Brit Reacts to 10 Historic US Blizzards and Winter Storms

[@portialancaster3442]

Snow gains weight as it accumulates. One inch of snow is easy to shovel, ten inches of snow is really heavy. Snow shoveling has caused up to 100 deaths annually due to heart attacks and over 11,000 injuries annually.

[@rhondapease8516]

@@portialancaster3442 I remember getting about 3 inches of sleet one time and that was horrific to shovel. It was like shoveling wet sugar. Wet snow is horrible; especially at the end of your driveway where the snowplow wall forms.

[@francesostrowski2374]

Wet snow is very heavy plus add the cold air on your lungs and if you are not in great shape, it’s easy to have a heart attack.

[@HistoryNerd808]

It's a full body workout, honestly. I just rolled my eyes when the NWS said to take it easy on the shoveling if you have heart issues but I can absolutely see why they warn people to.

[@l.j.8931]

Oh yes for sure. Its funny. One gallon of water weighs 8 pounds. One gallon of wet snow which by denifintion is mostly air somehow weighs about 27,000 pounds. If anyone doesnt understand the priciple of leverage get yourself a shovel of wet snow.

[@ejtappan1802]

Wet snow is the worst!! "Full body workout" is a good description.

[@metadragonia1652]

@@HistoryNerd808had sore back day after shoveling on Monday

[@kristend344]

I live in an area where when we get snow, it's wet. It will collapse roofs from the weight. - Wet snow will turn to ice and it will stick to whatever it's on, and you can't shovel it once it does that.

[@justMelissa72]

During the blizzard of 78, when I was 4 years old, I had chicken pox bad and was very sick. We lived in Indiana and my doctor actually drove to our house to bring meds. My grandpa drove to our house to bring us food. Thankfully both my doctor and Grandpa made it back home safely before the snow really started piling up.

[@kevint2555]

I was 12, and lived in Fort Wayne. I remember standing on snow banks taller than my school bus, and sliding down to get on. That was one crazy storm.

[@jdm1066]

I was born in Chicago 9 months after the blizzard of 78'... for obvious reasons.

[@gilesrevelstoke4792]

I was living in Parma, OH (just southeast of Cleveland) during the '78 blizzard. Instead of giving snow days, which were few and far between in the snow belt, they closed all the schools except one and we had split sessions (morning session 7:00-12:00, elementary, and 12:00-17:00 for middle and high school students). We still had to walk to our school and catch a bus to the school that was open. I am surprised that we all survived. The school building that was open had a terrible time heating, so we wore our coats all day - and then froze on our walk home. I was living in central Ohio for the others after that. I remember it taking me over two hours to drive the 17 miles to work in 1993. And yes, snow shoveling is a literal killer. You are bundled up against the cold, but you are sweating from exertion and your heart is racing. When I still lived in a house, my lawn service would do all the snow removal so I did not have to. They had snow blowers and trucks with blades; it was not physically taxing for them.

[@jonadabtheunsightly]

Heart attacks from shoveling snow, can happen when it's really too warm for snow (high 20s, low 30s, F), because under those conditions the "snow" is really slush and is very heavy, and can fall in quite large amounts. People underestimate how much work it is to clear it, and attempt to do so too fast, without taking enough breaks. If you try to exercise that hard for that long in the summer time, or indoors, you'll pass out from heat stroke; but outdoors in the winter, it's easier for your body to shed excess heat, and so you can keep going, past when you should stop. It's a good recipe for raising your blood pressure way too high, and all the various problems that can cause, including heart attack and stroke. You can also throw your back out, shoveling the heavy stuff, if you aren't smart enough to take it in layers. When it's *cold* this problem goes away, and you can clear the sidewalk in five minutes with a broom, no problem. Although if there's any wind at all, they won't stay clear, because the dry stuff is lightweight and blows around readily. My favorite winter storm story, is what happened to Buffalo in 1977. The short version is, it was the most epic snow drift of all time.

[@l.j.8931]

Also one major aspect to reflect on. If you are over excerting yourself in freezing temperatures DO NOT spontaneously stop. You have to gradually wind down or head indoors to aclimate. Just like surfacing from scuba diving or beating an addiction. If you go 100 to 0 instantly bad things can and will happen.

[@KimKinzer]

Ugh I got caught in both ‘78 storms. I was home in Ohio during break. -50F wind chill, 10 foot drifts, power lines snapping due to becoming brittle. Then the roads open in time for me to return to college just outside of Boston. They forecasted snow but it came with such force during the day that people got stuck. Waves on the coast took out beach homes. It was the first time I experienced snow thunder. The college was close to running out of food. It took years before I could eat macaroni and cheese again😂

[@richardmccarley281]

I was in high school in Columbus, Ohio during the Great Blizzard of 1978. I remember it vividly. Our power was out for a week. We had to move to my grandfather's house, which was just next door, because he still had power. My dad stayed in our house and kept a fire burning in the fireplace to keep the pipes from freezing.

