I Survived New Bedford’s 1989 Thanksgiving Snowstorm

Only three months after moving from Burlington, Vermont – where they get a lot of snow – to Providence, Rhode Island – where my chances of avoiding significant snowfall are somewhat better – I got caught in a major snowstorm.

On Thanksgiving Day, no less.

When I first moved to the North Country, I learned not to be surprised by snow in early October, but that kind of thing doesn't happen down here in the flatlands – or does it?

Here it was, November 23, 1989, Thanksgiving Day, and it was snowing. It wasn't snow flurries but a full-fledged milk-and-bread situation.

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My plans called for me to have Thanksgiving dinner with my parents in New Bedford, but I had to man the newsroom first and then pick up my brother in Pawtucket before I could even begin my journey over the river and through the woods (and snow).

While the chances of a November snowstorm in southern New England are relatively slim, it's how I roll. It snowed and snowed a lot.

Almanac.com recalls, "Low pressure tracking across the Carolinas brought heavy rain to parts of the southern Atlantic coast region and blanketed the middle Atlantic coast states and southern New England with heavy snow."

"The storm produced up to nine inches of snow over Long Island, New York, and up to fourteen inches over Cape Cod, Massachusetts, at Yarmouth," Almanac.com reports.

Extremeweatherwatch.com recorded 10 inches of snow in New Bedford that Thanksgiving. The high temperature reached 33 degrees that day and the low dipped to 20 degrees.

It was a long and slow drive but my brother and I made it to New Bedford for turkey dinner that day, but only one other guest ventured out in the snow. Anyone who has attempted to maneuver the streets of New Bedford during a 10-inch snowfall can no doubt understand why.