The Catastrophic Blizzards of Winter 1977-78: An Analysis
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- Опубликовано: 16 май 2024
- The catastrophic blizzards of 1977 and 1978 occurred amidst record-breaking cold spells that affected the entire country. Today we look at these blizzards in detail, learn the meteorology behind them, and examine some of the incredible stories to emerge from the wreckage.
Sources and further reading: controlc.com/3ed29434
Chapters:
0:00 What caused the weather pattern?
6:16 West coast drought
7:22 Midwest cold waves
9:03 December 1976
10:09 January 1977 arctic blast
14:52 Deadly Buffalo Blizzard
19:37 Relief... sort of?
20:45 January 1977 Cyclones
22:53 Anatomy of a Supercyclone
24:59 The Great Blizzard of 1978
31:18 Record Nor'easter of Feb 1978
What Caused the Catastrophic Blizzards of '77-'78?
The Unfathomable Blizzards of winter 1977-78
The Catastrophic Blizzards of 1977-78
At 15:03 it should be square miles of snow, not feet! That's the difference between the size of a couple houses and an entire lake... Thanks to everyone who pointed this out
Winter of 1969 in the Sierras might be worth looking at, it was the 'beginning of new ice age' many feared, and would have been if every yr were like that or at least local glaciers would be returning.
@@Mrbfgray to my link 🔗🔗🖇️🖇️🖇️🖇️🖇️🖇️
Good eye, I wondered why he said feet but that young fella did a very good job.
I'm from Boston Mass and I'm 37 all I ever heard about was the blizzard of 78' and how awful it was and as kid I always wanted it snow like that and the older people and my mom told me even as kid you don't want that much snow! But ya that is still the worst winter in Boston history
Weatherbox, I just want to compliment you on an OUTSTANDING production. I'm glad YT recommended it to me. I experienced this blizzard, but had no idea how far beyond Boston this weather phenomena touched. You are a EXCELLENT presenter and hope to see more of you. You remind me of the actor who played Doogie Howser M.D.. I wish you much success.
I was a truck driver stuck in the blizzard . Pulled into a truck stop in central Ohio that evening it was probably 50 degrees. When I woke up the next morn the tires of my truck were frozen to the ground and it was near zero. The governor closed all interstates so I spent the next three days in the truck stop sleeping on the floor with dozens of other people. By the third day the restaurant was running out of food so they only served a few hours a day. Ive told my kids about this ,but Im sure they thought I made a lot of it up. 50 years later I.m still talking about it.
Damn that’s wild. How did you end up getting out of there in the end?
It was raining the night before but the radio was saying there was a "blizzard warning." I'm thinking yeah, right. But when I woke up the next morning there was snow everywhere.
How strange was it to be trapped with strangers like that? Was there any kind of indication at all when you guys would be able to leave?
We lived it. Everything shut down for 3 days.
my math says it's been 45 years (not 50)
I was an eleven year old kid living in Ontario, Canada when this storm hit. Both my parents were trapped at work and I was tasked with looking after my two younger brothers, and for some reason a kid from the neighborhood. I made fried chicken and baked potatoes for dinner after my mom had specifically told me not to touch the oven. 😀 I gained a lot of respect and independence from my parents after those two days.
@cool leo I was 8 soo fun!
Can we talk about the kid from the neighborhood that was there for no apparent reason?
@@booooo-urns He was my younger brother's best friend. It's been so many years, I don't recall how or why he ended up at our house, but we certainly couldn't send him home. You couldn't see two feet in front of your face in that storm.
@@BunnEFartz 👍😀
In today’s world your parents would have called off work before storm hit
I had always remembered it as the best winter of my childhood and spent decades unaware of how hard it was for others. My parents homesteaded in northern Michigan, so we had plenty of food and wood heat. When the plowing guy was able to come over, after nearly a week , us kids were sledding in our own backyard. Another memory is of my Dad opening the front door. There was nothing but a wall of snow! Oh, and no school for 2 weeks 😊
_YES!_ One of my fondest childhood memories! Ahh... when we were young~ 🥰🌨️💞
Michigan here, too. We had an old gas stove with a box oven that doubled as a heater in ice storms. Camping in the kitchen. No school. Loved it. XD
@@michellegiacalone1079
💪🏼 Michiganders unite!! 😂💞🎉
From Traverse City, MI during this.
Michigan here I remember but what people don't know we already had a butt load of snow before the big one hit there was trouble finding places to put it
Meteorologist by degree here. Your explanation was superb, good terminology without boring or overwhelming most.
I never got to go to college for it, but I study the courses on COMET. I haven't in a while and this really scratched the itch for me.
I was in 8th grade and delivered newspapers in East Aurora NY (suburb of Buffalo) during these blizzards. I had to burrow through the snow across a field (1/2 mile) to get to my first delivery. It ultimately turned into a snowy hallway that I had to dig myself and it was feet over my head. I actually found out later that I had been walking over a car that was buried in the snow, and I had no idea it was there. I could actually walk onto the roof of my house, and many houses were just giant snowy lumps. I found out that I was one of the only paperboys in Buffalo who hadn't quit during these snowstorms. The trucks arrived at 3AM with the papers, and would wait to make sure I was going to deliver each day, because almost no one else was. I often had to stand on the handrails of the front steps and wave to them because the snow was to the roof, and I hadn't fully dug my way out the front door to the sidewalk. Some of my customers were incredulous that I delivered their papers at all, and an equal number were pissed off I was late. It was ridiculous.
I was in 2nd grade, south of Buffalo, in Cattaraugus county. To be honest I was 6, I didn't realize it was out of the ordinary, it was just a lot of snow, and fun with no school. But it was a ski town, and always gets lots of snow, and i think I was on the southern edge of that storm.
But I do remember people kept talking about it for years after. I remeber a board game came out based on the storm "Blizzard of '77... the game"
Just wow, you were/are a bound & determined young man 👌🏻 i probably would of played like i was sick 🤒
Was in Elma
Respect. I hope you got some good tips.😊
The bus picks my kids up in front of my house
It was my first winter as a bookkeeper turned dairy farmer. It was in NY State. I thought I had moved to the north pole. Was too busy fighting the cold and snow to realize everyone was getting it. Even at 94, The memory is still vivid.
God bless…I hope you’re doing well and that you have another 94 left in the tank!
Pretty sure I found an interview of you, really interesting stuff! museum.dmna.ny.gov/application/files/5215/9464/4436/Gabriel_Edward.pdf
HERE HERE
hope you’re still doing well!
@@maxthefool Max, I look back over my life and I can't help but fel grateful to God for all the wonderful experiences I have had. The internet has been the most amazing as it puts the world at my finger tips. And better than that, I'm in touch with my big family throuh email, texting, facetime, Marco Polo. I can see them and talk to them. Today I watched my great great grandchildren play in a place far removed from me. Life is good and if I go tomorrow, it will be with a smile on my face.
Great video, especially graphics!
The 77 blizzard I was on break my first year of college in Pennsylvania. My boyfriend, about 4 of our friends, and I decided to take a road trip to Stowe in Vermont to go skiing (we were passionate skiers and knew no fear). I think we had an old station wagon or a jeep (that part’s a blur). I do remember we had a ‘cb’ radio, and my BF was versed in its use. As the snow fell and mounted (we’re talking feet) and night came, the state police closed down the New York interstate and on-ramps behind us. We raced to stay just ahead of them, and followed the last snowplow clearings the trucks would make for the days to come. Seemingly no one else was on the road, conditions were so treacherous. We were too stupid to be afraid, and instead, embraced the beauty of the storm in our quest to ski ‘big.’ In hindsight, for the grace of God, we arrived at our destination in one piece. These 45 years later, I don’t even remember the skiing part - I only remember our abandon-all-wisdom journey!
Thank God you made it!
This is proof that there's at least some truth to the adage "it's about the journey, not the destination."
I remember our elementary school passing out "I survived the Blizzard of '78" book bags. What a memory. In CT we had snow drifts to the roofs but it was heaven for kids making snow forts! What a time to be alive.
Lol I was in the 6th grade in 1978, snowed in for almost a month in southern Indiana and when I finally went back to school kids had T-Shirts that said "I survived the Blizzard of 1978 " too !
Yeah, we made snow tunnels in my front yard, it was so deep and sticky. Perfect for sculpting. I think we had three days off from school in my town (in central CT), but my memory kinda sucks. It might have been more. Unique!
Idaho I’m the 90s.
