I guess everybody has a recollection in their head about a snowstorm that struck when they were young that just had to be about the worst ever. Snow to your hips; blinding whiteouts; roads clogged for a week. Mine may be the Blizzard of 1947, which until Sunday was the record snowstorm for New York City.

I don't remember it myself. But it was always a legend in my family, because it struck at the end of the very snowy December in New Jersey into which I was born.

For my kids, it's probably the 22.8-inch storm that struck Baltimore on Feb. 11-12, 1983 - precisely 23 years before this past weekend's snow. They were 8 and 5 then, and when we tried to walk three blocks to the 7-Eleven for milk, they bogged down in the drifts on our unplowed street. They still talk about it.

For Sun reader "Walter," it was the Blizzard of 1966. He wrote us yesterday to ask why his storm wasn't on the list of the top 10 biggest snowfalls on Baltimore's record books:

"Re: top 10 snowstorms for Baltimore...Wasn't the "blizzard of 66" also one of the top storms? I remember we were out of school the whole week,and there were drifts well over 4-5 feet..I would have thought we had gotten between 15 and 20 or more inches then.. Can you elaborate as to where that storm fits in? Thanks! "

The Blizzard of '66 was a ferocious storm, as the following account by the National Weather Service attests. Lots of snow, high winds and very cold temperatures. And it came at the end of a very snowy month, which added to its impact.

But the storm itself dropped only 12 inches of new snow on the official weather station at BWI. It now ranks No. 13. This week's storm, at 13.1 inches, is No. 10.

It is a perfect example of why there was a need for an index, like the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale we wrote about in yesterday's story, to measure the real impact of these storms. They are very complex, dropping dramatically greater snows in very localized areas, while letting other locations - including official weather stations - off relatively easy. The NESIS system, while it may not account for high winds and low temperatures, at least it provides a way to capture the extent of deep snows across a broad region, and its population, and to objectively compare that from storm to storm.

Here's how the NWS recalls the 1966 blizzard:

"January 30-31, 1966: A blizzard struck Maryland and the Northeast US. It began following morning lows of subzero in some portions of the state. Temperatures remained in the single digits as the wind and snow increased. Gusts of 50 to 60 mph caused white-out conditions over portions of western Maryland and into the Baltimore and Washington areas.

"Hagerstown reported 15 inches of snow on top of 12 inches already on the ground and some drifts as high as 20 feet. One to two feet of snow covered a large part of Virginia and Maryland. Washington had 14 inches (added to a previous snow, the depth on the ground came to 20 inches). Drifts were up to 10 feet deep in some areas.

"Baltimore had 12 inches, Conowingo Dam had 11 inches and Bel Air had 17 inches. Easton recorded 25 inches on the ground by February 2 and a January monthly snowfall total of almost 27 inches. Baltimore recorded over 21 inches for the month. Intense blowing and drifting snow continued and kept roads closed for several more days crippling transportation lines and causing a food shortage and rationing. Baltimore and Washington airports were closed for two to three days."

To read more about Baltimore's biggest snowfalls, click here.