I remember not being let out of the house for a couple of days, and when I was the snow piles were in many cases taller than me. Same thing this winter. Only I'm a lot taller this winter!!!
Remember it like it was yesterday. After the snow stopped in the B of '78, the driving ban was still in place. We took sleds, walked to the old First National (Finast) to get food. The store was somewhat close to the house (1/2 mile), so the trek wasn't too bad.
Just had to make sure the food didn't fall out of the sled, pulling it up the hill!
I was in middle school out in Framingham then and I remember sledding down the street on runner sleds. My parents later took the sled to go shopping--first for a case of beer and then strapping a laundry basket on top of that to hold the groceries.
I've gotten a lot of mileage out of my Blizzard of 78 stories. "Blizzard of 15" just doesn't have the same ring. Besides, nothing beats Dukakis's sweaters.
And the first blizzard melted off during some intense warmth before the second hit.
They didn't have those sissy accurate weather reports back then - or, like the tough guys in 1938, they didn't listen to them! And so they waited until people trapped on the roadways and dying in their cars closed the roads rather than have a nanny governor close them first!
National Guard has to land in the ball field next to my house.
Governor has to institute a curfew and the National Guard has to enforce it.
Beachmont, Revere has to be washed into the ocean.
The Mayor or Revere has to ride in a duck boat (not the parade one) and evacuate residents.
Beahmont residents have to be housed at Revere High School for a month.
Yeah, and no forecasting meant people going about their daily business and getting stuck on 128. People living in bus stations for days. Stuff wasn't shut down in advance back then. The situations were very different. But so what? A lot of snow is a lot of snow. This is just a slow dribbling torture. Bliz of '78 was a one-two punch.
They asked how much snow was on the ground and how much we were getting this week. I said "I don't know, 5 or 6 feet already on the ground? Maybe a foot or two today? Does it even matter at this point?"
One of the guys from Dallas said that he couldn't even hear my usual sarcasm in my voice. All I have left is despair.
I wasn't supposed to be here, but will be dialing into a meeting. I have an e-mail box full of "I just can't imagine that" from Europeans and Southerners alike. Nobody from Boston made it down there.
Different
Blizzard of '78 was before all the intricate radar and sattelite imagery and a lot more wind. So towns/ people did not know as much and were not as prepared for the storm.
The Blizzard of '78 took out whole neighborhoods along the coast - just look at pictures and caused more deaths.
But, this is definitely making me want to move to a warmer climate!
I was only three during the Blizzard of 78, so I don't remember it well :-). What I have heard, however, is that the snow wasn't forecast to be all that bad, so many people just went about their normal lives that day, and only discovered how bad things had become when they left work. Cars weren't nearly as good as they are now. I can't imagine doing snow like this in a rear-wheel drive.
For one thing I was only 20, and didn't have to shovel, and it was actually fun - we were home and safe and never lost power or anything. Everyone just sort of gave up on trying to shovel because the roads weren't plowed for several days, a week? Also, few people had snow blowers.
Even with all the snow we've had this year, they are getting the roads plowed and we've been getting out within a day. And shoveling. And shoveling again.
We didn't know it was coming in '78, and that made it worse for all those people stuck on the roads, and, no, we hadn't gotten extra bread or milk or eggs.
'78 was better in that the snow stopped and the sun came out and we couldn't go anywhere by car, and just went out and walked around the neighborhood. People kept walking to Roche's, just for something to do, there wasn't much to buy when you got there. And the days following the storm were sunny and not that cold.
And in '78 the snow stopped! I don't know if it ever will this year.
'78 was a surprise storm and it had more impact on the coast. 128 was totally shutdown for days after. There was a total absence of French Toast Supplies. But things did somewhat return to normal in a week or so.
This is just dragging on. And the T and traffic seem to be getting worse. And the impact is working on three weeks now. So...
Except for the continued availability of French Toast Supplies, this sucks more. This '78 survivor will shut up now.
There were actually two blizzards during that 1978 period: one in mid January that may still be top 10, and the infamous one.
Another big difference between then and now: my husband tells me that the first one completely melted away to the point that he had dim hopes for a skiing trip over February Vacation.
"my husband tells me that the first one completely melted away to the point that he had dim hopes for a skiing trip over February Vacation."
I do remember that once the Blizzard of 78 was gone, it was GONE. There weren't snowbanks lingering until June like there are now. I can't remember why. Maybe the National Guard took it away and threw it in the ocean or something.