In
@@wayneperry7077 shakamak
This is when the south end of Lake Michigan froze from Illinois to the Michigan side. On a dare, a guy drove his car from the Michigan side 60 miles to the Illinois side. He had to drive around massive ice heaves and had several spin outs. As soon as he got within 10 miles of Chicago, the traffic watchers in the Sears Tower could see his car making its way across the lake. When he arrived at the shore of Grant Park, he was arrested by the awaiting Chicago Police and thrown in jail. However, the DA couldn't find any law he had violated other than "driving across a public park" which was a $15 fine. They tried to arrest him on violating Illinois lake navigation laws, but there were none on the books. He was released and paid his ticket and drove back to Michigan the normal way. Shortly thereafter both the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois passed laws banning the use of cars to cross Lake Michigan.
🤣 oh wow! That is too funny! 🤣 if they can't find a reasonable law they just simply invent one. There was no reason to arrest him.
I just read a detailed article on "MLive" titled "Remembering the Great Blizzard of 1978, when winter packed a wallop". Lots of pictures too. No mention whatsoever of that story. And that after an extended internet search that found no other mention of that story. Methinks that your memory of that story may be off. Back then, of course, we heard stuff all the time but had no way of confirming if it was true.
@@jimwerther I dunno. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Because having lived through those years, albeit as a child, people were characters back then. And I knew people wild enough to pull a stunt like that.
@@lightspeed4596
I don't doubt that he's saying it as he remembers it. But those of us who lived before the internet became a thing know that we used to hear stuff all the time and assume it was true, having no way to check it out. And a lot of the stuff we heard back then was not true.
@jimwerther753 All I can say is hit a library in Chicago and go nuts in periodicals. Why would I make up something so silly? It was reported on the local TV affiliates as well but being so cold at the time, the coverage was skimpy. It took my dad 13 hours to get home on the April Fools Day blizzard in 1975. No one believes that either. What can I say?
I was born in the blizzard of '78. Got a special escort from a state snow plow after my dad contacted the local volunteer fire company who stated they couldn't get the ambulance to us. Dad had' 77 Jeep J10 and following that plow at 15mph for the 20 mile trip to the hospital was a lifetime for my mother. She said I was lucky to not have been born in the front seat of that Jeep in the middle of the road!
Yeah, I was a teenager, just graduating High School in Sunny Santa Monica, heading to City College, when I heard the “climate activists” of my daying touting the “Endless Winter” as proof of the “Man Made 2nd ICE AGE!!!” (Rather than just a bad Winter) and it was - so bad - it took a DECADE for the propagandists to switch to “global warning” (until that - too - proved to be a UN / University of East Anglia HOAX… and it took another decade to switch to the “Hot or Cold” (like the thermos) either way… its “Climate Change” that needs endless taxation to ensure survival…. 🧐
Pain makes minutes feel like hours. Glad the community understood the assignment. 🍼🚼
I watched a documentary about the blizzard of 49. The storm was lower than normal, earlier in the year, and trapped people for months. People had the leave messages in the snow for flyovers to see what was needed like food, blankets, medical, etc. pregnant women had to be picked up by plane.
Did they name you Bliz?
@@genericamerican7574 whoa. Brutal. Imagine such blizzards in the world before even telegraphs were invented.
😂😂😂😂
I'm in Eastern CT. I was 9, and my dad thought it was a good idea to take his Girl Scout Cadet troop "Winter " camping at a large cabin in the woods. I remember the girls parents having a hard time picking up their kids. When we got home, we had no power, and 2 feet of snow with an inch of ice on top. We did have a fireplace, so at least we had heat. My brother chopped up the backyard, and used the squares to build an igloo in the front yard. Still have a picture of him peeking out of it. After the blizzard of '73, my dad built the fireplace. After the Blizzard of '78, he installed a cast iron stove, too. Never worried about not having heat again.
In the 1970's, why/how did your father lead a GIRL Scout troop instead of Boy Scouts?
@@becauseweare1 Why not?
@@becauseweare1 Because he was cool? And why not?
@@EneTheGene It was my (mis)understanding that men weren't allowed to lead girl troops in that era. Apparently, I am wrong.
I went to school just south of Toledo OH, I had teachers that used to tell us about this storm. It was a big part of their psyche. One was an older woman and anytime the temp would drop below 0 F and snow was predicted she would refuse to come in, citing the storm and not wanting to be stranded. I can empathize now, I didn't really get it as a kid
Howdy neighbor I live in bairdstown a small spec in north baltimore
I was in high school in toledo and tried to get out my front door but it was drifted over and frozen shut. Climbed out bathroom window to walk through 3 ft of snow to find school closed. My Dad was trapped at Ford factory for 3 days living on vending machine food. 12’ foot drifts. I built a snow slide connecting to our roof. We always kept candles, matches, blankets in the trunk.
I was 16 years old in January 1977, living in the "snow belt" of WNY. I was just starting my drivers road test to get my license when the blizzard started. At that time, you had to use hand signals to pass your driver's road test, so my window was down. It was RIDICULOUS! There was so much sleet pouring into the car that myself, and the DMV tester were soaked, freezing and couldn't see out the windshield. I turned to the tester and said, "I'm rolling this window up, so please tell me now if you are going to fail me."
He said he wouldn't and I passed, but my mother and I barely made it home before the drifts locked us into our house for days.
This is an amazing story
Glad I lived in civilization. I took my road test in 1970 and hand signals weren’t mentioned or on any testing material. Cool story
I also took my drivers test during a bad snow storm. My Mom begged me to stay home that day, but I had to have my drivers license...lol. We also barely got home....but I got to drive us..... I felt so grown up!
I was 16 too, when i came from Puerto Rico in 1977 (May during the 1st week or second) when they had a snow storm - So it was my first time seeing snow and feeling cold. I also felt the 1978 blizzard when we were out from school
They didn’t believe in safety back then. No seatbelts or no texting while driving laws.
I was a grad student at IU in Bloomington, Indiana during 77-78. The 78 blizzard and aftermath especially was the experience of a lifetime. One factor that didn’t come up in your video was that there was a coal strike going on all winter. Because there wasn’t enough coal, the university shut down for 4 weeks that winter. This was a wonderful time-nothing to do but stay inside and drink tea and read undisturbed. You can google that coal strike-it affected a lot of things and is a very interesting part of union history.
I was there.
I was in early grade school that winter in PA. We lived in a town of about 100 people that was not far from the Allegheny Forest. I only remember the snow days, playing in HUGE snow drifts and seeing the dump trucks full of coal driving past.
Given the recent droughts in the western US, it makes me worry that the winters of '24 and '25 could be just as devastating right as our various governments are pushing us to electricity sources that wouldn't easily survive those extreme lows.
My next major home investment will probably be better insulation and windows, then an upgraded fireplace.
@Lou Loutrel
Were you around Tionesta, Tidioute, Smethport?
Oil City resident's child here. Frequent visitor of Venango, Crawford Counties, occasional travel to Forest County : )
@@AJKPenguin Clarion County
@@pierowmania2775 We are starting to rely so heavily on electricity and it's going to go wrong at some point in the future, not just heat but our need for food and money. All online.
I was 6-7 years old at this time. I remember us not being able to find our car for weeks on end; my Dad had joined a car pool. Unable to go to the grocery, we walked a lot to the local restaurant. We were good friends with the owner. He worked with what food he had on hand. Some of his distributors were still working. I honestly think he bought what he could at the local grocery store. A bread store was also in walking distance. I remember bundling up more than Ralphie's brother in "A Christmas Story". We lived in Battle Creek, Michigan; that's the southwest corner. Great video. It really helps a guy that was just a boy at the time really understand things. I think it was events like this that made me a weather geek as I got older.
FINALLY FOUND IT! Ive had an interest in blizzards, specifically the blizzard of 1977 and am so happy someone finally made this! So interesting to see the photos and just how much snow the weather generated, as well as showing the science in to why this blizzard even occurred. Great video!
when people say it is cold, occasionally...I remember trying to walk to my friend's house Jan '78 a block away in 24" of snow. BTW, seems like the lakes froze over _every_ winter in the 1970's (like ~ 10 hectare range lakes, for skating)
My grandpa was a mailman in rural Ohio during this time and he ended up getting caught in the blizzard during his route and his truck ended up being buried in a snow bank during it
He nearly died because his truck got completely covered but he ended up being saved by the Amish family who’s yard he ended up driving into because he couldn’t see
Ended up having to stay with them for a week before the roads got cleaned up enough that he could go home
My grandma was so worried and my grandpa ended up walking in alive right when she was about to call their church to try to prepare for a funeral
that must have been a really touching reunion, we really take for granted the inter connectivity of modern day, being able to keep in touch with loved ones
For anyone who asks, "Why didn't he just call home to let his family know he was okay?!"
