The Blizzard of 96 was in many ways a textbook example of a Northeast snowstorm. A low pressure system developed in the Gulf of Mexico and then moved northeastward along the East Coast. Correspondingly, widespread high pressure across the northern US provided cold air for snow. The evolution of the storm was quite complex, with several low pressure centers forming, diminishing and reforming. However, it still followed the overall pattern of a storm that developed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved northeastward along the Atlantic Seaboard.

Low pressure developed in the Gulf of Mexico early on January 6, 1996, with an inverted low pressure trough extending northward into the Gulf Coast States. As the low pressure system moved east-northeastward in the gulf on January 6, two additional centers of low pressure developed within the inverted trough by midday, one over eastern Mississippi and the other over Tennessee. These three centers were evident at 0600 UTC on January 7th as the surface low/inverted trough continued eastward extending from eastern Tennessee southward to the eastern Gulf of Mexico. By 1200 UTC on January 7, the multiple center structure began to change dramatically as both the eastern Kentucky and northeastern Gulf low pressure centers began to diminish and a surface low over eastern Georgia began to rapidly deepen. At the same time, a new low began to develop just north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, along a developing coastal front. In the next 6 to 12 hours the southern low pressure system would appear to "jump" rapidly northeastward toward the developing low pressure system that remained virtually stationary just east of the North Carolina/Virginia border through 0000 UTC on January 8. By this time, one primary low pressure center predominated and was located just east of Norfolk, Virginia, with a central pressure of 990 Mb. As the multiple centers evolved into one center, pressures fell relatively rapidly with the central pressure of the low off Virginia dropping 16 Mb in 12 hours. In the following 12 hours, the main surface low drifted very slowly north-northeastward and continued to deepen to 980 Mb by 1200 UTC on January 8, the time the cyclone reached its lowest pressure. To complicate matters, a new low pressure system developed farther east over the Atlantic Ocean prior to 1200 UTC on January 8 and moved northeastward in the following 12 hours. It is also possible that other low pressure centers developed over the Atlantic Ocean as the entire system began to propagate more rapidly northeastward over the Atlantic Ocean.

In the highly populated Northeast Corridor, which includes metropolitan areas of Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston snowfall amounts ranged from 19 to 31 inches. Amounts between 40 and 48 inches were reported in western Virginia and the mountains of West Virginia. These amounts were among the highest observed during the late 20th century.

A State of Emergency was declared for New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Philadelphia recorded30.7 inches of snow, its all time record for an individual storm. 38 inches were recorded in Glenville, Pennsylvania, located in York County near the Maryland border.

Large metropolitan areas in Pennsylvania, including Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York, east to Philadelphia, were virtually shut down. Many Steelier fans from areas east of Pittsburgh were stranded in the city after the Sunday national Football League playoff game. In Harrisburg, the 22.2- inch storm total was the second highest on record and the highest ever for January. In Wilkes-Barre, 21 inches exceeded the previous 24 hour record of 20.5 inches.

Snowfall totals from the storm were over 30 inches in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, the mountains of West Virginia (Preston and Tucker counties) and Maryland (Garrett county). A total of 18 to 24 inches fell in south-central Pennsylvania, 18 to 20 inches fell in extreme southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia, and 6 to 14 inches fell in east-central Ohio through west-central and central Pennsylvania. Two inches or less fell in extreme northern Pennsylvania.

The Governor of Pennsylvania declared a snow emergency and closed the roads, except for emergency travel, in 47 of the 67 counties in the state. The Governor of West Virginia placed the entire state under a State of Emergency and called in the National Guard to assist with snow removal.

Thirteen deaths were reported throughout Pennsylvania. Twelve of the 13 deaths were due to heart attacks from shoveling snow. USAir Canceled about half of its regularly scheduled flights at its Pittsburgh hub. Virtually all public, private, and day care schools closed in Pennsylvania, except for extreme northern Pennsylvania which only had 1 to 3 inches of snow. Federal, state, and city offices in Pittsburgh closed. Penn State was shut down- certainly a rare occurrence.

The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh issued a Winter Storm Watch with the 2100 UTC, January 6 forecast package. The watch included 24 of the 53 counties in the forecast area. Later that evening, warnings were posted for parts of West Virginia and Maryland. By the morning of January 7, Winter Storm Warnings were expanded to cover 37 counties, and Winter Weather Advisories were issued for the remainder of the 53 counties. Warnings continued through January 7, with snowfall forecasts gradually increasing throughout the forecast cycles. By late evening on January 7, storm total forecasts of 24-40 inches were issued for the mountains of West Virginia and Maryland. At the same time, warnings were downgraded to advisories for three counties in northern Pennsylvania. All warnings and advisories expired in the early morning of January 8. In addition to the warnings and watches, numerous Short Term Forecasts and Special Weather Statements were also issued. The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh reported an average lead time of 20 hours and an average warning time of 5.5 hours.

The East Coast blizzard of January 6-8, 1996 goes down in history as one of the "great ones" of the century. This paralyzing winter storm, packed with strong winds, very heavy blowing and drifting snows, extreme wind chills, and minor to moderate coastal flooding, brought most private and government activity to a halt for the better part of the week. Some of the heaviest snowfall amounts of the late 20th century blanketed the urban corridor from Washington DC to Boston.