I am afraid that a new level of French Toast level must be added. Perhaps one that recognizes that even Harvey Leonard has run out of hyperbole and holds his head in his hands?
Even more fun going through '78 as a high school student in snow country, 20 minutes from Wildcat, with 30" (or was it 40"?) falling on the slopes and - wonder of wonders for Wildcat - NO WIND during or after. (I recently learned from a map on the Weather Wisdom blog that NH in general got a lot less but there was a little dot of extra snowfall over the Presidentials, much like the rainfall during Irene.) Then all those Massachusetts skiers couldn't get there. The most new snow I've ever seen and empty slopes - HEAVEN. (Oh, yeah, and my dad had a lawn tractor with snowblower, so no shoveling to speak of, plus down in the valley we got a bit less snow anyway.)
Less fun today owning a home in Somerville - I think the banks hit the limit I can throw to with the last storm, so now the driveway will start narrowing. But I'm still looking forward to skiing in the months to come.
The thing I remember most clearly were the snow forts. Snow forts and tunnels everywhere built by the neighborhood Dads.
These days you'd never let a kid crawl through a snow tunnel like that. Back then if a snow pile fell on you, tough noogies. These days if a snow pile falls on a kid, that kid's parents will sue just because the kid couldn't breathe for a couple of minutes.
Trust me - igloos, snow forts, etc.? The impulse to dig and tunnel is alive and well.
After the airborne concrete fell in December 2003, I worked from home and tossed my kids and a couple of their friends (whose parents had to work) into the snow piles. A group of five, six, and seven year olds (plus the neighbor's lab dog) turned our driveway and the side garden into a swiss cheese maze of tunnels. My office overlooked the mining efforts, so I could work and could hear them, but we also had some buddy system rules in place. The little gophers tunneled until lunch, when I tossed their snowsuits into the dryer, and then again until near dark, when I called them in for cocoa and more snowsuit drying. Then I sent the others home to collapse in satisfied kid exhaustion.
My kids still remember how nice and warm it was to crawl into a tunnel with the dog.
That was snow you could tunnel in. This stuff? Way too fine. Some of my friends have been attempting igloo building with their kids, but it doesn't pack well unless you make ice blocks of it with added water.
There's a good chance that a kid who "couldn't breathe for a couple of minutes" isn't going to breathe again, ever. But I suppose you see needing oxygen as part of the wussification of America.
Snow-wise, yup this is up there with '78, though those storms were a bit of a surprise and delivered a double-whammy.
Destruction-wise, '78 was much worse. That was a huge nor'easter that battered the coast. Aside from the first blizzard that inflicted some coastal damage, we're just getting a lot of snow.
Like the guy that plows our condo parking lot said this AM - "This is insane". We've seen a lot of him the last few weeks......
Have to say, this is gorgeous snow. Too bad there's not much happening in the mountains, this fluffy stuff would be wonderful to ski in.
It will never be the same because we are better equiped To forecast and recover. After 78 many communities invested more heavily in equipment and we are reaping those benefits now. Many communities are looking to invest more heavily, especially in snow meters , after this storm so it may make us even more prepared for the future.
Although look at the MBTA this week and the roads. Many people knew it would be bad but tried to get to work anyway. They have missed so much work. With over 2 feet this week, if we get a bad blizzard anytime in the next month it very well could deliver that knockout blow that shuts us down for a week. I'm concerned that as time goes by employers will be more likely to try to force workers into work and we very well could see those packed buried highways In the next storm.
The generation that still won't shut up about the 1967 Red Sox after 2004, 2007, and 2013? No, they'll still talk about how unexpected and magical their...blizzard was. Forever.
how about most people in the city got along with each other then? it was that way, at least in the neighborhoods. Everyone made sure Mrs. Sullivan was ok and we all helped dig out Officer Reilly's spot for when he finally got off duty. Children played on two story high snow piles and we jumped off my best friends second floor, double decker, porch into huge piles of the white stuff!
today? no one knows who lives across the street and all anyone care about is parking spots.
I knew someone would say something along these lines, not surprised it was you. it's what I remember. I was 9. I was a kid in a city of turmoil but I guess I was protected. I loved and continue to love this city I was born and raised in. sorry if you have a problem with my happy memories and have to pull the race card.
Instead, all these people are reminiscing about being in Middle School then.