Well, even if the phone lines somehow stayed functional, the Amish don't have phones.
@@katewalchle6704 - well, some Amish DO have phones and other technology devices, but they are prohibited from using those in their homes. Their tech devices would be in a shed or shack. I will post a link to a site that shows an Amish phone shack (posting it separately because the link might get this comment deleted if posted in this comment).
@Kate Walchle The phones were out for 2 weeks where I live, 20 miles from Cincinnati. The electricity was out for 3 days also.
To add insult to injury, the water pipes going into most homes froze up and busted.
I was 14 years old living in Jamaica .We got a cold front from this blizzard that caused the temp to drop to 65 degrees in certain parts .it remain the coldest Jamaica ever experienced in recorded history .Yes ,this blizzard wasn't no joke .It affected the Caribbean also with the cold air from up north .We call this " Cold Front .
Dude, this is amazing historical and scientific research. The work it must have took to research the clips, write, record, and edit is insane. Kudos.
Yeah, I was a teenager, just graduating High School in Sunny Santa Monica, heading to City College, when I heard the “climate activists” of my daying touting the “Endless Winter” as proof of the “Man Made 2nd ICE AGE!!!” (Rather than just a bad Winter) and it was - so bad - it took a DECADE for the propagandists to switch to “global warning” (until that - too - proved to be a UN / University of East Anglia HOAX… and it took another decade to switch to the “Hot or Cold” (like the thermos) either way… its “Climate Change” that needs endless taxation to ensure survival…. 🧐
Yeah this probably took, well’ a long time 😮💨 good job too 👌🏻
@@trickywoo5165 your RUclips handle is trickywoo! Are you a James Herriot fan?
I lived through those storms in western PA. This past winter we barely had a flake. Just plain strange.
@Repent and believe in Jesus Christ Hail Satan
I grew up just west of Cleveland and these
2 years were my junior and senior years of highschool. I don't think it's possible to exagerate those 2 winters.
As boneheaded kids we had a blast. We were having contests to see how many city blocks we could traverse without taking a step. Simply letting the wind blow us across the ice.
The ice on the lake was incredible. We were at times a half mile out onthe lake. There were spots where the ice had buckled and the shards sticking up were 5 ft thick.
You are right about one thing, we still talk about "the blizzard" all the time
We had just moved from the Ft. Walton Beach, FL to Springfield, OH in late summer of '77. I can remember the '78 blizzard vividly because I wasn't used to seeing snow and there was A LOT OF IT. Our front door was buried in a snow drift that we had to dig out of from the inside, melting the snow in a bathtub. We were stuck at home for days. My mom's cousin was a deputy sheriff in Preble County, OH over on the Indiana boarder. He was on patrol that night when everyone went to bed and it was 50 degrees. When the snow hit, his patrol car got stuck so he walked to a farmhouse in the rural county and knocked on the door in the middle of the night. The farmer didn't believe that he was a deputy or what he was telling him because it had been so warm that night. So the farmer sent him on his way, only to turn the radio on and hear the news and then had to go looking for him. Probably saved his life. I need to find an "I survived the blizzard of '78" t-shirt.
Right on !
I was a student at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond in January, 1978. I wrote a note to my girlfriend beneath her dorm room's window in the fourteen inches of snow that was on the ground at the time. Mother Nature took exception to that. Later that night, the blizzard struck and buried my note (and everything else) under eighteen inches of new snow!
It all worked (and thawed) out. She & I have been married since 1980. We got married on the hottest day of an oppressive heat wave in a church that had no air conditioning!
What a great story!
What a wonderful story. And congratulations on setting a great example for so many to follow.
Weather: "You will not marry this girl!"
DaBlazes: "I don't take order from a blizzard. Watch me."
@Matt Taylor I hear you.
Glad to hear that it worked out for you.
My mom grew up in the Boston metro area. She always told me as a kid about how she caused the blizzard by praying to have a snow day at school the night before it hit.
I never understood just how big the storm was until this video
Hey everyone! It's this guy's mom's fault! Let's get him!
Love that story!
I was near Boston in '78. I-95 was shutdown and side roads had only one lane plowed for emergency vehicles only. The skiing in NH was epic!
@@heckzotica LOL. AND da momma too! CB
1976 was horrid in Clarksville Tennessee. We got an ice storm after Thanksgiving and that never melted. School was closed for over 45 days, nobody could get out. Thanks for this concise summary ❤
I was in Williamson county in Tn 7th grade I to remember that year well also
Thank you! Finally someone says the blizzard of '78 was the biggest of the storms we've ever gotten. In 2021 every station was carrying stories about the biggest storms in history and not one mentioned '78 (or'77)! I was on the east coast of Massachusetts when the '78 blizzard hit. No one was expecting anything close to what we got (at least 30".) My friends and I were hanging out at the local tavern, having some dinner and gabbing away when I looked out the windows and saw that the snowflakes had become really huge (and wet) and the wind was blowing sideways - really fast. At that point, I thought uh-oh, this might be worse than we thought and so I told people I was going to head home. It was really scary. I lived about 20 minutes away and almost got stuck on the on-ramp to the highway. It took me well over an hour to get home. Fortunately, my son was with my folks that night so he was safe.
The next morning I had to climb out one of my windows and roll across the snow to get to the street. The news was showing aerial footage of the four-lane highway and all that could be seen was snow. The cars and and tractor trailer trucks had been completely buried. The Nat'l Guard came with these gigantic snow movers and a few of them even got stuck and had to be towed. We were running out of places to even move the snow to! There were giant mountains of snow in shopping center parking lots that took almost three months to completely melt. I wish I'd stayed with my friends because they spent the next several days partying in the streets and building snow sculptures. (There was a ban on driving and the electricity was out almost everywhere.)
I think about that time when young people say "it's cold out"
I was in Framingham MA. I just know my car completely disappeared
My father was a locomotive engineer for Conrail based out of Rochester. He took the first train to Buffalo after the blizzard of '77. Buffalo is only about 60 miles from Rochester but it took THREE Days to get there. The train was proceeded by a front end loader to cut thru the snow drifts that had packed so dense, they would lift the locomotive off the rails if not cleared.
Contrail loaded snow from those storms into empty coal cars and sent them south till the snow melted . Contrail was paralyzed by that winter and a lot of top management was fired because the railroad was in effect frozen in place
@@genegleason4987 wow, imagine seeing snow loads regularly lol
The legend also goes that the winters of '77 & '78 reeked such havoc on Conrail's electrical locomotives (GG1s, E33s, E34s) that it contributed to Conrail's decision to abandon electric locomotives altogether in '81
@@genegleason4987 The C&NW was doing the same, shipping it to warmer weather
The Amtrak Floridian was trapped in snow in west central Indiana for several days, and many RR cuts were filled with snow. After the blizzards, I went by train from Lafayette IN to chicago and snow was as high as the passenger cars. Only way to see above it was from the dome car that was on that train.
I gave birth to my son during this little blizzard. I had planned to stay at home and do a home delivery anyway but my doctor was supposed to have come to the house and he could not make it because of this storm. I delivered my son all by myself, it was the most awesome experience of my life😊
Where I lived a husband put his in labor wife on sled and pulled her many blocks to the fire department where she delivered her baby with the help of trained firemen.
Thanks for sharing your story, amazing.
Husband in grad school at UOf Michigan. People having babies on snowmobiles, emergency services begging citizens to loan their 4 wheel drive vehicles. I went into labor at 22 weeks, we lost our first child that day. Staff at hospital had to stay over, couldn't get home, they were very kind
@@meman6964 Thanks for sharing your story, so sorry for your loss.
@@meman6964 😢
My mom talks about this when she was little. She was a pastor daughter and recalls lots of people seeking shelter in the church. Snowmobile were going around getting grocery and delivering them through the chimney for people who were in need of food. Our family lives in the lake effect area of Michigan by lake Michigan.
Blizzard of 78 in Boston we had 39 inches of snow and I was 11 years old. My brother's and I built a snow tunnel from the front of the house to the back of the house.
Crazy!!
Wow I have to say I never thought that I’d ever be glued to my youtube app for 36 minutes listening to someone explain the reasons why a blizzard happened in 1977/78. This was so informative in such detail that Ive learned more about weather patterns and the physics behind them in 36 min than all the videos combined that Ive watched in whole life. Bravo this was incredibly well done, thank you
Could of been done in 20
@@chucknorris277could have*
@@chucknorris277 alright grandpa, back to the retirement home
@@chucknorris277 could've = could have.
