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The jaw-dropping East Coast blizzard, by the numbers

Alex Wong/Getty Images
Brian Resnick
Brian Resnick was Vox’s science and health editor and is the co-creator of Unexplainable, Vox’s podcast about unanswered questions in science.

The award for most snow from the 2016 East Coast blizzard goes to Glengary, West Virginia, which saw 42 inches (3.5 feet!). The small town of a few hundred residents is about 8 miles away from the nearest gas station and grocery store, which “might as well have been in another state,” Associated Press reports. “No one could go anywhere.”

Glengary wasn’t the only place that broke records. Here are some other astounding blizzard statistics.

Approximately 3.49 billion cubic feet of snow fell on Washington, DC, according to the Washington Post.

More than $1 billion: The estimated economic damage caused by the storm.

Around 85 million people — about a quarter of the US population — were directly impacted by the storm.

150,000: the homes and business left without power after the storm left a sheet of ice in North Carolina.

More than 12,000 flights were canceled.

2,078 pounds: The approximate weight of snow a person will shovel off a 20-by-10-foot driveway covered with 20 inches of snow.

Snow fell for more than 36 hours straight.

11 states and the District of Columbia declared a state of emergency.

10 feet: the height of the tidal flooding in southern New Jersey.

With 29 inches of snow on the ground, Baltimore saw an all-time record for the city.

It was New York City’s second-snowiest storm, with 26.8 inches in Central Park (the city broke its record for snow accumulation in one day). Dulles Airport in Virginia had 29.2 inches, and Reagan National Airport in DC recorded 17.8 inches (a suspiciously low figure that has set off much debate.)

AP counts at least 25 storm-related deaths.

1: a panda named Tian Tian, who had the most fun in the snow.

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