40-year anninversary of the Blizzard of '78

[KSRBEvans]

Historic winter storm that created some of the lowest barometric pressures measured in the Continental US not associated with a hurricane:

https://www.weather.gov/iln/19780126

http://fox41blogs.typepad.com/wdrb_w...d-of-1978.html

I remember being out of school (Russell Independent, in the Ashland area) for what seemed like a month--maybe it was just a couple of weeks, but it was long enough that we were actually glad to be going back to school. Takes a long time out of school to feel that way. We didn't get a huge amount of snow (about 6-8 inches, IIRC) but the cold was so intense that apparently it burst pipes in some of the schools and we were out until they could be repaired.

Snow was fun for about a week, but by then it had melted and frozen over so much it was basically a sheet of ice with some smaller chunks of ice underneath. Then cabin fever set in. Yep, school actually started looking pretty good.

What do you remember from that winter?

[Catfan73]

I remember it well. We shoveled a path from the front door out to the mailbox and dubbed it 'Fat Man's Misery'. It wasn't very wide lol. When it all started melting I had to get to Morehead to take my ACT but the water was over the bridge between our house and West Liberty so we had to detour. Turned a 30 minute trip into an hour and a half but I made it on time. Barely.

[blueboss]

I remember it well too. I left the day after Christmas and went to the Fl Keys for a week for a vacation before I started my first quarter at the Florida Institute of Technology. I checked into the dorms a week later on 12/30/1977.

A few weeks later I called home at which point my mother informed me of their plight. I wished my family well, hung up and went to the beach.




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[MickintheHam]

I had a service job that required me to be at work early anytime it snowed or when there was any bad weather. I had to drive from Prospect to Downtown Louisville. At 5:00 am I was one of the first on US 42 and I-71. There were but two tire tracks to follow. My little Datsun B210 did fine until I entered the i-71 ramp. The car rose up on the snow between the tracks and the tires were no longer in contact with the ground. About 45 seconds a Buick came along behind me. He never stopped. He hit the rear bumper and I continued on my way downtown.

No one else inmy neighborhood went to work for 3days. I got a call at work from one of my neighbors who wanted me to stop at the liquor store on the way home. I arrived home with $115 dollars of bourbon and beer only to find the neighbors were in my apartment. There was one table full playing poker another playing Risk. For three days the party moved apartment to apartment, whereever there was food or alcohol.

[UKHistory]

Great stories. Sounds like mick had a good time.

First grade. Most vivid memory is the day before the snow came several classes came together to watch pbs. A student told the teaching assistant that we had watched this same episode/program the week before.

The ta said he should not come to school the next day if he didn’t want to see it again.

And that night it snowed and we didn’t go back for a month.

Loved it. Loved being with my grandma, watching tv and all my toys. Good times.

[KeithKSR]

We lived in Ohio then, didn't move to Kentucky until the next summer. We lived outside Mansfield, the area that took the brunt of the storm. We had drifts around our house that were five feet high or more. One drift in the road was over 12 feet deep.

We lived in a rural area and had an egg producer about a mile from the house. A day or two after the storm I broke trail through the waist deep snow and got five dozen eggs. I had a five gallon bucket with me to carry the eggs in and would set it on the snow to use to boost myself out of the deep snow with to take the next step. The top of the bucket was about even with the top of my shoulder. A couple of neighbors went with me and followed behind so we has a pretty good path worn down for my sister and a couple of other neighbors to use to get milk from the dairy half a mile down the road. The dairy had called everyone within a mile to see if they wanted milk, as they had to dump what milk was in their tanks in order to milk that evening.

The days my parents missed work due to the blizzard were the only days they missed for weather the entire time they lived in northern Ohio.

We had one of those metal storage buildings behind the house. Late in the morning on the day off the blizzard one gust of wind took down the doors, the next gust lifted the roof off and set it down 20 feet away. Most of the metal sheeting that made up the walls was never found.

When they came to clear the roads the Sunday evening after the blizzard they cleared the snow with a huge front end loader first, and later used road graders.

[Darrell KSR]

Fascinating stories, guys.

[KentuckyWildcat]

The Blizzard of 78 always makes me laugh. I was born in 79 and my previous boss of 12 years started at the college in 78. He retired 2 years ago, but he would always talk to me about that storm like I was there. I always had to remind him that I was born in 79

[CitizenBBN]

I remember it well, given my age. Seemed like we were out of school for 2 months. Wasn't that much, but it was a bunch for the whole winter. We sledded and such till we were sick of it.

We had a guy come dig out the driveway, and he piled all the snow up in one big pile at the side of the drive. So of course we dug a snow fort that lasted weeks.

My fuzzy recollection is that we were out a good bit prior to that storm too, that it was a generally bad winter (or good if you didn't want to go to school).

[jazyd]

I was in Owensboro working for JCPenny trying to get our new store open. I had just transferred up from Hopkinsville and was sharing a 2 bedroom apt with operations mgr until my wife could finish the semester teaching in Clarksville

We had 18". As it kept coming down I told the store mgr that we better let people leave while they could

Took my jeep and made a trail to the hwy. then the men stood at various places along the trail and pushed women to the hwy.

The roads were closed to 4 wheel drive only for days so I was good to go.would come back at night and my tires would melt the ice and then it would freeze that night. Next morning I would have to rock the jeep back and forth until I could break it loose

My wife family made it up but since she didn't get to start school teaching before the storm she could not get paid and schools were closed for 30 days, a long 30 days

We continued to work at JCP, I went to pick rest of mgt team and bring them in, took 3 trips each way.

I got tired of snow

[CitizenBBN]

I think our county was closed for about a month, at least it felt like it. I'd be curious to know the exact closure schedule but it was weeks b/c it wasn't even like "well let's check to see if school is tomorrow", wasn't even a question. There wasn't going to be any school till further notice.

[KentuckyWildcat]

I had just transferred up from Hopkinsville

How long were you in Hopkinsville? You may know some of my family. I live in Muhlenberg, but work in Hoptown and have family here.

[jazyd]

I was there until 1978, 8 years. I helped open the JCP store there. Moved to Miss in late 1979 after working in Owensboro for a year. Met a lot of great people white there in Hoptown, kinda miss living there. Small and knew most people there I probably don't know your family but give me some names and lets see. You can send me a PM if you would rather or just put them here.