[@mariakelly2146]

I lived outside of Bloomingburg and was 13. Lived on a farm and we got hella drifts. I got a large box and made it into a sled. It was fun. I remember my uncle had to keep going in the basement to keep sterno or something going to keep our pipes from freezing.

[@RevPeterTrabaris]

I'm 62. I remember every one of these since then, Thurston. I was five during the '67 Chicago Blizzard. The snow was significantly higher that any car, by feet. The storm hit before my mother could get to the store to get milk and bread. She sent my father and I out to see if we could find any. We needed it for my sister. We had to take the sled since the car was buried in the snow. We walked and walked until we finally found a gas station open. The owner anticipated the stores being closed so he made arrangements to get some milk and bread and by the time we got there word had spread and there was quite a line of people seeking either bread, or milk, or both. Later, because the snow was so deep and really good packing snow. My father dug tunnels in the alleyway behind our house with buried treasures. All of us kids in the neighborhood spend hours under the snow looking for the coins. What fun! Of course, blizzards are no joke. I have known people who have died shoveling snow. Depending on the type of snow, a single snow shovel full can be quite heavy. Remember, water is heavy. Snow is water. Icy water. Of course, sometimes snow is light and powdery then it is different, not so much of a strain. Sometimes, then, it was easier for me to just take a broom to clear the walkways. If you live in the north, or other areas that regularly get snow then you are pretty much prepared before the storm and it can be kind of fun stuck at home, so long as the electricity doesn't get take out by wind or ice on the wires. Well, I hope that at some time you get to experience a major snow storm. If you ever are, just pay attention to what the authorities are saying and you should be okay. Chicago is a great place to spend a snow storm. Lots to do. Peace

[@dabearsfan4life]

My grandpa was working in one of the Streets and Sanitation offices in Chicago during the Blizzard of 67

[@sshimmy2258]

I remember the Blizzard of 78. We lost power for a week in Rhode Island. My dad took me with a sled to the grocery store. We had six and a half feet of snow it went all the way up our house. Me and my brothers rode the sled off of our house. We had tunnels where the sidewalks were that went three houses down to our best friend's house.

[@CaerlaverockJaguar]

We were in the blizzard of 1996. And shortly after, we moved to Jacksonville Florida from Scranton Pennsylvania, right before Scranton was hit by the major snow melt flood. We left the night before it struck our neighborhood and the next morning, a news crew were standing in what was our front yard.

[@YasmineGalenornOfficial]

In 2006, Washington state had what is called the Hanukkah Day storm--over 3 million without power, freezing temperatures and snow, hurricane force winds...at least 14 deaths, most from carbon monoxide poisoning when people tried to use charcoal briquettes indoors...a lot of the country has had its own version of horrible winter storms.

[@thseed7]

P.S. the reason shovelling snow results in so many heart attacks is because people don't get warmed up (walking or physical activity to raise heart rate) before going out in extreme cold and doing very strenuous activity. Cold constricts blood vessels and people hold their breath during heavy lifting with their arms which reduces oxygen getting to the heart. All of those things out immense stress on the cardiovascular system.

[@betsybabf748]

I remember the blizzard of '78. I was in kindergarten, just south of Boston, and my sister was born in it. My father plowed during snowstorms, and thank God he was home and had his truck when my mother went into labor. Coincidentally, in the blizzard of '96, my husband was out plowing, and I was pregnant, though thankfully not near my due date.

[@rhondapease8516]

@@betsybabf748 Not fun going into labor during a blizzard. Me too! (See my earlier comment). So glad all went well with the delivery!

[@JPMadden]

I was attending college in Vermont during the Blizzard of 1993. That rural state has few roads and plenty of snowplows. As much as 2 feet of snow fell on Saturday, and the following day, the roads were cleared and businesses were open like any other Sunday. It was just another snowstorm.

[@patriciafeehan7732]

Vermont needs to clear those roads for the Ski Resorts.

[@craiglortie8483]

in 78' i was living 2 blocks from the biggest school in out indiana county. we were snowed in for a week and were getting food from snowmobiles for days. the best thing was playing tackle football with holes dug into the drifts that you'd dive through to score. :) us local kids loved the time off from school and put it to good use!