I was living out in the country then, plowing out driveways for money. Dukakis declared a driving ban, but if you had 4-wheel drive, nobody bothered you. I did, and Central MA was all plowed by the next day, so I drove in to see my girlfriend in Arlington. Lines of people were dragging sleds down the sidewalks along Mass Ave. There was no snow on the sidewalks, so the sleds were just grinding along, making a lot of noise. It was one of the most bizarre things ever.
Some friends in Bedford were snowed in for like a week, until their landlord finally got somebody with a front-end loader to clear the 12 feet of snow from the driveway. There was a lot of drifting with that storm. Their driveway happened to be a place where the wind dropped a lot of snow.
Comments
We're #1!!!
We're #1!!!
Tom Brady or Joe Monrana
Tom Brady or Joe Monrana
Blizzard of 78' or Blizzard of 15'
Breaking records all around this winter
And we didn't even have to cheat on this one!
:)
I remember
I remember not being let out of the house for a couple of days, and when I was the snow piles were in many cases taller than me. Same thing this winter. Only I'm a lot taller this winter!!!
Sledding
Remember it like it was yesterday. After the snow stopped in the B of '78, the driving ban was still in place. We took sleds, walked to the old First National (Finast) to get food. The store was somewhat close to the house (1/2 mile), so the trek wasn't too bad.
Just had to make sure the food didn't fall out of the sled, pulling it up the hill!
And I'm a lot taller too since then.
:)
Similar
I was in middle school out in Framingham then and I remember sledding down the street on runner sleds. My parents later took the sled to go shopping--first for a case of beer and then strapping a laundry basket on top of that to hold the groceries.
Get offa my lawn
I've gotten a lot of mileage out of my Blizzard of 78 stories. "Blizzard of 15" just doesn't have the same ring. Besides, nothing beats Dukakis's sweaters.
When people were tougher
And the first blizzard melted off during some intense warmth before the second hit.
They didn't have those sissy accurate weather reports back then - or, like the tough guys in 1938, they didn't listen to them! And so they waited until people trapped on the roadways and dying in their cars closed the roads rather than have a nanny governor close them first!
Hundreds of cars stuck on 128
Hundreds of cars stuck on 128 still takes the cake.
">http://i1008.photobucket
Sorry
Sorry, but they'll never shut up
No they won't...
...much like the '72 Dolphins.
Big difference...
.....This would have to be a 'perfect storm'....because as they keep reminding us, the 1972 Dolphins were....perfect.
Where is the National Guard
Hold on, friends.
A few other benchmarks have to be hit first.
National Guard has to land in the ball field next to my house.
Governor has to institute a curfew and the National Guard has to enforce it.
Beachmont, Revere has to be washed into the ocean.
The Mayor or Revere has to ride in a duck boat (not the parade one) and evacuate residents.
Beahmont residents have to be housed at Revere High School for a month.
Then we '78 Survivors will shut up.
compromise
Maybe they can all move to Revere and not-shut-up together in one place. I could live with that.
128
You forgot that there will need to be multiple areas on 128 where cars are marooned in snowbanks.
Normal day behaviors
Yeah, and no forecasting meant people going about their daily business and getting stuck on 128. People living in bus stations for days. Stuff wasn't shut down in advance back then. The situations were very different. But so what? A lot of snow is a lot of snow. This is just a slow dribbling torture. Bliz of '78 was a one-two punch.
how many punches is this one...
one, two three four? I've lost count.
I just got off a conference call with people from Dallas
They asked how much snow was on the ground and how much we were getting this week. I said "I don't know, 5 or 6 feet already on the ground? Maybe a foot or two today? Does it even matter at this point?"
One of the guys from Dallas said that he couldn't even hear my usual sarcasm in my voice. All I have left is despair.
Yep
I wasn't supposed to be here, but will be dialing into a meeting. I have an e-mail box full of "I just can't imagine that" from Europeans and Southerners alike. Nobody from Boston made it down there.
I had a couple calls like that last week
"I've been seeing the news and I just can't imagine dealing with that snow, what do you people DO up there?"
"...we set things on fire."
"...oh."
We also throw riots just to
We also throw riots just to share body heat.
Virtual pyromania, I hope
It's been snowing for years and we just don't know why.
No, literal
I have a woodstove.
Time for Harvey Leonard to
Time for Harvey Leonard to begin referencing the winter of 2015...
Different
Different
Blizzard of '78 was before all the intricate radar and sattelite imagery and a lot more wind. So towns/ people did not know as much and were not as prepared for the storm.
