Blizzard of '77 Memories
Since today is the anniversary of that unique and deadly storm, we thought we'd open a thread for you folks to bring us your stories and memories from those brutal days.
The true blizzard conditions got into high gear (after a snowy morning ahead of an approaching cold front) after this sharp cold front passed Buffalo around 11:30 that Friday morning. Behind that front, the temperature dropped from 26 to 0 in just 4 hours, and sustained winds averaged over 40 mph for many hours, with peak gusts averaging 69 mph and occasionally exceeding 70 mph. Wind chill fell to the life-threatening -50s. The worst of the awful conditions occurred that afternoon and evening, but the brutal blizzard continued about 3 days. Relatively little new snow fell behind that cold front. Most of the snow constituted a "ground blizzard," with the huge supply of powdery snow already depositted over an exceptionally cold and snowy latter December and January now being distributed by these incredible and bitter winds. NWS radar didn't detect much falling snow, and many pilots flying overhead reported clear skies, while they could look down and see the blinding snow on the ground. As many of you know, 29 people lost their lives to this disastrous storm; 7 of the 8 WNY counties were declared a federal disaster area (first time "snow" disaster, declared by Jimmy Carter), and Army troops from Ft Bragg had to be brought in to augment the NY National Guard troops already working to save lives and open roads.
So, feel free to post your stories, or raise questions on this thread.
NOTE: THE HIGH WIND/SNOW THREAD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDES THIS THREAD, AND WILL REMAIN ACTIVE.
The true blizzard conditions got into high gear (after a snowy morning ahead of an approaching cold front) after this sharp cold front passed Buffalo around 11:30 that Friday morning. Behind that front, the temperature dropped from 26 to 0 in just 4 hours, and sustained winds averaged over 40 mph for many hours, with peak gusts averaging 69 mph and occasionally exceeding 70 mph. Wind chill fell to the life-threatening -50s. The worst of the awful conditions occurred that afternoon and evening, but the brutal blizzard continued about 3 days. Relatively little new snow fell behind that cold front. Most of the snow constituted a "ground blizzard," with the huge supply of powdery snow already depositted over an exceptionally cold and snowy latter December and January now being distributed by these incredible and bitter winds. NWS radar didn't detect much falling snow, and many pilots flying overhead reported clear skies, while they could look down and see the blinding snow on the ground. As many of you know, 29 people lost their lives to this disastrous storm; 7 of the 8 WNY counties were declared a federal disaster area (first time "snow" disaster, declared by Jimmy Carter), and Army troops from Ft Bragg had to be brought in to augment the NY National Guard troops already working to save lives and open roads.
So, feel free to post your stories, or raise questions on this thread.
NOTE: THE HIGH WIND/SNOW THREAD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDES THIS THREAD, AND WILL REMAIN ACTIVE.
posted by Don Paul at
6:02 PM
28 Comments:
So what was the toal amount of snow that fell?
What are the chances of something like this happening in our "Global Warming " world we live in. Is there a cycle for storms like this in our area , somewhat similar to Hurricanes (not sure how to explain this one) , 10 years weaker , ten years stonger.
I was 7 back then..
No one knows the total amount of new snow which fell, hamburgsnowman. Measuring in those conditions was impossible, but it's estimated that less than a foot of new snow fell after the blizzard started. Ahead of the front, a few inches fell that morning on southerly winds.
Theoretically, the chances of something like this storm repeating during global warming would be extremely slim. Even during the many colder winters, this event happened only once in recorded Buffalo history. During increased warming, the chances of tundra-like cold last for weeks, allowing a buildup of such vast amounts of snow, will be going down--not up.
Don, Was this Blizzard just in and around western new york? Or did other parts of the northeast feel the effects? I know the snow on the lake did us in. But was it pretty severe away from the lakes?
Most of this event impacted WNY, since it was a strong SW wind of bitter arctic air which produced the conditions, rather than a passing storm system of a more typical type. The other area of severe weather occurred at the eastern end of Lk Ontario, near Watertown and its surroundings.