[@BTinSF]

I was in NY City during the "Polar Vortex" in the early 2000s. I had plans to travel by train to New Orleans. It got so cold everything shut down. Planes weren't flying and even AMTRAK canceled service--the rails were warping. I managed to get as far as Atlanta by train and had to drive the rest of the way to NOLA. I also recall being stuck overnight on the New Jersey Turnpike by a blizzard in 1960. This episode got famous because it happened the day before the scheduled inauguration of John Kennedy as President. I'm sure there are videos on KZbin of the inauguration in which most attendees are bundled up but Kennedy gave his speech in an open top coat. I also remember the 1966 blizzard. I was in college and the storm occurred just before our winter break so I was stuck at school, unable to get home.

[@rhondapease8516]

I went into labor at the tail end of the blizzard of '78. Just prior my husband was keeping up with drifts forming at both our front and back doors. We drove to the hospital during the driving ban in the early morning hours as the blizzard was starting to tone down. We were the only car out on the road with the plows. Luckily the whiteout conditions decreased and the main road to the hospital was cleared enough for our car to get through. My daughter was born soon after we arrived at the hospital. There was another baby born within a couple of hours of my daughter. That mom and I were hospital roommates.

[@ejtappan1802]

Oh man, I ended up having to drive through some of that storm. I can't imagine dealing with that mess while being in labor. Holy cow!

[@rhondapease8516]

@ejtappan1802 😊 It's amazing how your emotions will react when dealing with a situation. We were just focusing on driving slow and safely and watching the road. I was the second pair of eyes. We were lucky the blizzard was slowing down along with the whiteout conditions. * What was neat were the two birth announcements in the newspaper. There was a photo of the storm right above the birth announcements. * Then in 2013 I had plans to take my daughter to one of her favorite restaurants for her birthday. We had to postpone the plans because the blizzard of 2013 (aka; Winter Storm Nemo) hit. That dumped 48 inches on us. I teased my daughter as a real blizzard baby.

[@udubeats4543]

One of the biggest factors that made '78 so bad was that the forecast was 4"-6" which in areas like Boston at that time wasn't considered a very big deal. Even today you wouldn't hunker down the way you would with a forecast of 12" or more. So, people were going about their normal lives, not stocking up on food, going to work and shop like normal and then got stranded. Stranded on the road, stranded without food for days. As a result there's now a run on the supermarkets for essentials (especially bread and milk) before storms.

[@thseed7]

Warm air, rich with Moisture, comes from the West and Southwest and meets cold, dry from the North and causes conditions perfect for massive snow storms. 2011 dumped a bunch of rain, then freezing rain and eventually snow across New Jersey. There were massive power outages. The Blizzard of '96 dumped almost 4 feet of snow at my house in Northern New Jersey. In '97 or '98 we had a series of storms that dropped 2-3 feet of snow every Wednesday for like 6 weeks straight.

[@ejtappan1802]

I grew up in northern Illinois and was 17 years old for the blizzard of '78. It was crazy!! I have a picture of me standing next to a snowpile that was as tall as I was... and that was just from our driveway which only had two parking spots.

[@MetallicAlmonds]

Watching this from upstate South Carolina with the snow and freezing rain coming down hard today, the harshest winter weather I've experienced in a few years. Thanks for entertaining me with a perfectly fitting video!

[@loltrip2741]

Im in chicago, the 2011 blizzard was awesome. the snow was up like the back stairs to the bottom of our back door and the snow drifts on the house next door coved first floor windows. it was such a crazy experience. We really only get huge snow stores like that once every 2 decades.

[@knobbynah]

96 was a good one. I saw a guy cross country skiing down 5th Avenue. Right in front of the Empire State building.

[@revgurley]

One issue with forecasting snow in the South US is the few number of times it happens. We had been told all week in Atlanta that we'd get a "minor" snow dusting, maybe some sleet. Well, turns out we got 3 inches of snow and another 1/3 inch of ice. We're homebound. Can't get out the driveway without sliding, much less on the streets. Some roads have been shoveled and sanded (for traction) but most have not. I remember the Blizzard of 1993 - I came home from college spring break, went to a Prince concert in Atlanta, woke up the next morning to over a FOOT of snow (1/3 meter). I'd never seen that much snow in my life! Atlanta was shut down. Atlanta is hilly, so any ice on the roads make them impassable. The more recent "Snowmaggeddon" in 2014 was due to the city shutting down schools all at once just as the snow was moving in. That meant school buses full of kids sliding on roads. Parents left their offices at the same time to get their kids, and everyone got stuck on the interstates. Several people spent the night in their cars on the interstate, as there was no where to go! But even with these in our history, the 3 inches we got today will stall everything until at least Monday. We stocked up on food, so we'll be okay if the power doesn't go out from ice on the tree branches.

