Posted December 29, 200420 yr With the recent heavy snow in Ohio, I went a Googlin'.............. Bliizzard of 1978 (there were actually 2 that year, in the Midwest In late Jan, in NE in early Feb). The winter of 1978 is STILL a topic of conversation here in Cincy. I was just a pup...but do remember it since we MOVED during the Blizzard (well the Sat after it hit---the roads were still covered in white) This page of links is centered around the NE event, but the event in the midwest broke all kinds of records. The lowest pressure recorded on land (not after a hurricane) was in Columbus---record snowfalls, 100 mile wind gusts, truely a white hurricane! http://hullnantasket.homestead.com/Blizzardlinks.html Interesting that the snowfall in Cincy was only 7"....I thought it was over a foot...I'm sure with the winds the drifts were all over the place
December 29, 200420 yr I was 2 years old when the Blizzard of '78 hit so I don't remember anything about it, but my family talks about it a lot to this day. I was visiting my relatives in Hilliard when the blizzard hit and we got stuck in their tiny little house. Up until 1978 I was living in the Phillipines, so my cousins were all excited to meet me, but by the end of the blizzard they all hated me....terrible two's I guess. My Dad says that he and my Uncle spent 30 minutes trying to get to the store to buy food, but only made it to the end of the block, lol.
December 30, 200420 yr I wrote a freelance piece about it for the Weather Channel's website in the early 1990s, and did a 20th anniversary article about it for Sun Newspapers in Cleveland. I'll see if I can find the articles and post them. I remember the storm quite clearly, even though I was only 11 years old at the time. My mother drove that morning from Highland Heights to work in Northfield as her car's gas tank ran low, and abandoned cars littered I-271, only to discover her workplace was closed and she couldn't find a gas station open on her way back. She called my father and told him the route she would take home so if she failed to arrive, he would know where to tell authorities to start looking for her. In Tiffin, my brother awoke to discover the power was out in his home and the air temperature INSIDE was 28 degrees. His one-year-old daughter's skin was blue, a sign of hypothermia. The roads were impassable, so he called a friend who had a snowmobile, wrapped his daughter in some blankets, and she was taken to the hospital on the back of the snowmobile. She survived, and has a family of her own these days. My personal recollection is not being able to see out my bedroom window because an 8-foot snowdrift blocked my view. My father took a picture of it and I have it around here somewhere. When I find it, I will post it. But, here's an article from the PD on the 25th anniversary of the storm that still has us talking..... ______________________ But it's better than 1978 25 years ago today, huge blizzard shut down the state, killed 100 Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH) January 26, 2003 Author: Grant Segall; Plain Dealer Reporter Estimated printed pages: 6 Randy Ayers grabbed the judge's chair. His teammates had to sleep in jail. "We can remember some of the prisoners hollering at us, banging on the bars," the basketball star recalls 25 years later. Read More... _______________________________ the blizzard of '78 Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH) January 26, 2003 Author: Plain Dealer The worst blizzard in Ohio's history struck 25 years ago today, wrapping the Midwest in white. Below are its vital statistics. All local weather readings were made at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, where worse extremes may have gone unrecorded during a blackout for part of the day. Snowfall: just 7.1 inches in Cleveland, up to 31 inches elsewhere, with drifts deep enough to bury trucks. Sustained wind: 53 miles per hour here, still a local record. Read More... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 31, 200420 yr i remember they closed school for like two weeks. it was wild snowy weather. i think that feb was one of the few times lake erie mostly froze up too. so get this: on a clear cold day later on we walked so far out on the lake you could not see land anymore. it was like you were in the middle of the north pole. we had to follow our own footprints back it was disorienting! the lake was white dusty ice with frozed peaked waves too. there were fish frozen in clear ice in cracks and grooves looking up at you. you dont forget a memory like that. i know, i know, how stupid right? but thats what we did.
December 31, 200420 yr I remember one year, maybe 10-15 years ago, several fisherman drove their pickup trucks out onto the Lake Erie ice to spend the weekend "out there." Problem was, the ice flow they were on started moving and broke free. Fortunately, they had a radio or cell phone and called for help. The US Coast Guard sent a helicopter and plucked them from the ice. Their pickup trucks were left behind and never found again.... I've often heard that, in really cold winters, you can walk to Canada, especially the shallower west end of the lake. If I ever did that, I'd tow an already inflated raft behind me and bring some fishing equipment just to convince the Coast Guard rescuers that I was out the there fishing. KJP "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 31, 200420 yr Over the years, I've read a few accounts of people who set out to walk across Lake Erie to Canada and met with an unknown fate. Some have made it, I think, and found it much more challenging than they expected.