Great thread....I was living in Jamestown, NY at the time, and was about 12 years old...I remember watching blizzard coverage on TV...Jamestown had the winds and cold temps, but huge drifts were not an issue because we didn't have as much snow on the ground or the lake...I remember later that year (perhaps March) having two weeks off from school because of the rationing of natural gas that Don mentioned on the "High Wind" thread...as a teacher, I love talking about the blizzard to my students, because it was a truly historic event and so fascinating...the school where I teach (Lancaster) is also a stone's throw from the intersection (Harris Hill and Pleasantview) where the famous photo of the kid touching the traffic light while standing on a huge drift was taken...the other amazing thing I've read recently is that some people in Depew had to literally be tunneled out of their homes from huge drifts blocking their doors and windows...must have been quite a spectacle to behold!!
Great Blog Idea! I am a Lancaster-Depew native and also climed to the top of that Monster Drift at Central Avenue and Pleasantview Drive.. it was awesome! I was 19 years old at the time, and the day started off just like any other winter morning, except the sun was out! As the morning progressed during college courses at Medaille the winds started picking up and it started getting colder. Round about 12 noon they made an announcement that classes were being canceled and folks should start heading home because conditions were worsening. O offered to drive some friends to Kenmore and Tonawanda since they did not have cars. It was slow drive up Elmwood Avenue eventually dropping off the last passengers near Colvin and the 290. It was 4pm by then, four hours to get from Medaille to that area of Tonawanda. Things got worse as I tried the 290 Youngmann Highway for awhile, eventually exiting onto Sheridan Drive. Worked my way home arriving in Lancaster-Depew area at 9pm! My Dad never made it home from Niagara County for two days, we pretty much hibernated, dug out through a back window, enjoyed outdoor adventures in a wacky winter wonderland, and helped friends and neighbors. It was wild watching all the TV coverage back then... I guess at 19 we viewed it more as an adventure than some sort of national emergency. Kinda like those t-shirts Channel 4 used to give away to lucky viewers - "It's Buffalo, It Snows - Deal With It! And then then on the back it said... "That's what we do!" You guys should bring those back! Thanks for letting me ramble on.
Lancaster Lenny
I remember oh so well the storm that took WNY by surprise. I was working at S.M. Flickinger's(French near Union) in Cheektowaga at that time and the winds and the drop in temperature were unreal. You couldn't even look out the windows as they were completely frozen over. We all had to stay overnight and we all watched "Roots" on a small TV set.
The next morning if you were able to get out you did and it looked like a total disaster hit on French Road near Union.
Majority of us were off work for many, many days while the streets were taken care of.
The stories that people told of how they survived that storm were just amazing.
This is a storm many of us will never forget.
DON
I was not born at that time but my dad and my mom have a lot of memories from the blizzard of 77 from newspapers to the guy on the radio talking about the storm tape ...... that kind of storm happens every century at least because in climate like what we are in right now you wont get that kinda long duration of cold air...
but i would love to have at least on storm similiar to like that in my generation ,,Fingers Crossed...Ameen!!!!!!!!
busybee; there's no question the storm caught WNY by surprise, up to a point. But the NWS did have all kinds of special statements (I've seen the printouts) they'd issued prior to the blizzard about an arctic blast with winds over 40 mph likely to cause lots of blowing snow. So, yes, they missed the ultimate magnitude, but it wasn't a total surprise. You also have to remember that at the time, none of the wxcasters in Buffalo tv had a background in meteorology, so some of the urgency showing up on the charts and in the primitive models at that time could was undoubtedly missed by the main weather communicators working in that era. I have heard stories that our friend Danny Nevearth did make a valiant effort to communicate some of the urgency in the NWS special statements on his show that Friday morning. Danny is a funny and talented personality, but when the weather got really serious, he tried hard to get the info across to his audience.
