Pat Shingleton for Feb. 10, 2012

The Old Farmer’s Almanac’s “Acts of God — The Unpredictable Guide to Weather & Natural Disasters” devotes a section to The Blizzard Hall of Fame. It chronicles The Great Snow of Feb. 27, 1717, registered as a series of four storms lasting into March. The biggest blizzard in southern New England’s modern history struck Boston on Feb. 6 and Feb. 7, 1978. Excerpts note thousands of motorists were forced to abandon their cars on Route 128 and sought shelter in churches. The Boston Globe stopped newspaper delivery operations, an event that hadn’t occurred in 106 years. Another insert in the publication noted: “On February 9th and 10th, Baltimore and Washington reported the snowiest winter on record with 54.9”. This was the most since record keeping began in 1893.” Fastcast: Showers.