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35th Anniversary: January 1978 Blizzard

Chicago WX

By Chicago WX,
in Lakes/Ohio Valley

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Chicago WX

Chicago WX

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Posted

It's that time...the 35th anniversary of the January 25-27, 1978 blizzard.

 

Links to some NWS write ups:

 

CLE: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cle/wx_events/Blizzard78/blizzard/blizzard78.html

 

DTX: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dtx/stories/blizzard1978.php

 

IND: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ind/?n=blizzardof78

 

IWX: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/iwx/program_areas/events/historical/blizzardof1978/index.php

 

Reanalysis images.

 

 

 

 

 

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Chicago WX

Chicago WX

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Indiana snowfall amounts.

 

First order sites

EVV: 4.4"

FWA: 10.1"

IND: 15.5"

SBN: 24.0" (best guess)

 

COOP observers

LaPorte: 28.0"

Plymouth: 23.0"

Goshen 3SW: 22.2"

LaGrange 1S: 20.9"

Auburn 2SSE: 20.0"

Bluffton 1N: 18.9"

Kokomo 2WSW: 18.1"

Angola: 16.7"

Berne: 14.8"

Columbia City: 14.3"

Huntington: 14.0"

Whitestown: 14.0"

Martinsville 2SW: 13.5"

Frankfort: 13.0"

Lafayette: 13.0"

Tipton 5SW: 13.0"

Monroeville 1NW: 12.5"

West Lafayette 6NW: 12.5"

Winamac 2SSE: 12.1"

Kentland: 11.2"

Lowell: 11.1"

Rockville: 10.5"

Waterloo 2NW: 10.5"

Wanatah 2WNW: 10.2"

Muncie: 10.0"

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Hoosier

Hoosier

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Here are some excerpts from the January 1978 issue of Storm Data. There are longer writeups in the actual issue.

Illinois:

A raging blizzard affected most of Illinois. Heaviest accumulations were in the northeastern portion, where up to 14 inches fell. Strong winds caused immense drifts, which resulted in thousands of stalled cars and closed highways over wide areas of the state. Numerous people were reported to have suffered from frostbite after being exposed to this storm.

Indiana:

A Blizzard Warning was issued at 1545 EST Wednesday. Winds gusted to upwards of 50 mph by late Wednesday night over the state. Peak winds of over 55 mph were recorded Thursday, January 26. Damage included several roof collapses in northern Indiana warehouses and factories and a school near Muncie. Federal state of emergency was declared. Looting occurred.

Michigan:

A massive low pressure area packing 50-70 mph winds and blinding snows moved through the area. Winds piled the snow into drifts as high as 50 feet stranding thousands of travelers and virtually bringing the state economy to a halt. 120,000 cars and trucks were abandoned including some trucks loaded with live cattle and hogs. An 806 foot Lake freighter was blown around in the St. Mary' river near Sault Ste. Marie and a maritime academy vessel was sunk while chained to the pier at Traverse City.

Wisconsin:

A deep low pressure system tracking northeastward from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Huron during the 25th and 26th resulted in heavy snow with blizzard conditions across the southeast half of Wisconsin. Northwest winds of 25 to 35 mph were reported during the 26th with gusts up to 58 mph logged at both Green Bay and Madison. The combination of high winds and snow resulted in numerous highway closings in the southeast.

Ohio:

The worst blizzard of the century moved into Ohio during the eaerly morning hours of the 26th. Snowfall in excess of 10 inches was blown into drifts up to 25 feet deep. Winds averaged 50 to 70 miles per hour and peak gusts were in excess of 100 miles an hour. Winds subsided somewhat on the 26th but remained strong through the 27th. Visibilities were near zero much of the 26th and 27th. The storm caused tremendous economic losses throughout the state.

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Harry

Harry

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Total was 24.5" here if i recall correctly and holds the #2 spot for biggest snowstorm. Number one is ofcourse Jan 67 which began on the 26th of January 1967.

 

From GRR..

Southwest Lower Michigan Weather History The Weather History for January 26th
  • 1/26/1967
  • Temperatures in the 20s are some 40 degrees colder than the day before, and heavy snow begins falling, piling up a foot or more along with increasing winds.
  • 1/26/1978
  • A storm known as the Cleveland Superbomb moves north from the Gulf of Mexico and deepens explosively, becoming one of the worst blizzards in Midwest history. From one to two feet of snow falls across southern Lower Michigan, whipped into huge drifts by strong gusty winds. Several new records were set including a new record low sea level barometric pressure of 28.68 , observed at 6:00 AM. At least 9 deaths were attributed to the blizzard, most roads were impassable, roofs collapsed under the weight of the snow and the airport in Grand Rapids was closed from late on the 25th until the 27th. Governor Milliken declared a state of emergency and requested additional federal aid for snow removal.