I'll make an almost sick admission: I was working at a Wichita tv station at the time, and Wichita was having a dull winter. Yes, I was jealous I wasn't here, and had no idea at the time I'd end up coming here in 1984. At least I had the whopper Blizzard of 85 during my first busy winter here!
I was a little girl during the Blizzard of '77, and I was on Cloud 9 when it struck! Like most kids, I was so happy that there was no school. The storm still lives on in my memory. I also did a research project on the blizzard when I was earning my met degree. Here are a few stats I dug up:
Before the blizzard happened, there was already a more than 3 foot snowpack on the ground in addition to previous snowdrifts dating back to Christmas '76. Lake Erie had completely frozen over during a cold and stormy December leading up to the blizzard. The snow at the Buffalo airport totaled only about 12 inches from January 28th to February 1st, 1977. As Don commented, this was a "ground blizzard" and much of the devestation is believed to be from the huge piles of existing snow lying on top of an already frozen Lake Erie. That snow was blown into the Buffalo area and redeposited. Daily peak wind gusts of 51, 52, 58, and 46 mph were recorded on the 29th through the 1st, and there was a top wind gust of 75mph at the Niagara Falls Airport. Temperatures hovered around zero, coupled with powerful wind gusts which resulted in wind chill values from -50 to -60. Without a doubt, this contributed to the deaths of more than two dozen people, some who were found frozen in buried cars beneath the snow. I will post some pics of blizzard from my friends who work at UB...
I was developing and maintaining the
software for the old Toronto weather
radar and I recall sitting at the
teletype, watching and wondering what
was happening under the radar echo
that seemed to engulf the city of
Buffalo and just wouldn't let go!
I think the actual radar data is
still available on magnetic tape tho
getting it off is probably another
matter altogether! Btw Don (Is it ok for me to ask?) Was there a baby boom in Buffalo nine months later?
I will never forget the morning of the Blizzard of '77. I was 7 at the time and living in North Buffalo. For some reason, we did not have school that morning and my sister and I were outside playing in the snow. And I do remember it being sunny too!
Out of the blue my mom starts yelling to us to get into the house and my sister and I couldn't believe what we were hearing! Our parents were always telling us that a little fresh air would do us good and now my mom was yelling at us to get in the house over a little wind?
We had off from school for 2 weeks and I remember our school taking away Easter vacation days because of the storm.
I also remember my Dad having to walk to his job as a firefighter at Engine 16 in the city-- walking at night down Main Street from North Buffalo to Main and Utica. My mom was so worried about him because he had to stay there for three days because other firefighters couldn't make it in.
We made the best of those days! I remember walking to Bob and John's on Hertel Ave for pizza because there was a driving ban. Cars were completely buried by Shoshone Park.
It was a storm that I will never forget!
Howard,
From what I've read, yes.
I really question whether this Blizzard ever happened. I know that pictures can be changed with the latest technology. I think that this was made up to get the Gov't to send WNY money.
It is said that no outsiders visited Buff to confirm that this event ever occurred. It is a shame that people still go on trying to justify it. It is even more absurd that Don states that Global Warming precludes another event from ostensibly occurring again.
Hey, anonymous....did you also know that we never really landed on the moon, there's no such thing as the Easter Bunny, tooth fairy and Santa Claus, 9/11 was a government cover-up, Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone, and aliens landed at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947?...wow, either you were kidding and it wasn't a funny joke, or you have got some serious issues...thanks for the laugh, though!!
I was only 6 but I remember parts.I remember big things.My first memory was waking up and wondering why they didnt not get me up for the bus for kindergarten and was told it was snowing and cold.I remember in Newfane we had no electricty for a while and no heat.My mom,brother sister and me slept downstairs together on the floor or some of us did.I do know I gave my poor sister a black eye because I turned over in the night and apparently punched her in the eye.She was given a shirt of a cartoon girl with a black eye and it said something but cant remember what.I remember being bored to death!When we did have power I remember listening to Donny and Marie.I dont remember what channel it was but there was no video,audio only.There was just a test pattern on that you could see.We listened for a while but there wasnt much else to do and I think my mom complained about not being able to watch Roots.I hope that was it,since I dont remember what year it came out.