It was a wild 2 winters with that high heat
Summer of 1977 sandwiched in between.
We had over 90* days in May in NorthEast
Ohio. Living thru this time period was a wild
ride! I still have the Cleveland newspapers
on January 26,1978. Then 5,10,15 & 20th
anniversary newspapers editions. But lately,
NOTHING! Just like it didn’t exist or ever
happened. Just like all of us dinosaurs that
lived thru it died out. I wrote an editorial to
our local newspaper, chewing them out on
not even mentioning it 45 years later 1/26/23.CB
I lived in Boston most of my life. The blizzard/hurricane of 1978 was monumental. My solid brick apt. building shook. the winds were so strong. I will never forget.
Lynn area. I thumbed home from Buzzards Bay that day. 2 rides.
@Jay
honey where are my car keys?
They’re in the clothes drawer.
Not my khakis my car keys.
I was 9 years old in north providence Rhode Island. me and my mom took the toboggan and walked to the store to get milk and stuff for my grandparents. on the way back we were at the top of a huge hill and looked down to see about 4 feet or more of compacted snow in the road and cars all higgeldy piggeldy on the side of the road. my mom turns to me and says you ready to go down. I was so shocked. I never thought she would suggest it. I assumed she wanted to walk back. so she laid down on the toboggan and I got on top of her and we pushed off and it seemed like we were going 60 miles an hour. we made it almost to the midpoint of the next hill. was an awesome ride.
North Shore
Have photos of homes literally destroyed near the waterfront over here
Currently going on about a week below freezing with 30 below windchill for a few nights in the midwest right after new year (Fort Wayne, IN) and I gotta say I couldn't imagine this for 41 consecutive days, that's absolutley wild
You did a fabulous job explaining those two winters. It's funny now, realizing how little we knew what was happening in other parts of the country back then. I'm from the Boston area and remember being in 10th grade when the blizzard of 78 hit. Great times as a kid.
Was at work in Southboro, MA when it hit, everyone bailed - I went north and made it home, many of my colleagues went east and had to be rescued by Civil Defense. Markets & gas stations closed for a week. At least bars & restaurants took checks
This might be your best video yet. The wardrobe change after the news report was a nice touch! Thanks for all your work making these.
Thanks Joshua! I was real lucky to find the original vinyl shirt transfers on eBay... was worried I would screw the shirt up but it turned out fine!
Problem is, he is OBVIOUSLY too young to have survived the Blizzard of 78., I'm old enough to be this guys father and I was a just a kid. To me, all the nor'easter meant was a day or 2 off school.
@@tarstarkusz I don't see a problem. He put together an awesome presentation! He's quite knowledgeable but managed to put together something that was entertaining and easy to understand as far as the mechanics of how those storms, and others, are formed. I was 15 at the time and lived in Maryland. We had 10 foot drifts and I remember how bone cold it was and, of course, windy!
@@kayelane5868 I wasn't saying anything bad about him. Just he looks to young to have been alive in 1978. In a different video, he said his mother was a girl in 1969. My guess is he was born some time in the mid 90s.
I remember we did have a major nor'easter about the time he's talking about here in Philadelphia. But being 8, to me it was just all fun and time off school.
@@tarstarkusz I was born in Bristol PA. 1961. We moved to MD round about '72. I find myself in the Pacific Northwest Washington for the time being. When I retire, hubby and I will head back towards the east. Not sure where we'll end up but we're tired of the rain!
The impending ice age scare was in all the media back then. I even had a teacher cry in front of class while reading from a Scientific American magazine because we were going to have it so hard as adults living in the ice age. We were supposed to be under 2.5 miles of ice by 2010. She terrified me! This is why I remember it so clearly. Television programs were interrupted so a special program could air about the impending ice age. Even, "environmental awareness experts," would interrupt classes to preach about the impending ice age. My how times have changed.
They haven't changed that much. "Reputable sources" are still saying the apocalypse is right around the corner.
Nah, they really haven't changed much. Alarmism over climate is alive and well.
And the same idiots now want us to believe the world will end in 10 years, due to "man-made" climate change.
@@MintyLime703 "alarmism"... this was two winters, we can tell the climate has been changing since the industrial revolution
@@h.f6364 it's been changing for thousands of years
I was 8 years old living in Maine when we got hit with the blizzard of 78 , but as a kid from Maine , I didn't know how bad it really was .
But i had so much fun playing in the snow that winter.
The storm my family always talked about was the blizzard of 62.
I was 6-7 years old in 1977-78 N.E. Ohio. I remember some of the storms, but that's through photos and stories from my mom. I was too young to really understand the severity of those storms, but thank you for explaining this in such detail.
To all the youngsters that wonder why grandma keeps all those ugly blankets in the closet. This is why.
There were countless horrific stories about that blizzard. I had a friend whose mother died at home and was placed in the freezing cold outside for four days to keep her body from decomposing until it could be removed for autopsy and burial.
Probably like what happened in Texas a few years back. So sad people had to freeeze to death. Nobody was prepared for all that cold. I don't remember how cold it was back then in Cincinnati. I suppose being in kindergarten all I was thinking was playing in all that snow.
@@hugaflowerthat freeze was pretty terrible power didnt even last under 30 degrees farenheit which is normal winter for a northern state. we slept in a nightclub after our house power went out then theirs went out. It was so cold the battery on our phones would die within 2 hours due to the temps.
@@hugaflowerliterally nothing happened in Texas it snowed like an inch and yall lost ur damn minds. Just know that the whole country was laughing at u lol
Wild
@@hugaflowerthey didn't say anyone froze to death. They said grandma died and they couldn't have the body removed and had to leave it outside in the cold so it wouldn't rot in the house
I was 16-17 during this period. Holy freaking cow, I have NEVER seen such a deep, accurate, comprehensive meteorological dissertation on these 2 years!
Seriously epic work here. Thank you!
I was a Sophomore in HS in Jan 78, and had to take my driving test right after the storm. THAT was FUN!!!
I was -2 during this period. But even a year before conception I was still cold.
I was 12 in 1977 living in Corydon Indiana. I remember the snow starting after Christmas break and we didn't go back to school until the end of January. My dad and the other farmers in the area used their tractors to clear the roads. The Ohio River was frozen solid and people were driving across it.
I was 11 yrs old living in Columbus OH, during this blizzard👍 our school was shutdown for over a month with the snow so deep about six foot excluding the drifts, neighborhood kids dug tunnels where sidewalks were to one another's houses so we could play together in it,, was a total blast literally.
This explains why my memories of winter as a kid in northeastern Kansas is very different from my experiences as an adult....I remembered huge piles of snow, digging snow tunnels, sledding on town streets regularly, and as I aged I just assumed that nostalgia had exaggerated it all. But now I feel better about it; there really were some big winters back then!
All it takes is a simple look on weather history to realize what we are experiencing isn’t new. Im starting to feel like this climate doomsday nonsense is only to create new markets and cause weird political division. The devils in the details.
You should remember the winter of 85 in NE Kansas, I was stationed at Ft Riley and we were out in the field when a storm hit that had ambient temps around -35° to -40°f without wind chills, with them it was around -90°f, it was absolutely horrible, we couldn't maneuver because it was so cold it was breaking the drive trains in the vehicles which left us stuck out there in it, they couldn't pull us out of the field so all we could do was button up in our vehicles and ride it out, it was 4 or 5 days until it warmed up to just above 0° and they could finally order us out.
I've never been so cold in my life and promised myself that if I got out of it with the tip of my nose, my finger tips and my ear lobes intact that I'd never again in my life complain about being cold.
Since then I've had plenty of jobs requiring me to work outside in the winter including being an ironworker putting up bridges and buildings in the winter time along with working in a shipyard during the winter, when ask by the people around me in those places who would be complaining about the cold when it would get down around 0° why I wasn't complaining all I'd have to do is think about that winter at Ft Riley and I'd just say "I've been colder".
Yea, climate change is indeed real
@@ripred42
Yea, the climate changes 4 times a year.
@@dukecraig2402 Yeah, no climate change going on at all. It’s all in our imaginations. Just keep telling yourself that. 🙄
I was 14 years old and lived just north of Buffalo when this happened. We were sent home from school just an hour after we arrived. The storm came in so quickly that my mom brought home several of her coworkers from the local hospital, as they had become stranded, since most of the roads were now impassable and closed. Only snowmobiles we’re allowed on the road. They camped out in sleeping bags on the family room couch and floor. I still remember, so vividly, bundling up the second night to go outside and look around. It was so silent but so beautiful, like something out of Frozen.