 

 

 

Still amazes me how the two biggest snowstorms for here happened on the same dates.

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Chicago WX

Chicago WX

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Total was 24.5" here if i recall correctly and holds the #2 spot for biggest snowstorm. Number one is ofcourse Jan 67 which began on the 26th of January 1967.

 

From GRR..

Southwest Lower Michigan Weather History The Weather History for January 26th
  • 1/26/1967
  • Temperatures in the 20s are some 40 degrees colder than the day before, and heavy snow begins falling, piling up a foot or more along with increasing winds.
  • 1/26/1978
  • A storm known as the Cleveland Superbomb moves north from the Gulf of Mexico and deepens explosively, becoming one of the worst blizzards in Midwest history. From one to two feet of snow falls across southern Lower Michigan, whipped into huge drifts by strong gusty winds. Several new records were set including a new record low sea level barometric pressure of 28.68 , observed at 6:00 AM. At least 9 deaths were attributed to the blizzard, most roads were impassable, roofs collapsed under the weight of the snow and the airport in Grand Rapids was closed from late on the 25th until the 27th. Governor Milliken declared a state of emergency and requested additional federal aid for snow removal.

 

 

 

Still amazes me how the two biggest snowstorms for here happened on the same dates.

 

Yeah the same dates for 1967 and 1978 are kinda wild. 

 

Speaking of same dates, I always thought it was interesting how March 25-26 has shown up twice on Chicago's official 10"+ snowstorm list...19.2" in 1930 and 14.3" in 1970. The 1930 storm was the largest in recorded history until Jan 1967 happened. 

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Indystorm

Indystorm

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Was living in Indianapolis at the time and remember the most magnificent display of blue arcing power lines I have ever seen from a storm that night.  Glad we had a fireplace. I had hoped to go up to Kokomo on business and called the Indpls NWS where a met told me they were just about to issue blizzard warnings.  Glad I stayed put.  Awesome storm.

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Harry

Harry

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Yeah the same dates for 1967 and 1978 are kinda wild. 

 

Speaking of same dates, I always thought it was interesting how March 25-26 has shown up twice on Chicago's official 10"+ snowstorm list...19.2" in 1930 and 14.3" in 1970. The 1930 storm was the largest in recorded history until Jan 1967 happened. 

 

Thats pretty wild as well. IF i recall correctly there was another decent storm right after that March 1970 event in early April that dumped around a foot of snow in these parts. What a wild end to that winter.

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Chicago WX

Chicago WX

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Thats pretty wild as well. IF i recall correctly there was another decent storm right after that March 1970 event in early April that dumped around a foot of snow in these parts. What a wild end to that winter.

 

Correct. 10.7" at MDW on April 1-2, 1970. Along with the March storm, the closest back-to-back 10"+ snowstorms in Chicago's recorded history. How about that, for so late in the season? 

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Harry

Harry

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Correct. 10.7" at MDW on April 1-2, 1970. Along with the March storm, the closest back-to-back 10"+ snowstorms in Chicago's recorded history. How about that, for so late in the season? 

 

Could you imagine if the futility streak lasted till late March and we got a exact repeat this year? :lol:

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dmc76

dmc76

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Really hope to experience a storm like this in my lifetime.

 

 

Yes I agree, Although this kind of storm did kinda missed SEMI in a weird way could have been worse. 

 

The only other storm I can compare this storm to was a storm we got on the first day of Spring in 1996. Obviously not as bad to the 78 blizzard but had the same kind of winds with it in the peak of this event...SEMI had between 5-14" of Snow in about 7-8 hrs. Low pressure was extremely tight. It started out as rain. The low pressure system came up from Louisiana and sat over sat over extreme SW Ontario. It almost looked like an eye formed. Precip did the same thing it would do behind a low pressure of a hurricane. Winds were over 35-45 mph and probably had gusts higher then that. Storm was so tight. Lansing seen no snow from this system, Back roads were shut down for days up this way. We had drifts that were as high 10 feet! The front of our home was caked in white. I remember Chuck Gadica called for 1-2" of snow at the 11pm news cast woke up the next morning to complete chaos outside. I tried and I can NOT find this event anywhere on the net. It was truly amazing. This storm happened after a really really bad winter here with little in the way of snowfall. 