My dad was a truck driver and stranded in cleveland because they would not let him on the thruway to come home.There was nothing there but he could not get into the state to come home to us.
My mom did not drive and had no car.My uncle took her to Bells about a mile away to get some food.People freak out now and panic and get the bread and milk and even I pick on it but I can say it saved us.She had to fight with a woman to get the last 2 loaves of bread and a man for the last jug of milk.Since we had no electric she put the milk in the snow and we had cereal and sandwiches.If she had not gotten them we would have had real trouble.I remember alot of peanut butter sandwiches and cereal until we got heat and electric back.I dont know why they do that in this day and age but know they had to then.They didnt have warnings and things,even plows in the country were not reliable so the basics were necessary.
The only other real memories I have of it was for some reason my mother wanted me to take a vacuum cleaner next door to my grandfathers.I remember the wind would knock me and the vacuum down and I would get back up and down again.When I finally got there he had to pull me in and gave me peaches and milk of all things.He put a jar of applesauce in my coat and sent me home.I asked years later why she would send a young kid in the blizzard for a vacuum.She laughed and said we were watching you and you were never out of sight and he would have come out to get you if you had real trouble.I laugh now but then I didnt know they were watching.I now know that is a given but then I remember thinking it would have taken forever to get there.
My sister could have died however.My brother(who was a jerk) knew there was no school and didnt tell her.She left to walk there and when she got there it was closed and locked.She tried to come home but barely got across the track field and made it to a house where a woman helped warm her up.She was very very close to too late from what I was told.She was 11 and I think that was her first coffee.The lady called my mom and drove her home.I have no doubt she would have died otherwise.
My grandfather took in people from what I am told and I think my brother helped out with his snowmobile.I know grandpa took in a few and I remember wondering why they were there and he didnt know them.
I dont know how long we were without heat but got pretty cold.We all made it through ok and I remember the heaven we had as kids burrowing in the snow that blew up almost the height of buildings behind our house.We made tunnels and holes in snowbanks and thought it was cool we could walk in a path and not see anything but snow and no one could see us.
Our dad couldnt come home for over a week I believe and was quite worried and called when he could.Thank goodness phones were working and didnt need electric back then.
I dont remember alot but what I do I remember well.I do remember watching news and seeing pictures in the paper of the deaths and hardships and asking mom why they had so much problem when we seemed ok.I was so naive.Those who didnt live through it can never appreciate it or the panic sometimes happens now.I would rather be warned highly ahead of time than remembering hearing my mom say they didnt say this would happen.My nieces and nephews laugh at warnings,panics at the store and things but also am glad they dont know and hope they never do.They hear of accidents now because of snow but never knew or heard of anyone who froze in their cars or homes.
storm watcher;
Nice to know Art Bell visits this blog...It's amazing how they got all those troops from Ft Bragg to keep their traps shut about the Phantom Blizzard! Sooner or later, the truth will out, and the whole scandal will end up in the Weekly World News--oh wait--they're outta business. The Buffalo Beast, maybe?
Zither music, anyone?
Zither, anyone!!!?????
Nice, very nice! Where is Zamphyr?!!
I guess it was an hallucination when I climbed to the top of that snow drift at Central Ave & Pleasantview in Lancaster, and, like those folks in the photo posted on this blog site, touched the traffic lights! Talk about cool!
This thread is alot of fun. A nice distraction while dealing with a very real weather situation moving into our area. Thanks Don and MaryBeth for digging up the facts and figures to further illuminate our recollections of the Blizzard of '77.
This is why we NEED that weather museum!
