If you were alive and in Ohio at that time, you've got a story to tell.
White Hurricane, 40th Anniversary.
- Thread starter Stressless
- Start date
If you were alive and in Ohio at that time, you've got a story to tell.
Shoveled driveways out for some $$$
Was able to get around in a 70 Monte Carlo with biased ply studded snow tires.
BEER was cold and plentiful! Marlboro reds were .50 a pack….
Was able to get around in a 70 Monte Carlo with biased ply studded snow tires.
BEER was cold and plentiful! Marlboro reds were .50 a pack….
I was in the Chicago suburbs. We have pictures, but I don't remember it.
Was 15 years old. Dad left for work and a little while later he was coming back into the house saying he couldn’t make it. I knew it was bad then. Electricity was out and we got heat from the oven.
Actually it was January of 78 so I was 14 years old. It was the beginning of the end of pheasants and quail in this area.
Not many snow plows back then. But the guys who did have them made some serious money.
Snow banks were high and hard to see above or around.
Was nice the first few days but got old and ugly quick…..
Snow banks were high and hard to see above or around.
Was nice the first few days but got old and ugly quick…..
Great Blizzard of 1978 - Wikipedia
For those who weren’t around back then.
MountNMan56
Member
I was 15. No school!! Had to heat the house with our gas stove, because we didn't have electricity. I Remember walking to the store a couple of days later with my dad to get some groceries, then carrying them all of the way back home, probably 1-1 1/2 miles. I remember my dad saying " This will be history someday". He was right.
MountNMan56
Member
You're right about that. I remember going rabbit hunting ( tagging along) with my dad and uncles and jumping 3 or 4 covey's of quail in a day back before the blizzard.
Yep, we rabbit hunted behind beagles and always jumped pheasants/quail prior to that storm/winter. Afterwards it was noticeably different. Then got progressively worse.
Bankfish
Junior Member
- 899
- 79
Lived near Hershey Pa then. 13yrs old. Snowmobiles were rescuing people on Interstate 81. The sledding hills were packed for days. Good times!!
Haha ... I was waiting to see how long it took for someone to notice that ...
50 years, wow were did this half a century go?!?!?
One of the rare times they called off school I remember. Lol
One of the rare times they called off school I remember. Lol
Look in the rear view mirror….. It’s all behind us now….50 years, wow were did this half a century go?!?!?
One of the rare times they called off school I remember. Lol
It was pretty easy math for a guy who is 45 and wasn't alive when it happened. Lol
I was 21 in 78 and I remember it well
We lived in the city and they didn’t plow the side streets
But the county just maybe 3/4 of a mile away did, so the we all got together and shoveled from our street to the county roads so at least our neighbors could get to the grocery store. And of course the beer drive through
We lived in the city and they didn’t plow the side streets
But the county just maybe 3/4 of a mile away did, so the we all got together and shoveled from our street to the county roads so at least our neighbors could get to the grocery store. And of course the beer drive through
I wasn’t alive yet but I’ve heard all about it more times than I can count lol. The most impactful story was the fact that my mom’s uncle Art was killed by the storm. He ventured out on a snowmobile to go help someone else in need and never made it. The cold and the snow took his life. Pretty wild stuff for Ohio.
Yup, that item flew by dint do the math but -
The Great Blizzard of 1978 (also known as the Cleveland Superbomb or the worst winter storm in Ohio history) struck from January 25–27, 1978, with peak intensity on January 26.
It was caused by explosive cyclogenesis—a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure (record lows, like 28.28 inches in Cleveland, still Ohio's all-time lowest)—combined with hurricane-force wind gusts (up to 100+ mph in places), extreme cold (wind chills to -60°F), and heavy snow on top of existing ground cover. Snowfall totals varied (often 4–12 inches new snow statewide), but winds created massive drifts 15–25 feet high, burying homes, cars, and roads. Visibility dropped to zero for hours, paralyzing the state.
Key Impacts in Ohio
51 deaths in Ohio (from exposure, heart attacks while shoveling, carbon monoxide poisoning, etc.), part of 70+ regionally.
