Ash Wednesday Storm 1962 In 1962 a tremendous winter storm begins to hammers the Atlantic Coast. The storm caused more than 200 million in damage from Florida to Southern New England. Waves crested to 40' with winds of 70 mph off our coast. This storm was dubbed the 'Ash Wednesday Storm'. The storm affected the east coast from the fifth to the ninth. It was centered off of Wallops Island for forty eight hours. The storm was responsible for forming two new inlets south of Ocean City between Ocean City and the Bay. Late winter storms will often become cut off in the upper levels of the atmosphere and be unable to move. A circular jet stream forms around the storm keeping it in place. Farther inland snow was the problem. Silver Spring received 11" of snow while Rockville recorded 19". Charlottesville had more than two feet with 26". Farther west 32" fell in Winchester. Three feet of snow was common in our mountains. For some of you locals that vacation in South Bethany when the tide is very low sometimes you can still see a chimney out in the water. (At least I did about ten years ago.) This storm completely took out the first row of ocean front homes. This was one of the most damaging storms to hit the DelMarVa. A full moon coupled with a series of high tides produced massive flooding. Nor’easters can do more damage than hurricanes because of their duration. Winds buffeted our coast for days. Some debris from fifty miles away washed up on Chincoteague. Some reports claim half of the wild ponies on the island were killed.  ¶ 4:58 PM