Andi: even snowmobiles we're stranded in fields in those white outs. A man was decapitated by not seeing Barb Wire fencing as he was travelling thru fields at night.
Tail end of Boomers came of age!! Good times.....
@Tery Wetherlow I remember hearing about the guy getting decapitated, it was even on the news in the Cincinnati area, warning people who had snowmobiles to be careful.
😊
I usually wouldn’t stay through an entire video this long based on the weather, BUT
I LIVED IT! And your video was so well done and clear that I understood everything you explained I had to stay until the end!
Well done!!
Those winters were something to live through! I lived in Marietta Ohio on the Ohio River. Yes it froze over! And below freezing for days as you said.
I was thankful we had installed a wood stove the summer before.
Definitely a memorable winter to say the least!
Again, great great job!!
In ‘77-‘78, I was 8-9 years old growing up in the Eastern Panhandle of WV. I remember those brutal winters. Huge snow drifts, bitter cold, and snow frozen so solid that it was literally a sheet of ice. I remember throwing rocks from my house on a ridge down the backyard hill and seeing them slide out of sight into the hollow below. This brought back fond memories. Thank you!
I will never forget that winter. I was 17 then and I have never seen anything like that since, Thank God. I lived in Conneaut, Ohio (Northeast tip of Ohio & PA Border) and our town look similar to what Buffalo looked like. Most of the cities on Lake Erie were devastated. You brought back a lot of memories. No phones, no lights, no motor cars...just like Gilligan's Island...only 30 below zero.
Only in ohio
Sure was , Youngstown was hammered too .
Even in the mid Atlantic region that time period was famous because a lot of the major rivers that fed into the Chesapeake Bay froze over all the way down to southeast Virginia! I can only imagine what it was like in the Great Lakes.
I was also 17. I don't remember it being unusual in Mi. Looking at it now, I see it being unusual!
Yeah, I was a teenager, just graduating High School in Sunny Santa Monica, heading to City College, when I heard the “climate activists” of my daying touting the “Endless Winter” as proof of the “Man Made 2nd ICE AGE!!!” (Rather than just a bad Winter) and it was - so bad - it took a DECADE for the propagandists to switch to “global warning” (until that - too - proved to be a UN / University of East Anglia HOAX… and it took another decade to switch to the “Hot or Cold” (like the thermos) either way… its “Climate Change” that needs endless taxation to ensure survival…. 🧐
I was 8 years old in 77. That entire year, 77-78 was probably the most memorable and ideal of my entire childhood. The snow covered my entire swing set and my dad made snow caves under it. Frightening and fun at the same time. It took dad an entire day to dig the snowblower and snowmobile out of the garage. The local boys made a killing fetching groceries. That year would have been the year I made a movie about like Ralph in the Christmas Story.
Same for me as well. When can't see over the snow that drop over the last few days, it was pretty cool for a kid.
Right? I was ten and my favorite memories of my childhood winters were this winter. I had a snow fort that must have been 25 yards long, all excavated in a giant snowbank created by my 3 brothers and myself shoveling. Epic winter for a kid, I am sure it sucked for adults!
I was born in 76 and have no memory of the Blizzard of 78 but I heard about it all throughout my childhood. I grew up in northern indiana. People talked about it for years afterwards. My dad told me that the snow melt was so lengthy that he remembered buying beer on july 4 1978 and there was a small snow melt pile still in a parking lot melting in the summer heat. Truly amazing amounts of snow.
I feel you. I was 9. Highlight for me was they put all the snow in the corner of the schoolyard. It was almost as high as the school. We had tunnels through it and slides down it. We would get to school so early just to screw around on the pile. And the streets were like trenches the snow was so high. Good times.
Our furnace lay down and died that year. My dad set up camping in the living room. We didn't have to worry about school, but the next day, my sister HAD to go out into the snow. She couldn't find her hat so she took a pair of long John pants and cut eyeholes in them and tied the legs over her head. We called her "Bunny" for a while after that.
My furnace gave out this year, during that Christmas time cold snap. I knew what and what not to do, thanks to my dad.
My father was born in January of '77 and was apparently bullied as a kid for YEARS for being one of the 'Blizzard kids'. There were rumours that anyone born during/right before it were bad omens to be around and were generally bad people. I didn't know much about it until I found this video. So thanks! Thanks for the info..❤
I was born in Sept 76. My parents drove to upstate NY before they knew about this blizzard coming to the area. (My great grandmother wanted to see me, and she wasn't doing well. 😢) So, as soon as they heard that bad weather was on its way, my parents packed up the car and headed back to NC. My mom said that my bottles were freezing in the car despite the heat running full blast - she would go to get a bottle out of my bag in the floorboard and it was frozen almost solid. She said they left Grandma's at the right time, my grandpa had photos & a video from that blizzard from their village and it always astonished me the amount of snow that buried them.
I wonder how many kids were conceived DURING the blizzard?
@@RUclips.Algorithmic.F-ckery well if you're stuck inside you're bound to get restless I guess
. All October babies.
Anyone having sex during the blizzard wouldnt have had a kid till like 9 months after@@GenesisSaturna
I fondly remember that blizzard! I was a sophmore in Depew NY and had a blast with my friends playing in the drifts. We had highlifts to clear our streets which created 12 foot walls along the streets, so of course that became our hockey rink! My dad who was a firefighter in downtown Buffalo drove a huge Chrysler Newport with a 440 engine. He had studded tires and put railroad ties in the trunk. He had no issues getting to work and making lots of overtime! The best part was all of the time out of school! I lived for snow days!
My Dad, his brothers, and a couple of their friends had snowmobiles, and during the blizzards they helped stranded motorists in the Akron area and brought them home, and also helped their neighbors get food and supplies. Most of them including my Dad were still in high school at the time.
My husband was lucky he made it to a friend's home. Me and the kids were safe at home. We lived west of Chicago.
Wow they’re heroes!!!
That story is awesome. I was north of your dad in Stow and drove to Hudson to work as a machinist afternoon shift. Well, I got to work night shift as well. Drove three miles home on Rt 91 and saw like two cars. Made it but my radiator was completely frozen from diluted anti-freeze. Never phased my 65 Skylark. Never got hot enough.
I lived in a small Massachusetts town, I was 14 years old. We had folks on snowmobiles riding around asking people if they needed anything at the store making runs for them. I always thought that was pretty awesome
I was a kid experiencing my second snowy winter in Indiana in '77. We were sent home from school when we arrived days before the Christmas break and were stuck for 3 weeks. My neighbors had to take my parents to get groceries on their new snowmobiles. We lost power for a few days and had to melt snow on the wood stove for drinking, cooking, and bathing.
I had a great time.
I was residing in Kalamazoo attending WMU. The snow was piling up in drifts 20-30’ deep against the dormitories ( Eldridge Hall) and students were jumping out of their dorm windows from the 5-6th floor windows. One guy broke his back. Sledding down the hills on cafeteria trays. I think classes were suspended for 4 or 5 days. The city was at a standstill yet the nearby liquor store had a line of students that stretched around the corner and down the street. People were partied out and glad to finally get back to class. Fun times.
Kids are crazy! It's a miracle that any of them make it to 20 .
Wow amazing video!!! I’ve been watching about these 2 storms for the past few years, but this video is the best! Finally a great informative weather channel
On RUclips!!!
My family of 7 was snowed in without heat for 2 weeks. We all had to stay in the kitchen, with the rest of the house blocked off so we could use the heat of the oven, and the stove top burners for heat. We lived in an apartment complex, and everyone was in the same boat. I was a teenager and thought I would die being trapped with my 5 siblings, in one room! lol As the week wore on we were able to traverse the roads, just barely.
My most vivid memory was watching a car flip over a guardrail on US 23, land on the roof of his car, slid down a snow covered embankment, flipped back over onto his wheels, and sailed out onto the surface of the frozen Olentangy river. It was terrifying and amazing! The man was not hurt, thankfully. ( my friend and I prayed out loud for the man as it was happening, He climbed out of his car and started walking around his car over and over. We were on a road adjacent to the river, and waved , and yelled at the man asking if he was okay. We hiked down to greet the man and take him to make some phone calls to retrieve his car and made him some coffee. He was in complete shock. He kept saying, " No one will believe it, I dont believe it! Did you see it really happened didnt it?" It was absolutely amazing that very little damage was done to his car. I truly believe God had his hand on that man and his car.
