Anniversary of Great Midwest Blizzard of '78

[isobar]

This rare and historic weather event often gets overshadowed by the New England blizzard of '78, which occurred one week later. However, the Midwest Blizzard of January 26, 1978 can truly be called a once in a lifetime event.

A bombing surface low (40mb in 24hrs) sped northward into Ohio during the overnight hours of Jan 26, 1978 sucking in cold arctic air from the upper midwest, causing severe blizzard conditions, winds 50-70 mph with gusts to 100, temps dropping to near 10º, and 1-3 ft of snow with up to 25 ft drifts. 70 deaths blamed on the storm. I-75 was closed for 3 days.

Record low barometric pressures were recorded throughout the area, bottoming out at 955mb near Detroit, which is lower than the 961mb of the 1993 Superstorm.



Sources: Extreme American Weather by Tim Vasquez
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/climate/big.php
http://www.intellicast.com/DrDewpoint/Library/1371/
http://dept.kent.edu/ksutop_story/archive_98/980121_blizzard_of_78_shmid.html

[WaitingForSiren]

955!? Damn! Thats low!

[Portastorm]

Yes indeed, how well I remember this blizzard. I was in high school in northeastern Ohio. I remember getting ready for school and how within 15 minutes the weather went from high winds and heavy rain to heavy snow and even higher winds!

By late morning we had power lines down everywhere along with about 6-8 inches of snow and hurricane-force winds. I went outside to see what it was like and could barely walk into the wind and the snow felt like screwdrivers stabbing your skin!!!

I also recall the concerned look on my parents' faces when the power went out and we had no fireplace. Fortunately our neighbor had a huge basement with a huge fireplace and that is where we all ended up for an extended period of time.

Never seen anything like it and now that I'm in Texas doubt that I ever will again!

[WaitingForSiren]

Imagine if there was a storm that strong in Texas or Oklahoma or something. There'd probably be a major tornado outbreak associated with it.

[Skywatch_NC]

I was in the 7th grade and remember that blizzard well! Was living just north of Cincinnati at the time and parts of the Ohio River froze over solid...some brave souls even walked across and back between OH and KY on it!!

I lived on Route #127 (Pleasant Ave.) in Hamilton, OH and road graders were out helping DOT crews with snow removal and there was countless days of being off from school!

Eric

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

An amazingly deep low for any northern location, especially an inland one

[luvwinter]

I also remember this storm well. I was in 5th grade. I remember my Mom waking me up to tell me we didn't have school. When I asked her why she told me there was a blizzard going on. Then I went back to sleep....lol. When the storm stopped my whole family shoveled the driveway. It was a long one. It took four of us three hours. My Mom and Dad went to rescue some friends who had no heat and not enough food in their house. Never will forget it.

[Miss Mary]

Like Eric, I remember this Blizzard well too!

My first clue was hearing our storm windows rattle something awful. I looked out the window and saw a stop sign swaying, touching the ground both ways. That was my second clue. Went to the TV, no power. Found a battery operated radio and learned we were experiencing a blizzard. Couldn't get to work for a few days. No one could!

What was significant was if you stayed up for the 11 p.m. news, local mets were warning people it was coming. Or a severe snowstorm was. Hours prior to this, temps were above freezing and the wx had been mild.

Needless to say this Blizzard took just about everyone in Cincinnati by surprise. Unless you followed wx and had your own barometer. My dad did and he said he knew the wx was changing drastically.

My fridge/freezer/pantry wasn't well stocked either. But managed. From then on I made sure it was well stocked in winter!

Mary

[carve]

I was 18..it was pouring down rain..i was on my way to pick up my dad from work when the car stalled because of all the water on the roads..Thank God i didn't make it to columbus because a couple hours later it was snowing very hard..the temps dropped dramatically and the roads turned to 1 foot ice holes..couldn't drive on them.We had drifts half way up telephone poles.The national guard was called to help with snow removal and rescue..WHAT A STORM!! Have not seen one like it since.

[dawgpound]

Still had one inch of ice on our sidewalk in March. It was so cold bags and bags of salt wouldn't melt it. Had to be broken up with a spud bar.

[isobar]

The other thing I read in the link below was that 2 lows collided over Ohio and wrapped around each other so that warm air flowed from the north and cold air from the south. I haven't read that anywhere else, so I don't know how factual that is. But it sure sounds pretty wild!

http://www.bceo.org/78blizzardrev.html