Remember that winter well, only a couple of snow days, otherwise I trudged getting to school, no virtual school days back then.
For those who don’t know, this is about Chicago ...
If you needed evidence of globull warming -— AJ ducks at rotten tomatoes being thrown his way.
That was the year our snow got so high I walked up onto our first story rooftop.
In the winter of 1996-1997, temperatures in Fargo ND did not get above about a -5 (or -10) for about a month. The lows were at least -20.
The weather services have issued an "Extreme Cold Warning," as if we wouldn't notice unless they told us.
I can't ever remember anyone making such a big deal of cold weather IN WINTER while I was growing up. It was just cold, and we expected this and dealt with it.
Yes. I remember that.
And then the next year was the Blizzard of ‘78. I still have papers from that one telling the stories of at least one trucker who passed away after they parked under an interstate overpass and the snow drifts blocked it enough that he died from CO poisoning.
Yep. Around southern Indiana everyone forgets 76-77 because 77-78 had the big blizzard.
but 76-77 was even colder. I remember my dad (I was maybe 12) having to crawl under the house in -temps. It was so cold our water lines and especially hot water heating system pipes would freeze-expand—rupture then leak.
He would have to re-solder or replace each joint. Happened like 2-3 times.
I’m Almost sure it’s still the coldest winter in recorded history in Indiana(average temps).
I paid my dues in cold weather regions: 4 years each in Spokane and Germany.
We had something similar here in Idaho during the “snowmageddon” winter of 2016-17. It stayed below freezing for a few weeks, and just kept snowing. My cul-de-sac had about 18” of snow piled up at one point. Our fleet of Subarus kept us moving during that time.
I remember that Winter. I was in Central Kentucky, so not quite as cold, but still very cold. I had an old wool Army blanket and a drop light with a 100W bulb. The drop light went between the engine and the radiator, and the blanket over the engine compartment, maybe doubled over. Warmed the radiator and the battery, made it so I could start the car and go to school.
Here in Delaware, the ocean froze a mile out. The back bays in southern Delaware were totally frozen so thick, you could ice skate across.
A low-pressure system, initially tracking from the Gulf of Mexico, merged with an Arctic cold front sweeping down from Canada. (what we call a "Polar Vortex" today, I guess). By January 25, this explosive combination intensified over the Ohio Valley, reaching a record-low barometric pressure of 28.28 inches (958 millibars) near Cleveland—equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane. In Ohio, the storm hit its peak overnight into January 26, unleashing a ferocious mix of heavy snow, gale-force winds, and bone-chilling cold.
The real killer was the wind. Sustained speeds of 50 to 70 mph, with gusts exceeding 100 mph in some areas (notably near Cleveland), whipped the snow into blinding drifts. In Massillon, where I lived at the time, drifts reached 10 to 15 feet high, burying cars, blocking roads, and even covering first-floor windows of homes. Visibility dropped to zero during the storm’s height, creating whiteout conditions that lasted for hours. 12 to 20 inches of snow fell across Northeast Ohio.
Earlier that month, Ohio had already endured a brutal cold snap, with temperatures dipping below -20°F statewide on January 19-20, setting the stage for the blizzard’s impact.
Having lived in the Western states mountains for a few years, I knew mountain blizzards, high winds and lots of deep snow. So I woke up on January 25 and drove to work not thinking much about the blizzard. Some of the secondary road cuts had drifts of snow, but not that bad. My work parking lot was empty which I thought was odd. I went into the building and the guard asked "What are you doing here?" I told him "I'm coming to work." He replied "You can't work today - work is closed. Didn't you hear?" Not being a radio listener or TV watcher, I didn't have a clue. So I went home and enjoyed my day off.
That was back in the old days when there were real winters. 😂😂😂👍
January 19th 1977 it snowed in Miami. I worked late at the University and I had an old mustang with no working heater. I drove home after dark with the snow hitting the windshield and no heat. I was never so glad to get home. 😏
Temperatures in Missouri for the 2-week period, February 6-19, 2021, averaged more than 20 degrees below normal with a statewide average temperature of 10.2°F.
That sucked.
It got down to -15°-ish one night. My old Gen2 5.9 Cummins turbo diesel truck stuck an injector nozzle and hydro-locked the engine about half an hour after I started it up the next morning.
The walk home while wearing office clothes was, shall we say, exhilarating...
The temperature stayed below -15°F for two weeks straight in St. Louis in the winters of ‘84 and ‘85.
I got snowed-in in Oak Brook with a dead battery and the car rental outfit said to lock the car with the keys in the glovebox and take public transportation to the airport and they’d dig it out later. Which they did, but that winter was brutal.
Most of the country will be going above normal temp-wise next week.