 

Off course michsnowfreak knows something about it.. lol

http://www.easternuswx.com/bb/index.php?/topic/228412-history-of-spring-snowstorms-in-detroit/

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MichiganLion

MichiganLion

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Tomorrow (Sunday January 27th) is my little brother's 35th birthday.  He was born in the morning hours at St. John Hospital in Detroit --- he arrived 8 days before his due date.

 

 

My parents definitely will never forget --- the storm was forecast ahead of time and they got a hotel 1 mile away from the hospital (beginning on the night of the 25th) "just in case."  (while I stayed with my aunt and uncle)  Sure enough, that decision was prudent.  They've talked about the adventure even that 1 mile drive there was.

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DAFF

DAFF

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Have been looking for the repeat button for years. As a snow contractor a event like this would be heaven, having heavy iron in the fleet always eases the nerves for the what if factor. Sooner or later we will have another epic blizzard event, heck Chicago even broke through the inch snow as of late. So anything is possible!!

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WestWind

WestWind

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That storm affected a large portion of the country.  I was in junior high school, living in the Tidewater area of Virginia, and I still remember it.  On the evening of the 25th if was cloudy and warm (in the 60's) and I remember laughing at the phrase the local news weatherman used that evening.  He said "Folks, we have a tiger by the tail when it comes to the weather right now".  So that night I woke up to a loud thunderstorm.  Not necessarily severe, but what would be like a typical strong nightime thunderstorm in the summer with plenty of lighting, something very much out of season.  The storm ended, but by morning, winds had increased and literally sounded like a roar.  I had not seen wind like that before, at least not sustained over a period of time, and wanted to go outside to experience it.  So I made up some excuse as to why I needed to go outside, and my father warned me to be careful since "it's extremely windy out there".  I recall there were later reports on the news of a local radio station tower being blown down by the wind.  What's more, that storm may have helped set the stage for what happened exactly one week later.  On February 2, 1978, Norfolk received the largest snowfall in over 5 years, and the first one to accumulate significantly on roads in 5 years.  I don't remember the exact amount but it was over 6 inches.

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IWXwx

IWXwx

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Have been looking for the repeat button for years. As a snow contractor a event like this would be heaven, having heavy iron in the fleet always eases the nerves for the what if factor. Sooner or later we will have another epic blizzard event, heck Chicago even broke through the inch snow as of late. So anything is possible!!

When you're talking heavy iron, I hope you mean payloaders. I've seen snow removal companies and city utilities use them to move plowed snow piles, but during '78, they were using payloaders to moves drifts from roads so the plows could get through. A major problem developed of where to put all of the snow they were trying to move.

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Chinook

Chinook

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Looking at the synoptic features:  I think the two upper level lows that combined did so because they had to: there was nowhere else for them to go. There was a confluent pattern over the eastern United States. Another important factor, I think, was the fast speed of the northern upper low. The arctic air with this feature moved very quickly because of the strong northerly jet in Alberta and Saskatchewan. An upper level ridge extended from the West Coast to the Northwest Territories of Canada.

 

I was a kid.  I lived in Jackson, which is fairly close to Lansing. My dad said he shoveled (only) a section of the driveway one day. The next day, the snow drifted so much, it erased his snow shoveling work!

 

Lansing Michigan observations.

January 25. High 30, low 27. snow on ground: 5". snowfall: 2.7", water equiv.: 0.18" max wind 17mph

January 26. High 31, low 19. snow on ground: 13". snowfall: 15.1". water equiv: 1.30". max wind: 38mph. Visibility was 1/4 mile for 6 (or possibly more) hours.

January 27. High 22, low 16. snow on ground: 24". snowfall: 1.5". water equiv: 0.10. max wind 31mph

 

snow total 19.3". snow depth change: 19"

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Jonger

Jonger

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Grand Rapids has finally done a write up on it. Includes a snowfall map which some may wanna save. It is the only snowfall map i have seen for this area.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=grr&storyid=92086&source=0

 

SnowMapBlizzard78.png

 

Amazing how hard it is to find good maps for events that took place 35 years ago..... You would think it was the dark ages.

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