The Blizzard of '78 took out whole neighborhoods along the coast - just look at pictures and caused more deaths.
But, this is definitely making me want to move to a warmer climate!
I was only three during the
I was only three during the Blizzard of 78, so I don't remember it well :-). What I have heard, however, is that the snow wasn't forecast to be all that bad, so many people just went about their normal lives that day, and only discovered how bad things had become when they left work. Cars weren't nearly as good as they are now. I can't imagine doing snow like this in a rear-wheel drive.
Yes, Different.
For one thing I was only 20, and didn't have to shovel, and it was actually fun - we were home and safe and never lost power or anything. Everyone just sort of gave up on trying to shovel because the roads weren't plowed for several days, a week? Also, few people had snow blowers.
Even with all the snow we've had this year, they are getting the roads plowed and we've been getting out within a day. And shoveling. And shoveling again.
We didn't know it was coming in '78, and that made it worse for all those people stuck on the roads, and, no, we hadn't gotten extra bread or milk or eggs.
'78 was better in that the snow stopped and the sun came out and we couldn't go anywhere by car, and just went out and walked around the neighborhood. People kept walking to Roche's, just for something to do, there wasn't much to buy when you got there. And the days following the storm were sunny and not that cold.
And in '78 the snow stopped! I don't know if it ever will this year.
I really hope this all lets
I really hope this all lets up soon...I'm not sure how much more French Toast I can take!
Believe it or not...
...yesterday was the first time I made french toast this winter. It was kinda awesome too.
This recipe. Truly awesome bread for french toast or grilled cheese.
Yep!
'78 was a surprise storm and it had more impact on the coast. 128 was totally shutdown for days after. There was a total absence of French Toast Supplies. But things did somewhat return to normal in a week or so.
This is just dragging on. And the T and traffic seem to be getting worse. And the impact is working on three weeks now. So...
Except for the continued availability of French Toast Supplies, this sucks more. This '78 survivor will shut up now.
Piling up versus melting down
There were actually two blizzards during that 1978 period: one in mid January that may still be top 10, and the infamous one.
Another big difference between then and now: my husband tells me that the first one completely melted away to the point that he had dim hopes for a skiing trip over February Vacation.
RE: Melting down
"my husband tells me that the first one completely melted away to the point that he had dim hopes for a skiing trip over February Vacation."
I do remember that once the Blizzard of 78 was gone, it was GONE. There weren't snowbanks lingering until June like there are now. I can't remember why. Maybe the National Guard took it away and threw it in the ocean or something.
New colors?
I love it that we're looking at 18"-24" and it's just orange.
French toast alert
I am afraid that a new level of French Toast level must be added. Perhaps one that recognizes that even Harvey Leonard has run out of hyperbole and holds his head in his hands?
Back in my day when we didn't have the Internets and cell phones
LOL. Seriously though, a blizzard in the 70s was so so different than a blizzard in 2015. And we will share our stories as long as we remember them.
'78 vs now
It was a lot more fun spending the Blizzard of '78 in a college dorm than it is going through this as a home owner with a job.
Even more fun going through
Even more fun going through '78 as a high school student in snow country, 20 minutes from Wildcat, with 30" (or was it 40"?) falling on the slopes and - wonder of wonders for Wildcat - NO WIND during or after. (I recently learned from a map on the Weather Wisdom blog that NH in general got a lot less but there was a little dot of extra snowfall over the Presidentials, much like the rainfall during Irene.) Then all those Massachusetts skiers couldn't get there. The most new snow I've ever seen and empty slopes - HEAVEN. (Oh, yeah, and my dad had a lawn tractor with snowblower, so no shoveling to speak of, plus down in the valley we got a bit less snow anyway.)
Less fun today owning a home in Somerville - I think the banks hit the limit I can throw to with the last storm, so now the driveway will start narrowing. But I'm still looking forward to skiing in the months to come.
I was in elementary school in 1978
The thing I remember most clearly were the snow forts. Snow forts and tunnels everywhere built by the neighborhood Dads.
These days you'd never let a kid crawl through a snow tunnel like that. Back then if a snow pile fell on you, tough noogies. These days if a snow pile falls on a kid, that kid's parents will sue just because the kid couldn't breathe for a couple of minutes.
Not the right kind of snow
Trust me - igloos, snow forts, etc.? The impulse to dig and tunnel is alive and well.