My second most vivid memory was seeing the Ohio River completely frozen over, and people had driven their cars out onto the ice . And we did walk from Newport Ky to Cincinnati Oh. I can still remember the looks on the adults faces, out there playing around like a bunch of kids!
The thing that touched me most was how everyone came together to take care of everyone. People with snow mobiles did double duty bring food and fuel for kerosene heaters out in that cold. Honestly, as a young person, we had a blast once we settled in and started playing in the snow! I can still remember the snow drifts that were piled so high beside the road it felt like you were driving through a tunnel.
Never again have I seen the Ohio River freeze solid.
what great stories! My college roommate was from Kentucky and she’d never seen so much snow. We lived a mile away from most of our friends. So I said come on we’re walking. And we bundled up and she immediately tipped over in the deep snow. Took awhile for her to figure it out, also bc we were laughing so hard. For days everyone single file walked in the little trails on the streets. I’m not sure how long it took for them to plow and I think houses were cold for a while. But we were 20 and only knew we didn’t have classes and we had beer and pot and each other. It was fabulous we laughed and ate pancakes every day.
The Winter of '78 was the only Winter my mother ever experienced in South Dakota, and is why even though my father is a Minnesota native, I've lived my entire life in California (she noped out of South Dakota, my dad followed her to California, they married a year later, and in Summer '84 I was born).
My dad would've moved us out of Ohio if
he could've.
Thats a cool story. Glad your family could spend winters in the su lol. I wanted to live in CA since before i was 12 (native newyorker and born way after the 78 Blizz.) I only remember a few bad blizzards in the 80s but none like this one and then a crazy hurricaine where thw sky was green and the winds were blowing sideways. 🤔😐
The winter of 77-78 was the first winter I had spent as a teen in Indiana. We got so much snow along with the high winds we were off of school for a full week with snow amounts of around 3 feet we were able to climb on top of the house with out a ladder.. Man, that was one crazy winter that I had lived through. Blizzard of 78 survivor for sure...
I was actually working at Logan airport for Massport along with brother and father. My brother and I did manual snow removal in walkways, garage staircases, and parking lots. Back then they didn't use snowblowers for those locations. I stayed there for 2 days straight and as a 17yr old that check was great. My original job was parking lot attendant at Commonwealth Pier but for snow emergencies I shoveled at the airport. Those were great memories and met allot of people. We ate airplane food and slept on terminal floors. My dad drove a front-end loader and plowed the parking garages floors. I go to the airport now and cannot believe the difference
Discovered your channel today & I've been binge watching. Love your content! Man it's like it never freaking ended for the people there!
Again, a professionally presented historic weather story. Toledo was slammed by the 1978 storm. It seems that every winter in the seventies was very cold, but 77-78 were the most memorable winters.
My cousins lived near Toledo and they still talk about that storm.
My teachers kept repeating the story of when we got 2 feet of snow and someone had to volunteer to pick up the kids from school on their snowmobile because cars wouldn't make it.
There hasn't been a winter storm like that here ever since.
And the experts kept telling us it was the start of a new Ice Age.
My Grandma was a nurse in rural Ohio and during this time a nearby farmer with a two-seat “crop duster” airplane flew her to see patients who couldn’t get to the hospital. Wild. My dad was young during this time but he talks about the blizzard all the time, it was a formative event for people his age.
I was a 20 year old college student in the Akron, Ohio area. By dawn that morning a raging snow hurricane was roaring outside and all schools were cancelled. I couldn't have gone anywhere anyway because the door locks on my early Honda Civic froze up (they were horrible cars, especially in snow country where they rusted out like crazy). Anyway, nobody went anywhere for three days. Then the little remembered Russian flu epidemic of '78 hit in early March and I got the sickest I've ever been. Enough of U of Akron came down with it that they were very generous about make-up exams and homework. Watching those video clips was a real trip down memory lane, especially seeing Channel 8's Dick Goddard, and Channel 5's Don Webster doing their weather forecasts. Thanks for the memories.
I lived in Columbus Ohio in 1977 & 1978. I was ten years old. I remember it started snowing on Halloween night and it didn’t stop snowing until Easter. We were out of school all winter long. That summer we had to go to school six days week to make up for the missed classes. We got one week off for summer break. During that week my family packed up and moved to South Carolina. Thank God!!
My parents and Nana talked about the blizzard of '78 a lot. Mostly because the winter of '08-'09 we had that ice storm hit Indiana and Kentucky, and my parents were like, "Oh we haven't had this kind of weather since '78."
I was 9 when that ice storm hit. We lost power all week. Only for it to come on for an hour and then go back out.
It started around Thanksgiving that year I'd been hunting white tail an the big wet flakes was amazing
yep i remember it was a wild time ..good looking
I was born in Port Clinton OH and lived there until early ‘79. I vividly recall both the ‘77 and ‘78 winter weather events you describe so well. We lived in a one story home less than 2 miles from the lake front. In ‘77 there was snow drift that went all the over the house on one end. I was the smallest, so my family pushed me out of a high window in the bathroom, I slid down the show bank and dug out the front door-otherwise we were trapped in the house! An elderly couple lived across the street-this was a typical small town neighborhood street with small lots so the houses facing each other couldn’t have been more than 50 or 60 feet apart. I was sent over to check on them and make sure they had firewood since the power was out. It was blowing snow so hard I couldn’t see 10 feet much less all the way across the street! My dad kept a small boat in the garage during the winter and he tied a few ski ropes together, attached it to the boat hitch, and I hooked the handle at the other end over my arm so I could find my way back if I got lost! My father was a pharmacist and with the help of friend who owned snowmobiles we went to his drug store, collected prescriptions that were vital for certain patients and delivered them to their houses. When school finally resumed, the national guardsman were sleeping in the gymnasium for a few weeks as they dealt with the aftermath. I’m over 60 now and it’s difficult to separate in my mind events that took place in the winter storms of ‘77 and ‘78, but within a few months - in early ‘79 - we moved to the south where summers are hot, winters are warm, and the girls are friendlier and prettier! Best thing that ever happened to me!
Very cool story
thank you for sharing this & for your acts of kindness in a needed time.
so weird.. what i find fascinating is i bet that hasn't happened there again.. It's so random that it may happen once in 200 years
only in ohio
@@Jack-xe8ki I was in central Ohio during that time and was 12-13 years old. I went to Alamosa Colorado in the winter of 83/84 for college and it was the coldest winter ever there! Actual temperature of -42° I remember seeing -43° on the bank sign as I was going in the door to class after having to walk clear across campus.
Man, I absolutely LOVE this channel. You make learning about weather so interesting!
In the more recent polar vortex winter of 2014, here in the Great Lakes, I remember there were something like 230 + water main breaks in Milwaukee, and the city had trouble keeping up with them.
Covington, Ohio, in Miami County had the entire city water supply frozen solid. The town is built on a limestone ridge, and most of the water and sewer mains were laid right on top of the rock at a depth of only about 4 feet.
I'm sorry, that was West Milton, not Covington. My bad.
My dad told me about the snow in Florida. He was in school. He said some of the class were showing up and shedding what layers they had to share with those who didn’t have cold weather clothes. Oddly he said the snow didn’t fall till later in the day and his teacher excitedly rushed them outside for what she claimed was “a historic and unexpected recess!” It melted into mud as soon as it hit the ground but in the moments before they fell my dad insisted it was like the stars in the night sky had drifted down to float around him like fireflies.
Was your dad an author? That's a good description
@@skullingtonfx4441 no but I fancy myself a writer.
And then Florida man beat him up for being weird
@@KAOSshortyrip Curse you, Florida Man!
@@skullingtonfx4441 the power of story telling!!
Love it! My parents always used to talk about this storm. My dad got 3 days off of work in Akron at a rubber factory. You know it was bad when the rubber factories closed. For another week, he had to walk to the main road to get his boss to pick him up... their car was stuck for nearly 2 weeks. Unimaginable!!
2 weeks?? Wow... Hope he got some good deals on snow tires!
@weatherbox my parents lived in an apartment complex right off of West Market St in Akron. The apartment complex didn't remove any of the snow, and every time the city cleared Market Street, more snow got pushed into their alley that they parked on.
I can understand why so many people around here still talk about it.
The rubber bowl.
Don't you mean Inconceivable??
"My dad got 3 days off of work in Akron at a rubber factory" Do you mean it wasn't a "Goodyear?"
I live on the North shore of Lake Ontario in the small city of Belleville, Ontario and will never forget that winter Friday in 1977. Having to stay overnight in high school and watching the original King Kong on a black & white television in a hallway. My best friend, who was a professional school skipper, decided to walk to school that day. The 20 minute walk, through a field from our neighborhood, took him 2 hours. Epic...