[@MrDeaconDemolition]

in 96 I was 8 and the plows didn't reach us for 3 days in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Hell of a time to be a kid. I don't think I came inside except to eat and sleep. Block to block igloos, snow forts and Snowmen. My friend's dad used his push plow to get the sidewalk done, and it made 3 foot (1 meter) high snow forts

[@theblackbear211]

I remember driving through the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma and into western Kansas in the 1990's - a few days after a fast moving blizzard had come through - each fencepost had a fin shaped drift behind it, and the drifts on the downwind side of the houses reached to the eaves. Worst of all, a lot of cattle had been caught out in the open. The ranchers were stacking them like cordwood near the road, waiting for the renderer's truck.

[@Nofretari]

I remember that 2011 year storm. Thankfully we had backup heating and a lot of candles/ kerosene lamps for lighting. Now we also have 3 solar generators.

[@leeannmcdermott8313]

In ‘96 blizzard in Brooklyn was unforgettable,that snow didn’t go away till almost late April, the sidewalks were tunnels for months!! I hate the snow

[@ElleW]

I can attest to The Great Blizzard of '78. I lived in Michigan at the time and it's the worst in my memory. Holy smokes was that a bad one! We were off school for just over a week. Great for the kids but not adults. Oh wait, I have been in a few of these. It sure can be scary if you are traveling on the road. My sister and I was driving a few hundred miles from a funeral in Tennessee back home to Michigan. My uncle left 90 minutes after my sister and I and they ended up closing the highway and he had to wait it out in a gas station. Had I stopped, I would have had the same fate but we white knuckled it home and could barely see where the road was in front of us. Unfortunately, when we got home the house was locked up (which we never locked up back then) and we had no key 😑 but at least we were safely home.

[@Nofretari]

I also remember the ice storm of 1994 in Northern Missouri. Thankfully we had a propane heater and lots of blankets.

[@klawzie]

I was living in the south during the blizzard of '93, not too far from Birmingham, AL. It probably counts as the second-biggest weather event I've personally experienced, made worse by the fact that my dad wasn't in the state at the time, so it was just my mom and three kids in the house when it happened. IIRC, it took a few days for my parents to be able to call each other so he knew we were okay. Power was out for at least a full day, but we were the lucky ones. Some people even in the same city were without power for up to a week. My most powerful memory of it was wandering outside to stare up at the moon peeking through the clouds as it snowed. (Perhaps a foolish idea in hindsight - no one even knew I'd gone outside because everyone else was asleep. But in my defense, the worst of the storm was passed and it wasn't that deep in snow.) But I was struck by how *quiet* the world was. The trees were creaking and the wind was rushing, but all the sounds were so muted. It was rather gorgeous.

[@MetroCSN]

I was in high school for the 1967 Chicago blizzard. We knew it was snowing hard, but we didn't know how bad it was until they canceled all after school activities and sports and we saw the major expressway just east of the school with our buses in the ditches. It took about two hours to get home on a trip that usually took 10 minutes. It happened on a Thursday and we were snowed in until Sunday.

[@francesostrowski2374]

Usually because it’s so cold it does not all melt at once obviously. They move it to open areas so hopefully when it does melt it doesn’t do as much damage.

[@doubleknots]

I remember the '96 blizzard very well. I was 10 years old and the snow was up to my waist! Some of the piles made by snow plows were around a full story tall. It was well into spring before those piles melted.

[@Xfactor444-x4n]

I remember 96 in maryland and 78 in maryland. I was in 3rd grade on 78 and we were out of school for at least a week. It felt like 2 weeks. That was fun. We were outside all day having snowball fights and sledding down the hills. 96 had my shoveling and had my job coming to get me to come to work because i was an essential worker. I'll never forget 78 though from a childs perspective it was great.

[@nicholasreeder3676]

I live in an area that gets lots of snow. We have a giant lake to the north, a big river, and many smaller lakes and ponds. It is common to drop much of the snow in those bodies of water. I remember several of these storms.

[@lindagosnell6985]

I was working for a large insurance company in 1978 during those blizzards and they were no joke. I was alive for all but three of these, but I mainly remember 1978. Crazy stuff! 😶‍🌫️🥶💨❄️😱

[@hortagent5687]

The moisture comes from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic with its warmer Gulf Stream providing lots of moisture. It's often rain in the south but when all that moisture hits the cold air in the north it turns into heavy snow. As a Northeast resident I have experienced many of the storms from the 60s on that affected this region. The late 70s had severe winters but also the winters of 94-95 and 96-97, one of those years which recorded 18 Nor'easters in the New York Metro area one after another. Snow was on the ground into early April. One of the cardinal rules if you are trapped on the road in a snow storm is to periodically clear snow from the exhaust so you don't succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning. The other is to always keep some candy bars or other high energy food in your car as well as extra blankets, boots a snow shovel and anything else you might need to hunker down and wait for help. You are usually better off staying in your car rather than Taking a chance and walking in a blizzard. I avoid it all by staying home when a major snow storm is expected. 😁

