--- title: Winter Storm Stella and Photos of Earlier March NYC Blizzard description: As East Coast residents prepare for a March blizzard, take a look back at images of another late-winter storm that blanketed the East Coast. canonical: https://time.com/4700245/winter-storm-stella-and-blizzard-of-1956/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-14T12:30:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:22.596Z og:title: Winter Storm Stella and Photos of Earlier March NYC Blizzard og:description: It was 61 years ago that another blizzard hit the East Coast right before spring og:url: https://time.com/4700245/winter-storm-stella-and-blizzard-of-1956/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte427033e94b30e20/6988be2ffb4eaca1ed891198/170317-blizzard-1956-09.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: March 1956 Blizzard og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Winter Storm Stella and Photos of Earlier March NYC Blizzard twitter:description: It was 61 years ago that another blizzard hit the East Coast right before spring twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte427033e94b30e20/6988be2ffb4eaca1ed891198/170317-blizzard-1956-09.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A March Blizzard in New York City: See the Snowy Streets of 1956 by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Mar 14, 2017 12:30 PM UTC  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Mar 14, 2017 12:30 PM UTC Winter Storm [Stella](http://time.com/money/4699779/winter-storm-stella-flight-cancellations/) may have many people scratching their heads: after a warm [February](http://time.com/4261719/february-heat-records-climate-change/), it’s [hitting](http://time.com/money/4699779/winter-storm-stella-flight-cancellations/) the East Coast one week before the official start of spring. But there’s precedent for a major [snowstorm](http://time.com/4699317/snow-winter-storm-northeastern-united-states/) in the middle of March, although it may not happen frequently. It was 61 years ago, nearly to the day, on March 18, 1956, that another hit the East Coast, blanketing the northeast corridor with snow. During that storm, LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt captured these images of New Yorkers coping with the onslaught of winter weather. Though the images did not run in the magazine, the storm did make news — with the tale of one New Yorker who had more trouble than most with the snow. Al Asnis of LIFE’s photo lab happened to be waiting for the train on an El platform when he saw a man “writhing on the sidewalk below,” the magazine [reported](https://books.google.com/books?id=OE8EAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=snow&f=false). As LIFE [described](https://books.google.com/books?id=OE8EAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=snow&f=false) in the April 2, 1956 issue: --- > “” ---  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4700245/winter-storm-stella-and-blizzard-of-1956/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4700245/winter-storm-stella-and-blizzard-of-1956/"},"headline":"A March Blizzard in New York City: See the Snowy Streets of 1956","datePublished":"2017-03-14T12:30:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:22.596Z","description":"It was 61 years ago that another blizzard hit the East Coast right before spring","url":"https://time.com/4700245/winter-storm-stella-and-blizzard-of-1956/","keywords":["weather","New York City","photography","Blizzard","alfred eisenstaedt","1956"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte427033e94b30e20/6988be2ffb4eaca1ed891198/170317-blizzard-1956-09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Liz Ronk","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte427033e94b30e20/6988be2ffb4eaca1ed891198/170317-blizzard-1956-09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"March 1956 Blizzard","caption":"Blizzard in New York City, Mar. 18-19, 1956.","creditText":"Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/weather/","name":"weather"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4700245/winter-storm-stella-and-blizzard-of-1956/","name":"A March Blizzard in New York City: See the Snowy Streets of 1956"}}]}] ```