Steve, I really feel like you could explain absolutely anything to me given enough time and I would absolutely understand it.
My grandparents owned a very large cattle ranch in southeastern Montana during this time. I've been told stories about how much of their cattle froze to death, standing up, due to the insane amount of snow and crazy low temperatures. Unfortunately, this loss began events that would eventually lead to them losing their ranch a few short years later.
Northwest Iowa got hammered Nov 8 - 10 in 1977. The snow amount was not much but the winds were the worst I've seen. Many times I couldn't see past the hood ornament on my 74 Chevelle. Wildlife like pheasants and partridge will face into a strong wind otherwise their feathers get lifted and they freeze. The horrific wind packed their beaks/nostrils. When it was all done you could dead pheasants in every field. The pheasant and partridge took many years to "recover" and it was not a complete recover.
As I recall the fall of 78 was very mild so all the crops had been harvested. That took away some wind protection and made the deadly aftermath easy to see.
An uncle had snow drifts that went over the cattle yard fence. Drifts were so hard the cattle walked out of the yards and were in the neighbor's field. So we helped build a temporary fence on top of the snow but we had to round up the cattle first. That's the only time I've seen snow drifts that hard, like packed down soil.
Woodstock Illinois got hit bad to. Don't remember how much snow got, it was a lot and snow drifts were deep. I was 19 years old then could not get to work for 3 days.
Sorry to hear that.
January 1978, I was only 8 years old. We lived in Jenison, MI, just southwest of Grand Rapids.
I remember waking up that morning and the snow in my front yard had completely covered the living room window in our 1 story ranch style house. It actually was worse than I first thought. We couldn't get the garage door open the snow was pressing so hard up against it. Even if we could, it was way too deep to get the cars out for my for my dad to be able to get the lawn tractor that was fitted with a plow out.
Somehow we we able to get the little door out the back of the garage open. My dad decided that we needed to at least shovel the snow off the roof of the house. I remember climbing up the snow drift onto the roof-it was so densely packed it actually supported our weight with no problem! No ladder was needed.
After we were done I got the wild idea to jump off the roof into the front yard. After about 10 minutes of my dad digging me out of the hole I created he had an idea. We dug a snow tunnel up to the front porch and were able to move enough snow that we could open the front door and walk in.
It was crazy, that snow tunnel stayed there for almost a week before it finally collapsed in on itself-and by then we had been able to clear the main garage door and driveway out to the street.
The rest of the world around us was really surreal. The drifts that were left by the snow plows were so tall, people had resorted to tying red flags to the top of their radio antennas on their cars so there would be some hope of cars being able to see each other at intersections.
I don't remember another winter like it. We moved to Chicago in 1979, and down to eastern NC in 1991.
I do think that, at least in the Chicago area, that the January cold snaps of the early to mid 80's were colder (I remember -26F at O'Hare with -77F wind chills on of those years) but the snow fall was just a pittance compared to the Blizzard of '78.
Jumping off a roof into that much snow sounds like a kid's dream come true! Thanks for sharing that story
Certainly a memory to cherish forever. Thanks for sharing.
What a great time to be a kid in the winter of 77-78 I was 11 and lived about 30 miles north of Lansing. :o)
Greetings form a fellow West Michigander. That was a fine time wasn't it.
I was in the Twin Cities for that storm - I remember my brothers and dad had to dig out the front path from front door to driveway.
The odd thing is when they opened the front door, the snow was almost the full height of the door, and since the wind had blown so much, the snow had taken on the form of a reverse casting of the door itself, including the trim panels and door knocker which were very clearly defined on the surface of the snow (in reverse).
Well done friend. I was a Junior and Senior in H.S. And have always had a fascination with weather. Piedmont region of North Carolina where I was we had 9 snow days during that time and an entire stretch for about 8 days the temperature didn’t even get near 30 degrees so none of our 8-12” inches on the ground went no where. I’m 64 now and that time period has never repeated so far. It did snow 8-10” inches one Halloween when I lived in Asheville, NC. The one and earliest snowfall in NC I’ve ever witnessed. Before that was November 9th in maybe 1971 but didn’t stick.
My mother recounts her life every winter due to how bad it was during the Blizzard of '77, it traumatized her. She was 19 and had twins the June prier, they were not prepared for such a storm. My dad working diligently keeping the family farm afloat. Having to rely on family and friends for food until roads and stores were open. Every time there is a Lake Effect Warning her anxiety still goes up. Even today with a few feet being called for she called and said "You know me, and please, just humor me... Do you have enough food to last a week?" And time and time again I reassure her we are ok and well stocked. Meanwhile, my southern fiance thinks I'm nuts for even humoring her. Even after last year getting about 6ft of snow from one storm, I try to keep a level head that everything will be ok. Times have changed, and I am thankful.
I'm a native Californian who in the fall of 1977 took the train to NYC and stayed in a brownstone in Harlem during the winter of 1978. I actually had the presence of mind to take photographs which I'm using in the book I will publish this summer. Thank you for explaining the mechanics of this unforgettable climatic event.
I will happily purchase 2 copies of that book. My Hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. I missed so much school I'm an intellectual stone boat. Let me know what you title it it and when it hits the shelves.
@@michaelcoffman4185 I will keep u posted absolutely. The title is: Winter in America and the Summer of Dreams. August or September it will be released. Thanks
Best wishes with your book. It would be nice if the owner of this channel put a link in his description. Together you could keep the memories of this storm alive.
Yes. That was an unusually cold and snowy winter not just in Western NY but in southeastern NY (i.e. NYC as well).
@@myronbriggs1018hi! Did you release it?
There’s a photo my grandma took of my mom’s childhood home in Muskegon - literally footsteps from Lake Michigan - completely covered to the roof in snow. How she got out to take the picture and how she got back in is a mystery I wish I’d gotten to solve before my grandma passed.
My grandparents lived on Norton Hills road by where Seminole Road ends by the Big Lake. They too were buried to the roof by the monster drifts blown in by the blizzard. I remember being at their house the first weekend in May and still finding snow under fallen leaves in the treeline on the north side of their property. Amazing times.
I was in Glenside and in High Skool.... oh the stories we can tell!
@@MaryFrantz-hc5wnI bet it's about going to school under that weather
My first son was born in mid December of 77 so he was a month old and I remember shoving so much snow.
@@davidlaing7684 a newborn in that blizzard I cannot imagine how you stayed sane 😂 I have one of my own and the newborn phase is no joke
I remember walking home from school after the blizzard hit my hometown. All the way home I couldn't see the road despite it only being a few feet away (not counting driveways). Also a huge snow fort that the students built had a base so thick it didn't completely melt until the middle of May.
I know that Buffalo, NY is accustomed to rediculous amounts of snow, but the winter 1977-78 must have truly felt like a snowpocalypse.
As a kid in Buffalo, I remember sledding off the top of a ranch style home. Lake Erie was frozen and had 5' or more of snow on it. While this blizzard produced little snow, the extreme high winds for days blew all of that snow off the lake on to the surrounding areas.
My 2 kids, husband and a recovering from surgery -- Me, lived through the blizzard of 1978 in WV (near Morgantown). The Monogahela River froze solid; feet of snow; 24" drifts; thousands of people stranded on streets; wind-chill -50; communities of us stranded in our homes; people dying due to no heat; burst water pipes couldn't be accessed to turn off water lines, and we were without access to food and water for days. Helicopter pilots had to air-drop supplies to us for days!! A month later, Settlement Houses were assisting folks.
Wow! You were recovering from surgery in West Virginia near a frozen river with 24 foot snow drifts and food had to be air dropped to you after no food for several days. That is a very believable story after watching this video. You are lucky to be alive, and your experience ought to be included in a documentary some day, as should many of the experiences in this comments section. Glad you are here to tell the tale.
This is a movie, especially if Hollywood threw Christmas in there, and the joys of holiday family cheer amid struggle 😉
Drifts of 24' or 24"?
@@judycee9263 oops .....24' (feet)
LOL, it happens. I was thinking, 'why are they complaining about such a small drift?' 🤔 I remember drifts up to my bedroom window on the 2nd floor. Fun times.
Thank you for all your hard work, Great info
What a wonderful video of one of my first memories as a child. At 5 years old, growing up south of Boston, I have memories of sledding from the top of the roof of our single story home all the way to the street. Great job.