January 1, 200520 yr boy and i thought us kids were stupid --- you guys are talking about grown adults !!!! i remember that story about the guys in the trucks very dumb move they got real lucky.
January 2, 200520 yr All kids do stupid stuff, no matter what era/generation/wormhole they're from. The ones that survive grow to become wise adults for their own children to ignore. KJP "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 24, 200817 yr Wow, the 30th anniversary already. I was almost 11 years old when it hit.... ______________________ The blizzard of 1978 -- Ohio residents will never forget big storm of 30 years ago By Mark J. Price Beacon Journal staff writer POSTED: 07:25 a.m. EST, Jan 21, 2008 The original forecast sounded harmless enough: ''Rain tonight, possibly mixed with snow at times. Windy and cold Thursday with snow flurries.'' People who went to bed early missed the bulletins at 9 p.m. Wednesday. They woke up to a screeching nightmare. A monster storm with hurricane-force winds slammed into Northeast Ohio early Jan. 26, 1978, spreading an icy coat of death and destruction. Read More... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 24, 200817 yr Some photos from the Akron Beacon Journal.... Tossed around like a toy, a Cessna airplane rests upside-down on the south end of the Akron Municipal Airport near the Akron Airdock. The Blizzard of 1978 had sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph with a peak gust of 76 mph in Akron, Ohio. (Akron Beacon Journal file photo/Ron Kuner) Downtown Akron is a ghost town at 4:45 p.m. Jan. 26, 1978. This view looks north on Main Street, from State Street. The Blizzard of 1978 had sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph with a peak gust of 76 mph in Akron, Ohio. (Akron Beacon Journal fire photo/Don Roese) A fallen tree blocks a street in West Akron. The Blizzard of 1978 had sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph with a peak gust of 76 mph in Akron, Ohio. (Akron Beacon Journal file photo/Paul Tople) A woman is buffeted by the wind on Jan. 26, 2978, during the Blizzard of 1978. (Akron Beacon Journal file photo/ Ron Kuner) A car in Wayne County, Ohio, pokes out from snowdrifts in the Blizzard of 1978. The blizzard had sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph with a peak gust of 76 mph in Akron, Ohio. (Akron Beacon Journal file photo/Ron Kuner) "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 24, 200817 yr Some of my photos from the Blizzard of 78: http://www.robertpence.com/blizzard_78.html
January 24, 200817 yr I thought it was great to have that time off school but I was small for my age (I was 4'9" in my junior year of high school so imagine how small I was at 6 years old) so everyone thought it would be fun to throw each other into snowdrifts. Guess who got sized up as "light and easy to throw" :x clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
January 24, 200817 yr I remember those pics, Rob! Awesome shots. Why don't I remember this? :? Because you're getting too old. Actually, I don't know why you don't remember it. We're both about the same age. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 24, 200817 yr ^ Yes, just a senior moment MTS :wink: I remember school has closed in the middle of the day and I went to the grocery store with my dad because no one knew how long the storm would last. I remember it being kind of like when there is a hurricane coming here with the empty store shelves.
January 24, 200817 yr I remember this. We used to have a sign of me and my sister out playing in the snow during this blizzard when we were kids. We lived on a street corner and in the picture, we have walked up to the STREET SIGN, which is at the top of a plowed mound of snow. The street sign comes up to our knees.
January 24, 200817 yr It was a great winter for a 13 year old. No school and unlimited snow forts and sledding.
January 24, 200817 yr I thought it was great to have that time off school but I was small for my age (I was 4'9" in my junior year of high school so imagine how small I was at 6 years old) so everyone thought it would be fun to throw each other into snowdrifts. Guess who got sized up as "light and easy to throw" :x 4'9" wow. You were a Shawty! :laugh: Rob, nice street! Florida Guy & KJP, thanks you two fossils! :-P I honestly cannot remember this. I would have remember throwing snowballs at the rapid or watching some clown nearly drown because because he think he can walk accross the Shaker Lakes. Why am I blocking this?
January 25, 200817 yr I remember it quite well. My dad got stuck at work for almost 4 days before they were able to clear out the snow enough to get the workers home. Dayton Daily News has a little something as well. http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/oh/story/opinions/columns/2008/01/24/ddn012408dale.html
January 25, 200817 yr I remember fondly. I lived in DC area and we missed a week and a half of school. I think it started on a Sunday (edit:wrong! i) night there, and we thought we hit the jackpot.