Lancaster Lenny
Here's some great video on the blizzard with radio reports from WBEN's anchor Lou Douglas and also another report from George Hamburger. Be sure to turn up your sound, but please know the 1st minute has no audio. Some of the pictures featured in this video are already posted on this blog, but there's so much more! Enjoy a walk down a snowy memory lane by clicking on this URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-gRb_MuUgg
The one thing that really helped increase the severity of the storm was that the lake had frozen in December and there were a couple of feer of snow on the frozen lake which were blown back in to Buffalo.
I spent the night of the blizzard in the company of a couple of dozen peopls in the Puerto Rican center at Swan and Chicago streets! As for the proponents of a "faked" blizzard, I've had other people say that th cause of the blizzard was due to the spacecraft left on the moon changing the amount of light and heat reflected onto the Buffalo area from the moon! Though these were not proponents of the "fake" moon landing theories!!
I was only kidding, alchemist, in responding to that fake blizzard post. Even in the era of Art Bell, astrologers, faith healers, and nuclear-powered colon cleansers, it would be hard to believe someone could be THAT far out. Have to assume that post was a put-on.
On the other hand, that reflected light-from-the-moon idea is the wackiest alleged thought we've had on this blog yet!
I was working for "The Brass" on Miltary Rd. I was returning from our Kentucky plant,Nashville through Detroit. Got over Buffalo couldn't land,tried Rochester , no. Syracuse closed , too late.Returned to Detroit. Checked into the Dearborn Regency at 2AM, had to leave at 5AM to get 7 AM flight. Got to Buffalo ,closed. Went to Rochester, bussed to Buffalo. Aisles in lot plowed ,over the cars. Got towed out. Finally arrived to my home Snyder in time to get a call from work. I had to get there NOW !An outside inspector was coming in. After a struggle got to get there ASAP I learned inspector not coming due to weather . He lived a mile from the plant at Grant and Amherst! After some colorful language I left at noon for home. Loong story. Several routes ,stuck many times, clogged, streets etc etc. Finally at Kenmore and NFB around 8 PM ( long 7 mile trip) the shift linkage broke. I only had reverse. I went in the opposite lane in reverse and to a restaurant where I knew the owner . After a Beef and bowl of Chili, he drove me home with many stops for pushing and shoveling. I stayed there for 3 days. Those who did not leave work when I did were stuck there for 2-3 days . The big thing was they watched "Roots" on TV and ate a lot of frozen cafeteria pizza.
Friday, January 28, 1977, the now famous blizzard swept into Buffalo and its impacts exceeded all expectations.
I returned from a road trip Thursday before the storm and Friday morning, warned by the weather forecasts, I packed my cross country skis into the car and drove work in Black Rock. I thought the place would be deserted and was amazed to see nearly everyone working.
I was told a decision would be made later in the day whether to close early. I said I had just escaped one storm and felt another in my bones. At 10:00 AM I took leave, strapped on my skis and left for home about three miles away. By the time I skied down Amherst to Grant Street I saw cars being stuck and buried in the swirling snow. I stopped to warm up at Casey’s and called the office to warn them what was occurring. Then, I skied up Amherst Street. It was very fortunate I was where I was. As I crossed through a large parking lot at Hertel and Elmwood, at the time a Tops store, I noted movement in a car that was isolated from the rest of the parked cars and buried to its hood in the blowing snow. I approached and a window opened. Three frightened older people were in the dark car and the doors could not be opened. A man gave me directions for calling his brother who was the manager of a nearby auto dealership and had a tow truck. Soon after, I made the call from my home and was assured help was on the way. Later the very thankful folk called to assure me they had been saved.
But, Western New York was paralyzed by the storm. I skied round North Buffalo Saturday, checked a couple dozen stuck cars, and was very thankful they were empty. It was eerie to ski past buildings the top of the doorway which, was even with my feet.
But we did okay. I photographed my bird bath that had a cone of snow on it about ten feet high. The next day it broke in two.
