The Blizzard of 1888

Known as the “Great White Hurricane,” the Blizzard of 1888 was one of the most devastating weather events in recorded history. Affecting coastal states from Virginia to Maine, this paralyzing storm brought widespread death and destruction. Lewes harbor, considered one of the safest on the Atlantic seaboard because its large stone Breakwater buffered heavy seas, became the scene of an unprecedented disaster for ships that sought shelter there. As signs of the storm increased, about 50 vessels anchored behind the seawall by the evening of March 11, 1888. After a brief calm just before midnight, winds rose rapidly and temperatures fell, and a raging storm struck the harbor with flying hail, snow, and salt spray that froze instantly on decks, spars, and rigging. By the morning of March 12, nearly every vessel in the harbor was sunken, sinking, or drifting helplessly into others, while some sailors clung to the masts of ice-bound ships through the continuing storm. The crews of the Lewes and Cape Henlopen Life-Saving stations, aided by the citizens of Lewes, immediately began rescue efforts and saved many people in the days that followed. Only eight deaths were reported there, a result regarded by those who experienced the storm’s terrible fury as nothing less than miraculous.

Lewes, Delaware · United States