January 25, 200817 yr Peabody, you may be thinking of the second Blizzard of 78, which hit the Northeast about two weeks after the first blizzard hit the Great Lakes area. The Blizzard of 78 that hit Cleveland arrived at dawn on a Thursday, Jan. 26th. I still have the PD articles from then. However, the weekend before, we got hit with another snowstorm. I went to a Kiss concert at the Coliseum in Richfield the Sunday night before the blizzard. The snow was pretty heavy, and I seem to recall we got more than a foot of snow from that storm. It wasn't a windy storm though, yet school was canceled the next day (Monday). I had school on Tuesday and Wednesday, but no school on Thursday and Friday thanks to the blizzard. Yet, the schoolyear before (76-77), it was so cold for so long that heating oil supplies ran low and schools closed for extended periods to save fuel. My school (in the Mayfield system) was closed for an entire week due to fuel shortages. My friends and I spent a lot of time at the Mayland Theater and at Mayland Lanes (at Mayfield and Lander roads)! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 25, 200817 yr This is killing me, I cannot believe I have no memory of this storm. My cousin just told me, that all us kids went sledding at Cain Park. :? :?
January 25, 200817 yr Basically, a snow hurricane. If I recall right, Maple Heights schools were open that morning, the only ones. This wasn't unusual, the superintendent spent much of her winters in Florida and zealously maintained sole authority to close the system. Remember Blizzard of Jan 26, 1978? Weather Historians Recall Blizzard of Legend No source for article.
January 25, 200817 yr Yet, the schoolyear before (76-77), it was so cold for so long that heating oil supplies ran low and schools closed for extended periods to save fuel. I couldn't remember if this was the same year as the Blizzard, thanks for clarifying. I remember it was well below zero every day and schools were closed for about two weeks. I spent the better part of my “vacation” at my Uncle's house as my dad fixing his frozen pipes.
January 25, 200817 yr Some of my photos from the Blizzard of 78: http://www.robertpence.com/blizzard_78.html Rob: Can I use one of those photos on my blog? Thanks
January 25, 200817 yr Is this the time period when scientists claimed we were going to have another ice age? I remember one of my teachers at Walnut Hills saying it was a popular theory (I think in the 70s?). Short term extremely hot weather trends tend to bring up the global warming issue (not that I don't believe in Global Warming), but I wonder if blizzards had the inverse effect.
January 25, 200817 yr I couldn't remember if this was the same year as the Blizzard, thanks for clarifying. I remember it was well below zero every day and schools were closed for about two weeks. I spent the better part of my “vacation” at my Uncle's house as my dad fixing his frozen pipes. There was also a Blizzard of '77, but that one nailed Buffalo the hardest. On Jan. 28, 1977, Buffalo had more than 35 inches of fluffy snow on the ground when the storm hit. While it brought only five inches of snow, the storm whipped up the falling and fallen snow on 60 mph winds into drifts as high as 25 feet. It was days before they found all the frozen bodies in buried cars, got the roads open again and life turned to normal. The winter of 76-77 also brought to Cleveland the longest stretch of below freezing weather in history. I believe it was 31 days in a row, and the record still stands. Is this the time period when scientists claimed we were going to have another ice age? I remember one of my teachers at Walnut Hills saying it was a popular theory (I think in the 70s?). Short term extremely hot weather trends tend to bring up the global warming issue (not that I don't believe in Global Warming), but I wonder if blizzards had the inverse effect. A few scientists posed the idea of a new ice age in the late 70s. The media jumped all over it, given the incredible weather the nation was experiencing. But the work by the few scientists wasn't peer-reviewed and tested against additional hypotheses or data. When it was a couple of years later, it was debunked. Global warming theories have been peer-reviewed, tested and tested again over the past 20 years and each time the results appear more dire. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 26, 200817 yr Steel hauling rig of Cleveland trucker James Truly buried in a 30-foot high by 2000-foot long snowdrift near Mansfield. http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=82079 Blizzard of '78: Heroic trucker, Supermarket sweethearts Dick Russ Created: 1/25/2008 4:20:58 PM CLEVELAND -- Two Northeast Ohio families will never forget the Blizzard of '78, for completely different reasons. The family of truck driver Jim Truly looks back at the blizzard's 30th anniversary this weekend with mixed emotions. Truly survived six days in the blizzard, trapped in the cab of his truck under a 30 foot snowdrift that was nearly half a mile long. Read More... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 26, 200817 yr I love "old school" TV5 That was an awesome video. Brings back lots of memories. I recall going out to Phoenix in 1982 and there was Dave Patterson doing the news out there. Gee, I wonder what ever happened to Don Webster and Ted Henry? ;) Part Two of Channel 5's coverage.