[@FJA---]

I was living in Lincoln, NE, basically the center of the city when the 1991 Halloween Storm hit. First there was the ice that accumulated up to an inch then the snow came on top of that. We got about 12"+- in my area. You could hearth trees breaking all around us from the ice, snow and wind. Then the power went out as the breaking trees tore down the wires. It ripped the connectors right out of the side of my house. We were without power for 10 days as there was so much tree damage that they couldn't get them cut down and removed to replace the wires and a couple of poles. We kept the faucets running and the only heat was from the fireplace. Couldn't use the stove as heat since it was electric. We were just about to give up and go to a hotel when the power came back on. Was also there for the October Surprise in 1997 That one was more destructive than the 1991 storm.

[@TimTakesNotes]

So true. Been shoveling snow all day today. Every time I think I'm done everything is covered again. Not a blizzard buy lots of snow in Chicago today.

[@francesostrowski2374]

Luckily I don’t have to go out so got groceries delivered today and just going to wait it out.

[@lennybuttz2162]

I lived in Wisconsin most of my life, I also lived in Sault St. Marie Michigan where it snowed every day for 6 months. I've seen blizzards where we got more than 12 inches of snow with high winds but none of these blizzards were horrifying. I'm not a moron that goes out in a Blizzard, I stay in the house. It's kind of cool to see and it's kind of amazing when you wake up the next day and see the 3 to 5 foot drifts. Yes, it's really hard work shoveling snow especially when it's a heavy damp snow and some people have heart attacks while they're over exerting themselves.

[@caseyflorida]

I lived in New Hampshire many years ago and we got a Nor'Easter that dropped 36 inches of snow in my city.

[@thewitchiebunny]

re: the great blizzard of 1996 - I was 12 when this hit Philadelphia, where I lived. The snow was almost as high as I was, and we walked from my Aunts where I was staying to my great-grandparents to help them shovel so that they wouldn't hurt themselves doing so. It was *intense*. As for the Blizzard of 93..I will remember that storm until the day I die. It was an insane storm.

[@quinn-tessential3232]

3:24 - You're just seeing the clouds moving. The satellite image won't tell you whether it's raining or snowing. In Mexico and Florida, it'll be rain 99.9% of the time. I'm a Chicago area native and was alive for the 1967 blizzard, but too young to remember it. The worst blizzard I do remember didn't make his list. It was 20 inches that fell in January 1979 on top of around a foot of snow that was already on the ground. Shut most everything down for a week. Only silver lining was that this storm hit on a weekend, so not many people got trapped in it.

[@uwbadger79]

I remember the blizzard of 2012 in Chicago. Took me 2 hrs to get home that usually took 15-20 min. People who left later had to abandon their cars. Our street was impassible.

[@JIMBEARRI]

Yes, it does snow in Mexico at times, but the snow is usually in the mountainous regions over 10,000 feet above sea level. The same thing occasionally happens in Hawaii where some of the mountains are over two miles high.

[@ESUSAMEX]

I also lived through the 1993 storm when I was at college. There were 10 inches of ice on my street in front of the dorm.

[@steventambon2588]

The Blizzard of 96 is one that is constantly brought up when people are talking about snow fall.. "this is nothing like the blizzard of 96, we will be fine" etc The igloos that we were able to build were amazing and at times our parents had no idea where we were when we would be walking outside because the depth of the snow

[@Rose-From-the-Dead]

Up here in ski resort land in Colorado we've had storms that dropped up to 6 feet of snow on the mountains in 3 days and it can get -40° here. That's where F and C are the same

[@bob_._.]

I got caught out in the Great Blizzard of 1978. I was 15 miles from home, it took five days to get a back home and about a month to get my car back. Snow piles from clearing roads and parking lots were so large it didn't all melt away until late May/early June. The annual Ohio State - Michigan football game in 1950 was actually played during the Great Appalachian Storm. Only 50,000 of the expected 80,000 fans showed up at Ohio Stadium.

[@Brendo2186]

I live in Buffalo, NY, and we get a lot of snow. (I've had two already this winter where i got multiple feet of snow), but every few years, we get these monster lake effect blizzards. The most snow I've got from one storm was just over 6 feet.