After the airborne concrete fell in December 2003, I worked from home and tossed my kids and a couple of their friends (whose parents had to work) into the snow piles. A group of five, six, and seven year olds (plus the neighbor's lab dog) turned our driveway and the side garden into a swiss cheese maze of tunnels. My office overlooked the mining efforts, so I could work and could hear them, but we also had some buddy system rules in place. The little gophers tunneled until lunch, when I tossed their snowsuits into the dryer, and then again until near dark, when I called them in for cocoa and more snowsuit drying. Then I sent the others home to collapse in satisfied kid exhaustion.
My kids still remember how nice and warm it was to crawl into a tunnel with the dog.
That was snow you could tunnel in. This stuff? Way too fine. Some of my friends have been attempting igloo building with their kids, but it doesn't pack well unless you make ice blocks of it with added water.
"A couple of minutes"?
There's a good chance that a kid who "couldn't breathe for a couple of minutes" isn't going to breathe again, ever. But I suppose you see needing oxygen as part of the wussification of America.
Snow-wise - yup
Snow-wise, yup this is up there with '78, though those storms were a bit of a surprise and delivered a double-whammy.
Destruction-wise, '78 was much worse. That was a huge nor'easter that battered the coast. Aside from the first blizzard that inflicted some coastal damage, we're just getting a lot of snow.
Like the guy that plows our condo parking lot said this AM - "This is insane". We've seen a lot of him the last few weeks......
Have to say, this is gorgeous snow. Too bad there's not much happening in the mountains, this fluffy stuff would be wonderful to ski in.
It will never be the same
It will never be the same because we are better equiped To forecast and recover. After 78 many communities invested more heavily in equipment and we are reaping those benefits now. Many communities are looking to invest more heavily, especially in snow meters , after this storm so it may make us even more prepared for the future.
Although look at the MBTA this week and the roads. Many people knew it would be bad but tried to get to work anyway. They have missed so much work. With over 2 feet this week, if we get a bad blizzard anytime in the next month it very well could deliver that knockout blow that shuts us down for a week. I'm concerned that as time goes by employers will be more likely to try to force workers into work and we very well could see those packed buried highways In the next storm.
I was a college student in Boston in 1978
and the major difference is all the snow fell during ONE storm. Believe me, the Blizzard of '78 was brutal!!!
Boomers
The generation that still won't shut up about the 1967 Red Sox after 2004, 2007, and 2013? No, they'll still talk about how unexpected and magical their...blizzard was. Forever.
One slight difference
In '78 I was trapped with my hot girlfriend and no responsibilities. In '15 I have to shovel out the driveway twice a day.
blizzard of 78? differences?
how about most people in the city got along with each other then? it was that way, at least in the neighborhoods. Everyone made sure Mrs. Sullivan was ok and we all helped dig out Officer Reilly's spot for when he finally got off duty. Children played on two story high snow piles and we jumped off my best friends second floor, double decker, porch into huge piles of the white stuff!
today? no one knows who lives across the street and all anyone care about is parking spots.
I am also taller now.
The nostalgia is strong with this one
Yeah, Louise Day Hicks and friends were just a nighmare.
swirls
I knew someone would say something along these lines, not surprised it was you. it's what I remember. I was 9. I was a kid in a city of turmoil but I guess I was protected. I loved and continue to love this city I was born and raised in. sorry if you have a problem with my happy memories and have to pull the race card.
Louise Day Hicks
It was so windy during the Blizzard of 78 that I know a guy who swears he saw Louise Day Hicks's hair move.
I thought this was where we were supposed to shut up about '78
Instead, all these people are reminiscing about being in Middle School then.
I was living out in the country then, plowing out driveways for money. Dukakis declared a driving ban, but if you had 4-wheel drive, nobody bothered you. I did, and Central MA was all plowed by the next day, so I drove in to see my girlfriend in Arlington. Lines of people were dragging sleds down the sidewalks along Mass Ave. There was no snow on the sidewalks, so the sleds were just grinding along, making a lot of noise. It was one of the most bizarre things ever.
Some friends in Bedford were snowed in for like a week, until their landlord finally got somebody with a front-end loader to clear the 12 feet of snow from the driveway. There was a lot of drifting with that storm. Their driveway happened to be a place where the wind dropped a lot of snow.
Another difference between 78 and now
A big difference was that as a result of the Blizzard of 78 this area was declared a federal disaster area. That hasn't happened this time.