AccuWeather.com

International Weather Blog

The Great Blizzard of January 1978

Jan 26, 2012; 1:54 PM ET

The present writer was in his senior year of Dayton, Ohio, area high school in January 1978, a month of unusually high, even record, snowfall in the Ohio Valley to the central Appalachians.

By the 25th of the month, snow depth had already smashed the standing record high at the Dayton airport, having reached 2 feet following a series of three major winter storms.

But the big wallop was yet to come.

The day of the 25th brought a thaw, with temperatures well into the 30s and drizzle building into a steady, soaking rain.

That evening, the rain poured down, causing the snow to settle and droop. It seemed a sad end for a budding meteorologists "dream winter."

Even then, heavy snow lurked tantalizingly near to the west, barely beyond the Indiana line. Then, as midnight drew near, a wind shift to the northwest brought raindrops, and then pings of sleet, to my west-facing window.

Soon, a near silence meant that snow had started at last. Only moderate at first, it quickly became heavy as winds began to roar. Within minutes, it was all-but a whiteout, falling snow and blowing snow melding into a fast-moving cloud.

On and on it went, through the night and through the following day. At times, the house would seem to groan from the blasts of wind, no doubt gusting above 60 mph a few times.

Drifts of snow blown off a field to the west crept steadily onto our road from the gap between houses on the opposite side.

The storm that was the Blizzard of 1978 sat and spun near the Great Lakes for another few days. The wind and drifting slowly faded after the 26th.

Life for many area residents was thoroughly disrupted for at least a few days, schools and some business being shut for multiple days.

It also took days to open all lanes on area roads, some of which had thick ice accumulation caused by melted water from the pre-blizzard rain still flowing onto the pavement.

The storm set a single-storm snowfall record in Dayton (about 1 foot), but it was nowhere near the worst of what happened during this amazing, though deadly and costly, storm.

I may never see the likes of it again.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

blogs Home >

Comments

Comments left here should adhere to the AccuWeather.com Community Guidelines. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.

More Jim Andrews

Australia Eyes Iggy

Jan 29, 2012; 1:52 PM ET

It is not out of the question that this cyclone pay Geraldton or even Perth a visit after Wednesday.

The Great Blizzard of January 1978

Jan 26, 2012; 1:54 PM ET

Within minutes of the switchover to snow, visibility was only a few hundred feet in snow and blowing snow.

Tropical Cyclone Landfall in Madagascar

Jan 8, 2012; 1:42 PM ET

Nearly one foot of rain pelted Maintirano within about 48 hours ended Sunday.

Madagascar Facing Cyclone Threat

Jan 7, 2012; 12:39 PM ET

The tropical low could strengthen quickly to an important tropical cyclone before a likely landfall in western Madagascar.

Record Heat, Other Weather Extremes

Dec 22, 2011; 1:35 PM ET

Western Australia state had its hottest December day on record.

November's Second T.C. off Southeast Arabia

Nov 8, 2011; 2:01 PM ET

Impact-wise, the biggest forecast problem is that of rain: will there be another shot of flooding rain along/near Arabia's southeastern coast?

Karachi, Sindh -- Is This the End of the Rain?

Sep 13, 2011; 2:00 PM ET

So there should be no shock in learning that much of Sindh has already tallied 1,000 to more than 2,000 percent of historical average rainfall for the month.

Sindh (Pakistan) Flooding Follows Cloudbursts Last Week

Aug 17, 2011; 1:33 PM ET

Following a mostly rainless July, then a bone-dry first week of August, the rains came in a big way to some, not all, of Sindh.

Snow in New Zealand

Aug 16, 2011; 12:23 PM ET

Before this week's falls, the last significant snow fell in the mid 1970s. If I have understood media reports, this would hold true for both Wellington and Auckland.

Latest on SW Monsoon Rainfall

Aug 10, 2011; 12:42 PM ET

Rainfall across India as a whole (and by extension, the Subcontinent) has been somewhat below normal since June 1, 2011, the official start of the Monsoon season.

Record Heat in Iraq

Aug 2, 2011; 1:14 PM ET

Tuesday, Aug. 2 must have been one of the hottest days, at least in the historical weather record, in the nation of Iraq.

Historic Heat Wave in Russia

Aug 1, 2011; 1:11 PM ET

Fast forward to 2011. A late-July blast of heat out of central and southwest Asia gripped the lower Volga/NW Caspian region beginning about the 26th.

Rain in Karachi; Western Pacific Lighting Up

Jul 26, 2011; 12:41 PM ET

The last measurable rain at this site happened last winter, on February 20.

Ma-on, the Next Big Typhoon

Jul 12, 2011; 12:08 PM ET

Earlier model runs favored a track into the Yellow Sea to Korea and even China. Later model scenarios have been more about mainland Japan.

The Watch Is On for the Next Typhoon

Jul 7, 2011; 12:24 PM ET

The latest GFS numerical forecast model (1200 UTC Thursday) shows slow lessening of the (unfavorable) wind shear over the next few days.

older Posts >

About This Blog

Jim Andrews
The International weather blog from AccuWeather.com is written by Jim Andrews who has more than 10 years experience forecasting outside the United States.