[@ravenm6443]

If you’re curious about post winter flooding after something like this, check out the North Dakota floods of 1997. There seemingly a documentary on YT about it, I haven’t seen it but I’m gonna watch it now that I know about it. There’s also the North Dakota floods of 2009. After 1997, the Fargo city mayor made it a point to drive south along the red river into South Dakota a measure snow fall along the way. He did this every year up until he passed away. The red river is one of the few rivers that flows north so he’d drive south to see how much snow melt we could possibly see coming north so we could prepare for major flooding ahead of time rather than scrambling to do it. It was a devastating flood. I’ll never forget some of the news clips from back then, like one where news were walking through the University of North Dakota in waste high water. Or people crying from the devastation. We are hardy people. We did what we needed to do and rolled up our sleeves. That flood changed us. Come 2009, no one batted an eye. We just rolled our sleeves up. No one complained. I’m sure there was some crying but it felt different from 97. It was sadness but not really any shock. We’re just use to craziness like this. ND and MN are working on a flood diversion project. It’s been pretty contentious since 2009/10 when discussions started to come up. It’s still controversial, because not everyone wins in terms of protection. But the 1997 flood I remember vividly! We had a significant blizzard that year that shut down our school for nearly 11 days or something. Our school usually ends in may, but we had to go to school into June that year. We didn’t have electricity for a few days. Most of my family went to another family members house where they blocked off most of the rooms with blankets and put plastic window covers over windows to keep draft out. She had an oil lamp from my grandma, so she read books to all of us, like little house on the prairie. My cousin and I slept head to foot on the couch and others slept on the floor. I think my uncle made hot chocolate on the grill. I don’t remember what we ate though. When the power was being restored, it started out with 2 hrs on and like 4 hrs off before it was completely restored. That’s the worst blizzard I’ve ever been in. My bf and I have considered getting the Biggest Blanket or whatever thats called. It’s a 12ft x 12ft blanket. I told him if we ever end up in a situation like the 1996/97 blizzard, that blanket would probably save our lives.

[@karladoesstuff]

Some people in Florida who had pet iguanas turned them loose and they multiplied. They like to climb trees, but when it gets cold they go sort of catatonic and fall out of the trees, so a cold snap in Florida comes with warnings to watch for falling iguanas.

[@patriciafeehan7732]

1888 was unbelievable. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote in her journal about the blizzard conditions.

[@KeeperoftheChronicles]

I was in college in Frostburg, MD during the blizzard of 93. It hit during finals week. Canceled graduation for that semester. It was wild.

[@ronsontag6841]

Milwaukee Wisconsin (90 miles north of Chicago ,Ill) received over 17 inches on that 2011 groundhog day blizzard,but the winter of 78-79 was much worse with more snow and brutal cold

[@dabearsfan4life]

My grandpa was working in Snow Command for the city of Chicago during the 1967 Blizzard. He worked for 36 consecutive hours, sleeping on a cot in his office.

[@rhondapease8516]

@@dabearsfan4life I was in high school during this blizzard. It snowed for days and so many vehicles got stuck on roads and made snow removal very difficult. My baby nephew was snow bound at our house. We were using dish towels for diapers. Eventually his dad was able to bring us supplies for his baby son via a snow mobile. When the roads were safe, my nephew went home.

[@christophermastrocola3048]

Central NY, born in1980. I have a lot of memories from several of the entries in the video. Great video!

[@labhrais6957]

I'm from Indiana, and my mom talks about the winter of 78. She was a teen and I guess the snow was as high as Stop signs in some places. Wild

[@markmorningstar5374]

During the Blizzard of 1979 (Jan-Feb) I was in Southern Vermont and for 12 days straight the HIGH temperature for the day never got above -18 F (-28 C) and several of those days were colder. The lows dropped below our indoor/outdoor thermometer of -30 F and was recorded as low as -40 F (-40 C). With the wind chill factor of -60 F (-51 C) you had to cover up all exposed skin or it would freeze within less than 1 minute! We had no garage for our car, and it wouldn't start because the oil in the engine was like glue, it wouldn't even turn over! The worst Winter weather I had ever seen!

[@ESUSAMEX]

I remember the 1978 blizzard and the 1996 one as well. I grew up in NY and lived there until the Autumn of 2019.

[@Ginoulmer]

We just had 16 inches of snow this weekend in Montana where I live and then high winds this week that caused snow drifts several feet high. I was temporarily stuck this morning but was able to get myself out. I personally love the big snow storms because I can now get out the snowmobiles and pull my kids around on an old car hood we welded handles on. It's the most fun you can have with your kids. About 12 years ago or so when I lived in Montana's largest city of Billings we broke our all time record for snowfall throughout the winter with 114 inches. I had walls of snow around my driveway 7 feet high and several feet wide and the snow was 2 to 3 feet above my deck from shoveling it off into the yard.

[@uyuruciaq3815]

I'm from Alaska and blizzard season is here

[@Shrubbypluto]

I might have been one years old but I remember the blizzard of 96 such fun snow hills

[@williamshepherd1531]

I was born and raised on a dairy farm. Which my brother runs now. . I live in North and South Florida. I've been through so many hurricanes. I can't remember I'll. BUT. I remember every blizzard I was in. A hurricane. Is an annoyance that could kill you. A blizzard kidnap you. Then kills you. William s

[@JHamilton791]

Good timing as I'm stuck at home (comfortably) in Atlanta as we experienced our first significant snowfall in 7 years today!

[@jimmyboredom3519]

The moisture and rain comes from the south. The cold air comes from the north. When they mix together you get snow. As far as the map you were seeing in the beginning. Other things happen in other places to get those conditions also.

[@wolfbunches2299]

I was only 4 years old during the storm of '93, but remember it well. That was scary.

[@Ojisan642]

Life before satellite based weather forecasting, you could just get hit by these with zero warning. Crazy! I lived through one of these. The 1996 one was memorable because there was like 3 feet of snow on the sidewalks in NJ and yet a friend from college chose to walk like 2 miles to our apartment rather than be stuck at home with his parents. 😂 Good times.

[@williambranch4283]

I have been in several storms. Usually in-town not cross-country. The storms while traveling cross-country are scary.

[@KarynHill]

What comes up from Mexico is rain. That band of rain hits a cold front coming down from Canada and that rain becomes snow. Here in Virginia, we got rain instead of snow for that 2011 storm and didn't get the cold air until after the precipitation passed us. Most of the time, that's what happens to Virginia-we'll be below freezing, a system will move up from the gulf and warm us up and dump rain on us while the cold front turns that precipitation to snow north and west of us. In areas where the snow melts gradually, you'll have a really soggy spring with a small amount of flooding here and there. In areas where it melts quickly, then they can get some serious flooding. I lived in North Carolina during the 1993 storm and it was possibly the worst storm I've experienced. The only way anyone got out that first week was in National Guard Humvees. It was made worse by us being partway up a mountain so under the snow there was a layer of ice. It's possible there were worse ones when I was a kid but no matter the strength of the storm, all we cared about was getting the shoveling done and either playing in the snow in the yard or going across the street to skate on the lake.

[@Newbie0168]

I was in the blizzard of 78 as a kid. I was in Boston at the time. After the storm was over, every car was completely buried under drifts of snow so hi i could roll out my second floor window into the snow. Ive lived in new England most of my life, ive seen lots of crazy and random storms.

[@MagickSprite]

Due to the 1978 blizzards in northern Illinois, I was 7 and my Mom and I got into a bad car accident due to all of the snow. We came up to a T intersection, and because the snow drifts were piled over 10' high on the sides of the roads, she had to pull forward into the intersection a bit to see if there was any traffic. There was, and a pickup truck slammed into the side of our car. I was in the front seat (they didn't have the law at the time that children had to ride in the back) and I hit my head on the steering column with my Mom's keys cut my scalp open. I remember coming to with my Mom begging me to wake up. The people whose front yard we ended up in said we were the 5th car that winter in their yard due to accidents. Mom needed 3 stiches in her scalp where she hit the driver's side window and I needed 5, and I also had a very bad concussion. Mom's hair started turning white the next day, even though she was only 37. The city has since put a stop light at that intersection. Also, all across towns roofs were caving in due to weight of all of the snow.

[@astrodoops]

Also, first car crash I was a passenger as kid was driving back from my family from old NY Yankees stadium in a snow storm-we were rear ended by a cascading crash that ended with up getting rear ended by a truck. A real truck. I live in Miami now so that isn’t a thing.

[@douglascampbell9809]

Over Mexico the clouds pick up moisture. Down there it would be warm enough for it to fall as rain. As it moves north the system slams onto cold air coming down from Canada so the rain changes to sleet then snow. Super dangerous because under the snow is a layer of solid ice on roads. I've liked in Wisconsin and Minnesota all my life and remember the storms going all the way back to the 70's.

[@petertaylor5035]

I remember 77 & 78 was a really bad winter in North Jersey, I seem to recall most major snow storms would occur in March

[@George-ux6zz]

Buffalo NY has lake effect snows that produced 7 feet of snow in one day in the past.

[@ESUSAMEX]

When these storms start over Mexico, Florida or other southern states, they bring a ton of rain until they run into very cold air in the northern US.

[@ralpholson7616]

During the blizzard of 78 the Massachusetts State Police called for snowmobile owners to go out on the highway and check cars for stranded commuters.

[@Steve-hq4fm]

Yep, heart attacks from shoveling happen every year, usually right in your own driveway!!

[@George-ux6zz]

We had temperatures as low as 15°F in Tampa Florida. No snow but it was freezing.

[@mikeorclem]

thanks lav...the gulf of mexico supplies the moisture and it hits the frigid temps frrom canada...a lot of snow.