Iworked or the Corps of engineers and by Sunday night they had me out supervising the removal that is a story of its own.
Don is there computer graphics like Future Watch showing how close the area of low pressure which created the '77 Blizzard actually got near Buffalo?
I wrote the book White Death-The Blizzard of '77 that continues to sell in bookstores, Amazon and from my website www.whitedeath.com
Please visit me to see some pics and watch 7 minutes of the DVD about the Blizzard of '77. The sound track is the sound of that disaster. White Death was the name for this storm when described in East African newspapers. News of this blizzard flashed around the world and proved that Western New Yorkers and their neighbors in Canada are a resourceful,resilient people. Would other cities and countries have so well survived the only blizzard in history declared a major disaster? Be proud of meeting that challenge and doing so well.
But beware of snowflakes.
I'm somewhat confused about lake effect snow. On the weather with Mike Czaka he said that we could not get lake effect because Lake Erie was frozen over. Then Don Paul said we can get lake effect due to the fact that there could be certain areas of the lake that are not frozen that we cannot see. What are the real details regarding lake effect. Everytime the weather is on in the morning its a little different
One thing that many folk forget was that the week of the Blizzard of 1977 on Monday and Tuesday there was a seperate storm that dumped a lot of snow. I left Buffalo to go to Sodus Bay early Monday and holed up in Oswego. Wednesday I was headed for Watertown and whiteouts and horizontal snow drove me back to Syracuse. The Thruway was closed Wednesday due to the storm and reopened Thursday and I dashed into Buffalo.
As Don Paul points out between that and earlier storms the amount of snow lying on the ice in Lake Erie was deep but impossible to measure.
My contractor tested some of the drifts on Hopkins Road near Tift, for the National Guard who were clearing that section and the drifts were over twenty foot high.
After we cleared buffalo I was sent back to Watertown. Where Buffalo was digging out roadways and moving snow to deposit areas Watertown had so much snow they could only tunnel the sidewalks to get food and check on one another. It was like driving in a maze since the snow was sheared at 90 degrees at the corners and the roads all only had been opened to two lanes. Scary.
Somebody e-mailed me about lake affect snow after the lake is frozen. I think Don Paul did a couple of nice explanations. The lake is frozen at 32 degrees and the land is warmer than that. When a mass of air colder than 32 degrees moves over the lake and meets the warmer land area it triggers precipitation. What it doesn't do is pick up additional moisture from the lake.
There was an article in the Times the other day that pointed out the three coldest years in the US were 1977 to 1980 and the winter of '78-'79 the coldest on record. In '79 I was still cross county skiing McCarty Hill behind Holiday Valley in April!
Art Klein
Being born in beautiful Buffalo I was used to the winters.During the summer of 76 I recall July 4th at the Art Park and 30 days with no sun. During August Of 76 I journeyed to AZ and decided to move there. I returned to WNY that fall to save money and prepare for the move. That winter I worked as stage hand at the New Century Theatre as a house hand for Harvey and Corky.
When the blizzard hit I was living on Main St in Buffalo by UB with a friend I hd met through work at a local liquor store. Needless to say the place was well stocked. We went grocery shopping the afternoon the storm hit so we were well supplied. When we lost powewr we walked a few blocks to his girlfriends place. There were several of her friends there as well whom were stranded. It was a tough week, stranded in the snow with a house full of young
Buffalo girls!!.
After the storm passed the City hired 2000 workers to shovel out. You had to get to the old Aud. to apply. I walked the 5 miles or so thru the snowmobile tracks and was one of the lucky ones to get a job!
We were broken up into teams to shovel out schools and make paths through the nieghborhoods. I remember snow shoveling contests and a lot of time warming up in the school boiler rooms. When the snow melted they put us to work painting the Delaware Park garage.I was able to save enough to leave for a small mining town in AZ in April of 78. Been here ever since. Although I do miss the snow!
God Bless all who made it through and make WNY what it still and always will be a great place with great people!!
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