Feb. 1940: Boylston Street in Boston is shown during one of the worst blizzards in the history of New England. (Photo/Abe Fox)
Feb. 1977: A woman's Buffalo shop was destroyed by a blizzard. (Photo/Jim McKnight)
Feb. 1978: Residents wrote a message on the surface of a lake for Connecticut Conn Gov. Ella T. Grasso. (Photo/Bob Child)
Feb. 1978: A man in Dedham, Mass., waits for snow plows to dig him out. AP reported he had been living at a Red Cross Shelter nearby while he waited. (Photo/Anonymous)
Feb. 1978: A National Guardsman looks inside a car in Hampton, N.H. (Photo/TIM SAVARD)
Jan. 1979: A blizzard shuts down Chicago (Photo/Fred Jewell)
Jan. 1979: A blizzard shuts down Chicago (Photo/Charles Knoblock)
March 1993: Atlanta motorists face the blizzard. (Photo/Curtis Compton)
March 1993: A woman navigates a stroller through the aftermath of a blizzard in New York City. (Photo/Richard Drew)
Dec. 1995: AP reports that the scene on this Buffalo street was typical after a significant blizzard hit. (Photo/DON HEUPEL)
Jan. 1996: People use cross-country skies to traverse Times Square during one of the most powerful blizzard of the 20th century. (Photo/RICHARD DREW)
Jan. 1996: A reindeer performing at Radio City Music Hall is led outside to the streets of New York City during a blizzard. (Photo/WALLY SANTANA)
Jan. 1996: A teen braves blizzard warnings to sled down the steps of the Capitol building. (Photo/CAMERON CRAIG)
Jan. 1996: Travelers are stranded at New York's La Guardia Airport. (Photo/STEVE FRISCHLING)
Jan. 1996: Pedestrain try to make their way down Seventh Avenue in New York City through the blizzard. (Photo/ANDERS KRUSBERG)
Jan. 1996: That same blizzard left Philadelphia as a ghost town. (Photo/CHRIS GARDNER)
Jan. 1996: An aerial view of New York City during the blizzard. (Photo/MARK LENNIHAN)
April 1997: A late blizzard buried Boston in 20 inches of snow. (Photo/PATRICIA MCDONNELL)
April 1997: A late blizzard buried Boston in 20 inches of snow. (Photo/C.J. GUNTHER)
Feb. 2003: People play in the snow in a blizzard that left hundreds of thousands without power. At the time AP called it the worst in seven years. (Photo/ROBERT SPENCER)
Feb. 2003: Airport runways are cleared in Boston after a blizzard. (Photo/LISA POOLE)
March 2003: A woman uses skies to travel in what AP called Denver's worst snowstorm in 20 years. (Photo/BILL ROSS)
March 2003: A man walks his dog through a blizzard that closed down schools and businesses throughout Denver. (Photo/DAVID ZALUBOWSKI)
Nov. 2003: A college football game between Massachusetts and Colgate continues in Hamilton, N.Y., despite the blizzard-like conditions. (Photo/KEVIN RIVOLI)
Jan. 2005: A blizzard left Massachusetts under two feet of snow. (Photo/ADAM HUNGER)
April 2005: A man in Denver clears away snow from the front of his home after a late blizzard in Denver. (Photo/ED ANDRIESKI)
April 2005: Snow-coated statues turn almost completely white during a blizzard in Denver's City Park. (Photo/ED ANDRIESKI)
Dec. 2006: A motorist tries to help another through low visibility during a blizzard in Colorado. (Photo/PETER M. FREDIN)
March 2007: A shopper loads up after a trip in blizzard conditions in Iowa. (Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Nov. 2007: Employees of a resort in Hope Valley, Calif. work to keep it operational during a blizzard. (Photo/Chad Lundquist)
Dec. 2007: The Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns play through near-blizzard conditions in Cleaveland. (Photo/Tony Dejak)
March 2009: Members of the National Guard meet the governor of North Dakota during a blizzard. Nearby, explosive experts tried to clear the frozen Missouri River. (Photo/Tom Stromme)
Feb. 2010: A man tries to shovel in front of his home in Annapolis, Md., but the task is made difficult by the blizzard winds. (Photo/Susan Walsh)
Dec. 2010: Machines work to clear the runways at Philadelphia International Airport after a Christmas Day storm plowed up and down the east coast. (Photo/Matt Rourke)
Dec. 2010: A woman jogs in Durham, N.C. just days after a Christmas Day storm plowed up and down the east coast. (Photo/Jim R. Bounds)
Feb. 2011: A blizzard swept through Chicago, stranding commuters and burying the city under snow. (Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
Feb. 2011: A blizzard swept through Chicago, stranding commuters and burying the city under snow. (Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Feb. 2011: A tiger plays in the snow at the Brookfield Zoo after a Chicago blizzard. (Photo/Jim Schulz)
As the East Coast gets prepared for a blizzard of potentially historic proportions, here's a look at photos from blizzards and near-blizzards that have hit the United States over the past 130 years.