The Blizzard of 1888 struck the east coast of the United States and hit the northeast particular hard. The residents of the area had no warning that a storm this size was headed their way. The storm struck on Sunday, March 11, 1888 as a nor'easter. In New York City the storm dumped 21 inches of snow. The blizzard conditions were caused by the 70 mph winds that piled up 20 foot drifts, causing elevated trains and carriages to be stuck. Many people were stranded in office buildings for the duration of the storm. The storm was felt from Washington D.C. to New York and Pittsburgh. The storm pounded the region for a day and a half. A total of 200 ships from Chesapeake Bay to Nantucket where either sunk or heavily damaged. The death toll for the storm was four hundred, and twenty million dollars of damages were incured.
Site on the blizzard of 1888:
New York City's web site for the blizzard of 1888.

the above banner and the pictures of the blizzard of 1978 below are all from mindspring.com

The southern coast of New England was hit hard by the blizzard of 1978, especially Rhode Island. The states of Rhode Island and Massachuestts were hit the hardest. In parts of Rhode Island up to 3 to 4 feet of snow fell and high drifts were created by 60 mph winds. The main threat to people in this storm was to those who were stranded in cars along the interstate highways in the area. The interstate was finally cleared of cars by the February 11, the following Saturday morning. Air traffic was halted for about a week out of Rhode Island. Compared to the 400 that died in the blizzard of 1888, only 17 people died from the storm due to the help of the weather service. However, thousands of people were rescued from their stuck vehicles.

Here is what the interstate system in Rhode Island looked. Front page new in Rhode Island. 
like from the air, after the blizzard of 1978.

How do you get around after a blizzard? Skiing, walking or staying put
 

March 12-14, 1993.

This storm hit the entire east coast hard from Alabama to New England with snow. After it was finished 270 people had died and three to six billion dollars of damage had been done. At one point during the storm 25% of the national airports were shut down. Millions of people were without power. Again, many people were stranded from home on the roads and outside. Here is a color enhanced satellite image of the storm. Places like Atlanta received a foot or more of snow, with amounts of from 40 to 50 inches occurred from North Carolina at Mount Mitchell with 50 inches to 43 inches at Syracuse, New York. The heavy weight of the snow caused roofs to collapse in North Carolina. Snow removal in the big cities ran into the millions of dollars. Some of the deaths were attributed to people overexerting themselves with shoveling snow. The storm had high winds and record low pressures along its track.

A great site on the superstorm of 1993

Photo courtesy of covis.atmos.uiuc.edu
 

The storm hit the northeast corridor hard. New York City reported 31 inches of snow and Philadelphia, 24 inches. The storm caused approximately $3 billion in damages and cost 187 lives. This storm was a smaller, less intense cousin of the superstorm of 1993.

Satellite image and snowfall map courtesy of pw1.netcom.