Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 37

Thread: Blizzard of '78

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Plymouth County, Massachusetts
    Posts
    2,933

    Blizzard of '78

    Wow...Hard to believe that it has been 30 years ago today that the first flakes of the big storm started and didn't stop for around 35 hours. I remember that times were bleak for alot of people back then. The interest rate was around 19 % and unemployment was high. Nobody I knew was buying new cars and nobody was building houses. There was so many people loafing that the government invented a program called CETA. We were all out in the woods trimming trees for our "welfare check". After the Blizzard they called us into town to shovel snow.
    Man...I was shoveling snow for over 2 weeks. We did all the sidewalks and fire hydrants and all kinds of walk-ways. Yup alot of memories of the big Blizzard of 78.
    Anybody remember it?
    Gary

  2. #2
    Frayed Knot, Gary. I was only 2 1/2
    Jason Beam
    Sacramento, CA

    beamerweb.com

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
    Posts
    11,896
    Yep I remember it a little. Even though I was in preschool. We lived in suburb of Detroit at the time. My dad had to park a mile or two from home and hitched a ride on a snowmobile. The neighbors across the street were without power and stayed with us.


  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Near Boston, MA
    Posts
    146
    Oh yes. My wife and I were both in college. She was at Radcliffe and has great stories about Harvard College being essentially forced to close by the Governor and skiing down Mass. Ave. I had come home that weekend from Middlebury (not much snow up there before or after the storm that winter) and watched the snow pile up...and up...and up...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Lewiston, Idaho
    Posts
    28,504
    Remember it well! I'd just moved my family back to the Chicago area from central Oregon. We were staying in a motel. Schools closed for 2 weeks....a lot of restaurants closed.....3 kids....in 2 motel rooms for 6 weeks....

    Most of the engineers working for me had a tough time shoveling the cars out of the snow. Where do you put it in the big city? I had a '74 Scout II 4 X4 and was running around Chicago from hospital to hospital repairing cat scanners because I could get around...
    Last edited by Ken Fitzgerald; 02-06-2008 at 9:26 PM.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Slippery Rock, PA
    Posts
    556

    snow

    OH YES
    I remember it well
    I lived in a mobil home
    in Dec/Jan it warmed up to 0 on some days
    water froze to the point we only had it in the bathroom
    plowed the driveway came home plowed the driveway came home
    At work the snow was so deep that the snow plow had no where to push it
    had to get a highlift to bucket the snow away to make room for more
    haven't had a winter like that since

    THANK HEAVEN
    ken
    Epilog Laser, CNC equipment, Corel X3 & 4, Aspire

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Griswold Connecticut
    Posts
    6,926
    Yep

    I was in Sub School in Groton Ct.
    I had just come from So. California with a Camaro sporting D50-15's in the front. L-60's in the back on Cragar mags.
    I hooked up with a 'southie. ( Another sailor form South Boston). We used to drive I-95 to Beantown in my car. He didn't know how to drive,and I didn't know where we were going. Great combo.
    Take the foot off that gas and slide over the overpasses all the way up.

    There are a lot of highway overpasses between Groton and Boston.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Conway, Arkansas
    Posts
    13,181
    I was in Italy at the time, so nope...don't remember.
    Thanks & Happy Wood Chips,
    Dennis -
    Get the Benefits of Being an SMC Contributor..!
    ....DEBT is nothing more than yesterday's spending taken from tomorrow's income.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Hendersonville, NC
    Posts
    331
    I remember it well -- I lived in Rhode Island and it hit on a Monday morning -- by 9:00 AM all of the people that had gone to work in Providence were sent home, except there was so much snow at that point and all the I-95 ramps got slick -- wall-to-wall stuck cars on I-95 from the Mass line to South County. We had 38 inches in East Greenwich and my Volvo was the very last vehicle down our street for more that 10 days. Our local grocery store's shelves were bare (Almac's) and the National Guard brought milk, bread and eggs in all week. The flew huge front loaders into the old Quonset Point NAS in C5-A's and literally bulldozed all those cars off the Interstate... Yes, I remember it well.
    ______________________________
    Rob Payne -- McRabbet Woodworks

  10. #10
    I was on vacation that week from my regular job. I drove to Boston Monday morning to the outdoor shop, Wilderness House, where I had a part time job figuring to make a few extra bucks for the week. The snow on Brighton Ave was over the tops of the plowed in cars, the wind was whipping, and we were nice and cozy in the store. During the day we sold X-C skiis. Closed the store at 6PM and skiied up the street for dinner and a coupla beers. Then back to the store to mount bindings until midnight. Slept in the store on foam pads with sleeping bags. Get up the next morning and make coffee and breakfast on a camp stove and open the store at 9AM. Repeat until Friday. By the end of the week, with no change of clothes and only sink bath we were getting pretty rank. Skiied home to get a change of clothes, a shower, and a shave. Returned to the store and worked the weekend. For my vacation we sold over 600 pairs of X-C skiis and I made an extra $1500. It paid for my skiing vacation later in the winter.
    Last edited by Dave Anderson NH; 02-07-2008 at 8:55 AM. Reason: spelling
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  11. Yup. A friend (yah sure) called me up desperate to get a licensed driver to take one of his trucks. The state was ordering him to put it in service or else they'd take it and use it themselves. I drove his 14 wheel dumper for 3 days straight. In Boston and Hull MA hauling snow to the Charles river.
    This was the same truck I helped him repair an axle bushing on using my company's machine shop.
    The cheap cheezy creep paid me minimum wage for three days of driving.
    That was the last time I did him a favor.

  12. #12
    In Chicago, it was the Blizzard of '79. The snow was so deep that driving through residential streets was like going up and down blind canyons. And I had just got my learner's permit. We had school off for three days.

    The mayor of Chicago basically lost the next election because of how poorly the city handled it.
    Please consider becoming a contributing member of Sawmill Creek.
    The cost is minimal and the benefits are real. Donate

  13. #13
    Hey, folks,

    Just for fun:

    http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...-8&sa=N&tab=wi

    Yikes!

    Thanks,

    Bill

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Mid Michigan
    Posts
    3,559
    I lived in California at the time and do not remember it at all.
    David B

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Northern New Jersey
    Posts
    1,958
    Gary...I'm just a bit south of you and I don't remember a bad snow storm eventhough I was a senior in high school. Either it didn't happen here, or I've blocked the memory...to which I'm getting better at doing.

    I do remember the interest rates. I also remember the interest rates on savings accounts being high. It truly was a time to save for the future. Boy...has that changed. Now, where's my stimulus check?

    -Jeff

Similar Threads

  1. LATE 1700'S APPRENTICE JOURNAL (revised 9/17/06)
    By harry strasil in forum Neanderthal Haven
    Replies: 22
    Last Post: 08-29-2006, 2:01 PM
  2. What Happened to Winter!
    By Mike Ramsey in forum Off Topic Forum
    Replies: 61
    Last Post: 02-24-2006, 9:45 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •