Remember when it snowed in Tampa Bay 42 years ago?

TampaBay.com ^ | 1/19/2019 | Gabrielle Calise

[simpson96]

Jan. 19, 1977. The day when temperatures plunged into the 30s on the Suncoast and snowflakes dusted Tampa Bay. The storm didn’t last that long, but it was enough to cement the day into our area’s history.

Some native Floridians delighted in seeing their first snowfall. Families built snowmen together. College students ran around nude and skipped class.

But not everyone was pleased to wake up to the falling flurries. Farmers’ crops were destroyed. Icy gusts of wind knocked over power lines and ripped trees out of the ground. The governor at the time, Reubin Askew, called a state of emergency.

Let’s take a trip back in time to that frigid day.

[Cincinnatus.45-70]

I was there!

[Old Grumpy]

Yes, I remember it well. On the way to work, we went sideways over the bridge at Six Mile Creek. Totally not used to driving on ice. There was still a little snow on the roof at home that afternoon (mainly due to it being in the shade).

[numberonepal]

i>I can only imagine what would happen if it snowed...

If it does, I advise you stay home. I know I will.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

Is that Prince Phillip’s car in that picture?

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

When I was in college, students only ran around nude on warm days.

[metmom]

Remember nothing but blizzards for winter 1977 Buffalo get buried under more that 30 feet of snow that year

Those were the days.

BTW, nobody really remembers much, but the next year was almost as bad with blizzards.

It was because of the widespread panic whenever the word *blizzard* was used that the NWS redefined the criteria for something qualifying as a blizzard.

[Windflier]

Yeah, I might have suggested Tampanians, or something.

Lemme see here...

Tampanites
Tampars
Tampites
Tampers
Tampanners
Tampagnes
Tampanans

Tampa's a toughie.

[blueunicorn6]

Then you’ve never enjoyed the thrill of nude snowshoeing.

Running along with the wolves trying to bite you on your bare donkey.

Getting a bad case of Snow Balls.

[caver]

A bunch of snowflakes.....

[the OlLine Rebel]

A tank of a car is exactly what you want in snow.

[caver]

Ford Fairlane = Tank ???????

[adorno]

Lemme see here...

Tampanites
Tampars
Tampites
Tampers
Tampanners
Tampagnes
Tampanans


Tampa's a toughie.



Tamps is full of Hispanic sounding names for the streets and even some areas.

Tampa itself is a Hispanic name, probably named by a Cuban.

So, my suggestion would be another Hispanic sounding name:

Tamperos or Tampañeros.

[adorno]

Lemme see here...

Tampanites
Tampars
Tampites
Tampers
Tampanners
Tampagnes
Tampanans


Tampa's a toughie.

Tamps is full of Hispanic sounding names for the streets and even some areas.

Tampa itself is a Hispanic name, probably named by a Cuban.

So, my suggestion would be another Hispanic sounding name:

Tamperos or Tampañeros.

[Mass Market]

Yes. We are actually full blooded Tampans. No Strings Attached.

Local radio made a song years ago.

[Windflier]

Tampañeros

I thought of that one, but my little tablet device doesn't have the Spanish character set, so I chose not to include it.

Thanks for adding it.

[adorno]

I thought of that one, but my little tablet device doesn't have the Spanish character set, so I chose not to include it.

Actually, I cheated in getting that Spanish character. I used Google to look up a word that I know includes the special character in Spanish, and removed the rest of the word while keeping the character I needed, then filled the rest of the word to the lest and right of the character.

I'm sure there is an easier way of getting the Spanish or any other foreign character, but I wasn't about to go looking.

[George from New England]

I guess you never thought of running on the air contests !!!

That would wreck havoc with the old relay telco swicthes.

[adorno]

BTW, the easier way of getting the Spanish n with tilde, is to click on the Windows icon (bottom left) and type ‘character map’ and look for the character and copy/paste it.

[Carry me back]

I remember that winter, I think it was 76-77. Living south of Richmond Va. Water lines were busting in the ground all over. It stayed cold for so long. If we had a winter like that now, I’m not sure people could deal with it. Of course you have no choice. That was before the day of snowflakes.

[FrankR]

“I guess you never thought of running on the air contests !!!”

---

Cute! Snide, but cute.

The snow started mid day, and was ended by the next morning. The phone system was “locked up” by citizens calling each other, before we even pointed it out.

Having on-air contests takes some “set up”, there has to be a “prize” of some sort, and time for as many as possible to enter, and play.

We were a small station, limited budget, but, the only one in town.

Actually, during my tenure there, we ran hundreds of contests, all well-organized, and commercially successful.

My point was the limited capacity of local telephone systems during that era. It was NOT ATT or BellSouth.

I thought it would be a humorous anecdote, but you seem to want to make it a critique on radio station management.

But, there’ petty people all over these days.