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F-0WLPT0bg Here's Channel 8's coverage (AWESOME FOOTAGE!).... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf3eiGTdowM "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 26, 200817 yr And here's a slideshow of the Blizzard of 77 that buried Buffalo... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 27, 200817 yr That's bizarre. Don't know what to tell ya MTS. While I was never in Buffalo in 1977 (though I did pass through there about six months before their big blizzard), I was completely blown away by that slideshow I found. The radio news broadcasts accompanying the amazing pictures was excellent. The Buffalo storm has got to be one of the top-five worst blizzards to ever hit a populated area in world history. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 27, 200817 yr It was 30 years ago this weekend, but people who are old enough still remember exactly what they were doing during the Blizzard of ’78, the worst winter storm in Ohio’s history. -Unless you're MTS :-P
January 27, 200817 yr It was 30 years ago this weekend, but people who are old enough still remember exactly what they were doing during the Blizzard of ’78, the worst winter storm in Ohio’s history. -Unless you're MTS :-P LMAO!!!LMAO!!! I can't remember....really. My mom told me, my brother and I were at home and after we finished shoveling the drive at home, we met up with my cousins to shovel my grandparents and she made hot chocalate for us to take along so that we would have something warm to drink while sledding. I cannot remember this to save my life. Give MTS his morphine, he'll remember. David, that is Genius! I have a new avatar! :-D
January 28, 200817 yr That coffee IV drip is awesome! I've often wondered if they had that available in Diet Coke?!? Did anyone catch the PD's coverage of the Blizzard of 78 in Sunday's paper? They actually had an urban planning angle to it -- noting how Greater Cleveland being more sprawled out makes the city more vulnerable to a crippling snow storm. If the electricity goes out, people can't flee to stores or shelters from their homes on cul-de-sacs in remote subdivisions. Some neighborhood hospitals are gone (St. John's, St. Alexis, Deaconess etc.), putting help farther away. It was an interesting angle to take... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 28, 200817 yr That coffee IV drip is awesome! I've often wondered if they had that available in Diet Coke?!? Did anyone catch the PD's coverage of the Blizzard of 78 in Sunday's paper? They actually had an urban planning angle to it -- noting how Greater Cleveland being more sprawled out makes the city more vulnerable to a crippling snow storm. If the electricity goes out, people can't flee to stores or shelters from their homes on cul-de-sacs in remote subdivisions. Some neighborhood hospitals are gone (St. John's, St. Alexis, Deaconess etc.), putting help farther away. It was an interesting angle to take... But there's a lot more 4WD vehicles out there. :evil:
January 30, 200817 yr Too bad many who have them don't know how to use them in off-road or extreme weather conditions. They seem to have their SUV as status symbols or to carry more kids, soccer equipment or groceries. How many times have you seen SUVs in highway medians after a snowstorm or even rainstorm because the driver thinks the SUV makes them immune to such conditions. I'll wager that you may see more fatalities from motorists during a severe blizzard like the one in 1978 because SUV drivers think they can get around with little problem. They don't have the driver training or a healthy respect/fear of Mother Nature that they should have. And nothing gets through when snowdrifts are 20-30 feet deep, roads are clogged with abandoned vehicles and blocked by fallen trees/wires. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 30, 200817 yr Too bad many who have them don't know how to use them in off-road or extreme weather conditions. They seem to have their SUV as status symbols or to carry more kids, soccer equipment or groceries. How many times have you seen SUVs in highway medians after a snowstorm or even rainstorm because the driver thinks the SUV makes them immune to such conditions. I'll wager that you may see more fatalities from motorists during a severe blizzard like the one in 1978 because SUV drivers think they can get around with little problem. They don't have the driver training or a healthy respect/fear of Mother Nature that they should have. And nothing gets through when snowdrifts are 20-30 feet deep, roads are clogged with abandoned vehicles and blocked by fallen trees/wires. That happens a lot, but I think you'd find that in a situation like that you'd find enough of the drivers know how to get through. We do agree on why those SUVs are on the road. But the root cause is the end of the big car and the station wagon due to CAFE. It's a classic case of arbitrary federal regulations backfiring. People simply weren't going to be forced into packing larger families into smaller cars so they found a way around it: vans and SUVs with even lower mileage than what they replaced.
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