Thousands stranded on highways (e.g., Ohio Turnpike closed for the first time ever).
Widespread power outages, no heat for days, schools/businesses closed for up to a week.
Ohio National Guard mobilized (helicopters rescued thousands, delivered supplies).
Damage exceeded $100 million in Ohio alone (billions regionally when adjusted).
The winter of 1976–77 was brutally cold (January 1977 was Ohio's coldest month on record, with extreme low temps and the Ohio River freezing), but the iconic "Great Blizzard" that devastated Ohio with high winds and drifts was 1978.
Personal Stories and Links
National Weather Service (Wilmington, OH) detailed recap — https://www.weather.gov/iln/19780126
Wikipedia overview with sources — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Blizzard_of_1978
Ohio History Connection: 40 Years Later (with photos and context) — https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/3629
Personal accounts from Northwest Ohio residents (including helicopter rescues, survival without power): WBGU-PBS documentary "The Blizzard of '78 Remembered" — https://video.wbgu.org/video/wbgu-documentaries-the-blizzard-of-78-remembered/
Reader-submitted memories (stranded families, National Guard rescues, digging out): https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2023/01/27/columbus-readers-remember-blizzard-1978 and https://www.wtol.com/article/news/y...1978/512-52d18f5e-08aa-4cd7-9c32-55a5411949ef
Cleveland-area recollections (with vintage photos/videos): https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2018/01/blizzard_of_1978_still_stings.html
Many who lived through it describe it as a once-in-a-lifetime event—zero visibility, howling winds like a freight train, and communities rallying with snowmobiles and fireplaces. T-shirts saying "I Survived the Blizzard of '78" became a thing!
The Great Blizzard of 1978 (also known as the Cleveland Superbomb or the worst winter storm in Ohio history) struck from January 25–27, 1978, with peak intensity on January 26.
It was caused by explosive cyclogenesis—a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure (record lows, like 28.28 inches in Cleveland, still Ohio's all-time lowest)—combined with hurricane-force wind gusts (up to 100+ mph in places), extreme cold (wind chills to -60°F), and heavy snow on top of existing ground cover. Snowfall totals varied (often 4–12 inches new snow statewide), but winds created massive drifts 15–25 feet high, burying homes, cars, and roads. Visibility dropped to zero for hours, paralyzing the state.
Key Impacts in Ohio
51 deaths in Ohio (from exposure, heart attacks while shoveling, carbon monoxide poisoning, etc.), part of 70+ regionally.
Thousands stranded on highways (e.g., Ohio Turnpike closed for the first time ever).
Widespread power outages, no heat for days, schools/businesses closed for up to a week.
Ohio National Guard mobilized (helicopters rescued thousands, delivered supplies).
Damage exceeded $100 million in Ohio alone (billions regionally when adjusted).
The winter of 1976–77 was brutally cold (January 1977 was Ohio's coldest month on record, with extreme low temps and the Ohio River freezing), but the iconic "Great Blizzard" that devastated Ohio with high winds and drifts was 1978.
Personal Stories and Links
National Weather Service (Wilmington, OH) detailed recap — https://www.weather.gov/iln/19780126
Wikipedia overview with sources — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Blizzard_of_1978
Ohio History Connection: 40 Years Later (with photos and context) — https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/3629
Personal accounts from Northwest Ohio residents (including helicopter rescues, survival without power): WBGU-PBS documentary "The Blizzard of '78 Remembered" — https://video.wbgu.org/video/wbgu-documentaries-the-blizzard-of-78-remembered/
Reader-submitted memories (stranded families, National Guard rescues, digging out): https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2023/01/27/columbus-readers-remember-blizzard-1978 and https://www.wtol.com/article/news/y...1978/512-52d18f5e-08aa-4cd7-9c32-55a5411949ef
Cleveland-area recollections (with vintage photos/videos): https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2018/01/blizzard_of_1978_still_stings.html
Many who lived through it describe it as a once-in-a-lifetime event—zero visibility, howling winds like a freight train, and communities rallying with snowmobiles and fireplaces. T-shirts saying "I Survived the Blizzard of '78" became a thing!