[@license2kilttheplaidlad640]

My grandfather died of a heart attack shoveling the driveway xmas 62

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

Usually, when you look at the radar & the storm goes down into Florida, it’s not snowing there. The snow occurs when those storms go farther north, where temps are freezing cold. It has gotten cold in Florida & it’s even snowed, but it’s very rare.

[@waltgriffith5638]

thats why they say wait 1-2 hours after you wake up before you shovel snow because your body isn't fully awake and puts to much pressure on your body. you use at least 25% of your energy just to wake up

[@johndunkelburg9495]

The moisture is what you’re seeing in the satellite images. What you don’t see are the intensely cold, dry masses of air coming down out of the Canadian Great Plains on the other side of the warm, wet weather systems coming out of the Bahamas and the Gulf of Mexico. These impacting systems drive the intense weather of the Midwest and eastern United States (blizzards, tornadoes, derechos, and thunderstorms for instance).

[@waltgriffith5638]

@Lav Luka the cold air comes from the north but the moisture comes from the pacific or gulf of mexico

[@kimireneanderson9645]

I'm a Baby Boomer from Philadephia and lived through some of these storm. I'd forgotten some of them even happened. Anyway, thanks for your reaction.

[@HistoryNerd808]

If you want to know more about the Blizzard of '93/Storm of the Century, Weatherbox has a great meteorological breakdown of that storm. I wasn't born for another 3 years but it's one of those storms that every Southerner alive at that time remembers and as my roots are in the South, it's definitely one I've heard about.

[@alb91878]

That storm of 1993 was in march. I was living in Tennessee at the time and I think everything shut down for about 2 weeks. At least the schools did that was so much fun as a child but to know now everything that took place back then from the adult perspective is very sad and scary!

[@opalviking]

The problem in metropolitan areas is where do you put all the snow that’s been plowed? In the Great Lakes, in the Atlantic, Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, etc. it’s such a huge undertaking. Those State governments are well oiled machines when blizzards are predicted. My brother drives one of the plows for the state. There’s so many moving parts in a weather emergency like these

[@thomasjoyce7870]

No, in the first satellite image of a moving storm that you show, the snow is not falling over Mexico. What you are seeing is atmospheric moisture moving northward. Eventually it hits colder atmospheric temperatures as it moves into higher latitudes and only then turns into snow. Snow - even HEAVY snow - does not by itself a blizzard make. It is the combination of heavy snow plus heavy winds which create a blizzard.

[@JPMadden]

For most snowstorms, snow totals are likely to higher inland, away from the warmer ocean and at higher elevations. But nor'easters often drop the most snow along the coast, where they can draw moisture from the sea, like hurricanes. Unfortunately, that's where all the big cities in the northeastern U.S. are located. Older folks here in Rhode Island still talk about the "Blizzard of 1978," when I was 8 years old. The primitive weather-forecasting computers of the time predicted light snow during the early afternoon of a weekday. So, there was no thought of cancelling schools or issuing a travel advisory. Instead, 24-56 inches (61-142 cm) fell during 36 hours of high winds which caused zero-visibility and enormous snow drifts. Tens of thousands of adults and children spent the night wherever they were--workplaces, schools, shops, and other public venues lacking food and beds. Thousands of people abandoned their rear-wheel drive cars, useless in heavy snow, and walked to shelter--a church, a fire station, even the home of a stranger. Travel was impossible for days. The military had to fly in equipment to clear the roads.

[@deanbarcelona1427]

I worked outside on cables during the blizzard of 1982 in Iowa never when above freezing for 35 days.

[@deanbarcelona1427]

I was in grade school in 67 Chicago

[@Kenneth_James]

No, it doesn't come from Mexico. 1996 storm in NJ was nuts bro! I was 11. We got 32 inches. The 2nd highest since 34 inches in 1899. I built a snow cave in the snow bank from the plows and snow drift. It was epic.

[@lindaabbott7120]

Hi from Minnesota, I'm very use to blizzards, regular and ground blizzards, they're nice if you don't need to go out, sucks if you do. The blizzard of 1991 was fun, we got 36 inches of snow in 3 days

[@countertenor5890]

I remember snow in Florida in 77.

[@richardmartin9565]

Blizzards are horrifying, just a pain in the butt. Bluzzard of 78 in Cambridge Massachusetts was a blast. The bars were packed.

[@seagantaylor7470]

Yeah I had no idea about shoveling snow causing heart attacks. I live in the US, so I should have heard of it and yet I’d never heard of it before

[@LyleH45]

Shoveling snow that is multiple inches thick actually can get heavy. Think more along the lines of shoveling thick mud in terms of weight on the end of your shovel. It can absolutely be one hell of a cardio workout.