was the second of three major Mid-Atlantic snowstorms that occurred over a 12-day period; each subsequent storm focused its heaviest snow slightly farther north: the January 30, 2010 storm (not recognized by NESIS) dropped more than a foot of snow across Virginia and the lower Chesapeake Bay region, while the February 9–10, 2010 North American blizzard bulls-eyed the Maryland-Pennsylvania border with as much as 38.3 inches

Type: Extratropical cyclone Winter storm Nor'easter Blizzard
Formed: February 1, 2010
Dissipated: February 11, 2010
Fatalities: At least 41 fatalities (including at least 28 in Mexico and 13 in the US)
Areas affected: Midwest and East Coast of the United States (from Illinois to Georgia to Vermont)New Mexico, Mexico, Eastern Canada, California, Arizona