I was 8 years old living in Chicago, and remember it well. Being as old as I am now and seeing it as an adult, really gets me thinking how great my parents were. It was incredibly cold and rough outside, but have great memories of how they made the best of the situation. Thank you for such a great indepth video in this. This was done very nicely.
same here. It was the best winter of my life, three weeks of snow days. If we had hardships, my parents shielded me from them.
_SAME!_ I just posted my comment about how much fun it was, such an unforgettable childhood experience. (And why I've lived my entire life telling the younger generations that they've never seen snow as deep as we used to get when we were kids!) 😂🌨️💞
I was in Chicago at that time I believe it's set a record of the most snow in a season .
I lived through the winters of 1977 and 1978, and I assure anyone who was born in 1985 or later that the coldest winter you can imagine was mild in comparison to these winters.
This is an amazing video! So much information and detail. It must have taken hundreds of hours to find and pull all the maps and footage. Very impressed. Also, the video affirms what I have sort of felt for years. I was in grade school for these two winters. As an adult, I have often had the impression that the winters were colder and wetter when I was a kid. Although I don't remember all the specifics, I do distinctly remember watching the evening news during this time and it seemed they were ALWAYS talking about how bad the winter was. (It wasn't so bad where I lived in the south, but even there I remember experiencing more snow than normal. As a kid, you certainly remember things like that.) The scenes of stranded cars and snow drifts are so familiar. Again, great job with this video!
I’m only part way through the comments and really enjoying the stories. Thank you all for sharing. I was 21, newly married and honestly can’t remember either giant snowstorm. I was in southern Wisconsin.
Same Ol' same 'ol
I was in michigan during these storms. As an early teen, it was a fun winter wonderland. I'm sure as an adult, it caused worry for the family.
“School was cancelled for multiple days leaving school districts, parents, and children frustrated”
Personally I would change this to, “leaving school districts and parents frustrated, and children jumping for joy”.
Seriously though, really enjoy your content! You do a real good job!
Kids not exactly jumping for joy because they weren't allowed to go out and play in the snow.
@@TimeLady8 Exactly. They were stuck inside. And unlike today, there weren't a ton of activities to do inside if you weren't a kid that enjoyed activities which involved staying still.
@@raerohan4241 or Chinese Checkers. CB
My mother was a school teacher so she jumped for joy right along with us kids
@@MaryEavey-dc3sk Yes, My mom too. Snow days were the best! Still are.
I'm surprised I've never come across this channel before today. I must say the presentation & detail of this video was amazing. Well done sir! As a resident of Novs Scotia, we experience some of the most extreme weather Mother Nature has to offer. Most notably Hurricane Juan in Sept/03 which made landfall just 5 km from my home just shy of a Cat. 3 with sustained winds of 110 mph & gusts of 145mph in Halifax harbour. In cruel fashion, just 5 months later we were hit with what Environment Canada called a "superbomb". 3 straight days of heavy snowfall & winds 80+ mph. The unofficial name of the storm was dubbed "White Juan" The air pressure was an astonishing 950 mbar & just opening a window made your ears pop. The city of Halifax was essentially a ghost town for a week. My town on the Atlantic coast south of Halifax received 48" of snow. Several times during the 3 days, we were hit with "thunder snows"- where a loud boom was heard followed immediately by a burst of snow falling at 6"per hour. I would love to hear the technical details of these 2 extremely rare weather phenomena - you sound like the ideal person to explain it! Lol
What blows my mind about the stat about Chicago staying below freezing for 41 consecutive days is the fact that this is an unsually long stretch even for my hometown of Edmonton. If Edmonton had a 41 day stretch below freezing, it would be the 6th longest ever recorded. The fact that this happened at a much lower elevation and latitude over large bodies of water is just mind blowing.
My grandmother actually recently uncovered a cassette that she recorded during the blizzard of 78. It's like the opening scene from a documentary- and she doesn't remember why she recordede it that way. Pretty cool though
please do share it if possible or link it.
post it on youtube!
From your username I'm guessing you're in Michigan. You should make a copy of the cassette and ask the Dept of Meteorology or Dept of History at the Univ of Michigan if they would like it to add to their archive. I'm sure they have an archive related to that storm and a first person narrative on tape will be extremely valuable to historians.
I have found the new Tom Skilling... And it is YOU, Weather box! Thank you so much for this really well researched and detailed explanation of those years of blizzards! You came up as a YT algorithm recommendation because I recently watched a bunch of vids about the record setting Chicago blizzard of '79 & while normally the YT algorithms are 100% wrong for a statistically aggressive outlier like myself, this time they were right. This is a GREAT meteorology video & lesson. I'm subscribing and I'm hoping to watch a lot more of your vids (& hoping there's one on our Chicago blizzard of '79) over the Christmas holidays!
This was a great piece! Also thanks everyone for sharing memories! Interesting!
I was 12 yrs old when this storm hit. We lived in Mertztown PA. My Grandma asked me to go to the A&P in Trexlertown to get some necessity before the storm hit. It's roughly about 15 miles. It was flurrying when we left. By the time we got out of the store there was already 8" of snow. The wind was blowing so hard it was hard to stand. We started heading home. Everyone was just crawling along because visibility was 15-20 feet at most. It took us about 3hrs to go 15 miles. My grandma had a old nova at the time. She just kept that thing a movin'!! By the time we got home there was over 2 foot on the ground. It stormed like that all night. The next morning you couldn't even see the cars. The snow was as high as they were! We lost power for a long time. We were fortunate because we had a enormous coal stove in our house. So we had heat. We had neighbors that didn't have heat came to our place. Grandma had coffee going and food out for folks. I miss those days. Good memories of neighbors looking out for and taking care of each other. Sure do miss Grandma.
I was in high school in suburban Dayton OH. All that rain which fell the day before the 78 blizzard froze overnight then snow fell and drifted in the howling winds. The streets were plowed but the ice under didn't melt. It was so cold they didn't bother salting the roads. We put on ice skates and skated all up and down our street. School was closed for two weeks which we had to make up at the end of the semester not finishing until mid-June.
I was in Columbus Oh, also in high school; when people complain about the weather now, I just laugh.
I was a high schooler living in a mobile home near Newark, OH. I was terrified. My mother needed insulin and Dad somehow got the car past overturned semi trucks and waist deep snow to get us and the pets to safety at a miraculously open and heated motel. He was a hero.
YES, We had a ice storm that cut power off then before every was in case in ice and then the blizzard, drifts it was insane. Sledding was amazing. Lol.
I grew up in Asheville and was 13 in January 1977. We got heavy snows twice a week. They didn't have a lot of salt and equipment in those days so they stopped trying to clear the roads. We went to school only two days for the whole month. It wasn't horribly cold, just below freezing so we went sledding every day. I built an igloo. Best winter of my life.
This was EXCELLENT and educational. I was 8 years old in Central Michigan during this time period. I can remember the chaos of the roads while riding the school bus.
I was in JHS for the 78’ blizzard. I was happy to have a “snow day” from school until my father got me out of bed and made me shovel him out to go to work. The snow was almost as high as my head and it took me hours. To this day I vividly remember this.
He should have stayed home too, could have gotten trapped on the road.
@@spunkyspaz of course
Snow banks in rural west Michigan were 20-30 feet high, the national guard was using huge Terex loaders to clear intersections and country roads. People were riding snowmobiles into mid April. 2008/2009 was the last _real winter_ season we have had here. Now it rains more than it snows.
I remember on Easter Sunday still having 4' snow banks left from this storm!
The drifts were so high we'd slide on our sleds down the roof of our garage. We had cows and chickens and had to dig a path 100 yds to the barn to feed them. Twas good times.
I was in northern Iowa and remember that vividly lol
I was 18 during the Blizzard of '78, we lived in extreme southern Michigan. We were home for four days, dad was trapped at work for three days. Power never went out, because it was COLD and all we got was snow and wind.
Overall, it was kinda fun. Mom and Dad always had tons of food and supplies in the house, year round, they were just like that.
So, we just stayed home, playing board games and I was on the radio (Ham Radio) talking with friends and enjoying taking three days off from life. For us, it was not all that bad, and again, kinda fun.
Check out those bell-bottom jeans, though! My husband looked so awesome in those! We were stationed at Ft. Dix, NJ, and that was more snow than I'd ever seen in my whole life, those winters. I was from Oklahoma, and we got snow periodically, but we rarely got more than 6 or 8 inches or so at a time, so several feet of it was astounding to me. My husband had been shoveling hard trying to get our car unburied, for hours, and along comes the snowplow again and almost reburied it, LOL--he was so mad. Thanks for the memories!