Five Years Ago: The Blizzard of 2010

Looking north on Pacific Ave. in the Crest; Photo by Jim Stephens

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Blizzard of 2010, a monster that dumped nearly two feet of snow on Cape May County.

The storm, which began to batter the region late on Friday, February 5 and raged into the following day, paralyzed the Wildwoods. Downed lines and damaged utilities left many homes and businesses stranded without power for a full week.

Compounding matters was another blizzard which hit on Tuesday the 9th, while crews were working to restore power and clear roads of debris.

The Aftermath; Photo by Bill Charkasky, darkinthepark.com

Ralph Grassi, of Funchase.com, wrote in the introduction to his video (see below) that chronicled the storms and their aftermath:

"Amidst the chaos the storms caused I was able to capture only a handful of the many images I'll carry with me the rest of my days. Power was down throughout the Wildwoods including my house and many others for seven long cold days. I've lived here all my life and this storm far surpassed the blizzard of 1978, which until now was the "big one" that islanders recall, myself included."

Crest resident and frequent Wildwood 365 contributor Jim Stephens, who shared several photos with us (Feb 5 / Feb 6), reported that "visibility at the peak of the storm was barely more than a block."

Kathy Mandell wrote on her Wildwood Weather blog, after her power had finally been restored on Friday the 12th:

"There's so much snow everywhere that eyes will be squinting and hurting for weeks to come. The sun's warm though and melting everything. Where all this melted water goes remains to be seen. The best part of this day is that it's a brand new day as Power is Back in my home. It's been a rough and long six days with two blizzards while living through it all without electric and power. I'll need another blog page for that experience!"

While the experience was, to put it mildly, a harrowing one for thousands on the island, many residents took to wearing it as a badge of pride.

Sam's Pizza Palace, which managed to make its traditional President's Day Weekend opening the following weekend, beat all the Boardwalk t-shirt shops to the punch with this all-time classic...

[Speaking of Sam's, and on a much WARMER note, the iconic pizzeria will open for the season one week from today - Friday, February 13, 2015!]

The Blizzard of 2010 was truly a Wildwood event for the ages. One that will live on in local lore for years and years to come...