It took big Caterpillar loaders to clear a path through the eight foot drifts. Snowplows were a joke. Some people waited 10 days before they could leave their house. 
The Feb 1978, blizzard in New England was one for the record books. I visited a couple of weeks after and there were still mountains of snow, 15 feet high, on the Common in Boston. We have become a nation of wimps. But it is what people vote for because they have been indoctrinated by the Big wimps to believe they need to be dependent. Pray for our once great country.
I survived the blizzard in Buffalo which began on jan 28, 1977. 15 below zero, 100 mile an hour winds and 24 inches of snow on top of the 42 already on the ground. Worked 5 miles from home, took 3 days to get there, Wimps here in Louisville closed the schools with a half inch of snow and 2 below zero.
On February 12, snow started falling from Fort Myers and Tampa in Florida west towards New Orleans. Blizzard conditions were reported north of Tampa along the west coast of Florida due to ocean-effect snow.
The storm crossed the Florida peninsula and intensified as it rapidly moved up the Eastern United States. High Point, North Carolina, recorded 10-12" (25–30 cm) of snow, and temperatures as low as 10 °F (−12 °C) on the 11th, 5 °F (−15 °C) on the 13th, and 3 °F (−16 °C) on the 14th. It was said to be the coldest weather known to the oldest inhabitants. Washington, D.C., recorded its all-time record single snowfall of 20.5 inches (52 cm), though it was later broken.
Cape May, New Jersey, recorded 34 inches (86 cm), which is the highest single storm snowfall total ever in New Jersey, in what is normally the least-snowy part of the state.
The port of New Orleans was completely iced over by February 13, with ice floes reportedly floating out of the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. On February 14 the city experienced its coldest ever Mardi Gras reading of 7 °F (−14 °C). The Krewe of Rex Parade was delayed while snow was removed from the route.
Also on February 14, the low temperature in Miami was 29 °F (−2 °C), the second-coldest (and the first sub-30) temperature that the city has ever recorded.
It took big Caterpillar loaders to clear a path through the eight foot drifts. Snowplows were a joke. Some people waited 10 days before they could leave their house.
Now, THAT was a blizzard! We were snowed in for a couple of days, and then I had to travel toward Dayton, but could only get on the wrong side of the divided highway (US 35). Traveled nearly 15 miles before I ever saw another vehicle. It was an unbelievable storm.
Being bombarded 24/7 by TWC and other “news” networks by dire predictions and hyping/exaggerating the effects of weather events creates a false perception of reality. Often, the scaremongering results in the populace becoming nearly paralyzed with fear.
I remember that storm in 1978 well. Had a VW Rabbit, diesel and the fuel tank froze solid.
Chicago Winters of 1978, 1979 and others
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Chicago+Blizzard+of+1979&FORM=RESTAB
Look back at Chicago's worst three blizzards
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/01/31/a-look-back-at-3-of-chicagos-worst-blizzards/
Chicago Blizzard of 2011
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2011/02/the-cars-of-the-chicago-blizzard-of-2011.html
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=chicago+blizzard+of+2011&qpvt=chicago+blizzard+of+2011&FORM=IGRE
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=chicago+blizzard+of+2011+lake+shore+drive&qpvt=chicago+blizzard+of+2011+lake+shore+drive&FORM=IGRE
The coldest days in Chicago
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/12/10/the-coldest-days-ever-in-chicago/
Chicago Snow Facts
http://www.snowpusher.com/chicago-snow-facts
Winter of 1978-79 was particularly brutal, almost 90” of snow.... : (
I was in the middle of the blizzard of 78 and still can’t figure out what the big deal was.What I remember the most is the national guard “snotty nose kids” were running around pissing people off 24/7 trying to tell people what to do.
Bump!
We also had a bad storm in 1977.
I don’t remember if it was 77 or 78 when the ENTIRE continental USA had cloud cover for the entire month.
Bad year in 1960. Lots of snow the entire month. Intense cold in 1962. Broke up the roads from New Mexico to Arkansas.
Then there was the March 14, 1968 storm.
Thinking back, 1957 was really bad.
Most of the people posting the comments on PJ Media are full of crap.
You can’t ‘walk’ to the store in 10-foot drifts. Snow trapped people in their homes here in Indianapolis in 78. You need serious cold-weather clothing to be outside in that type of weather for any length of time. If you get stuck in your car, you are seriously screwed.
I don’t know how much snow Ohio got this time but we got over 12” of snow with 4’ drifts on Sunday and the temperature was -11F with -40F windchills the next day. There is no way children can be out in that weather.
I remember that two days very well. I was nine months pregnant with my fourth child and spent those days with fairly regular contractions. The daughter who would become a nurse was three and a half at the time, not much good yet. Fortunately daughter number four waited a few weeks until the roads were clear.
The Blizzard of ‘78 was an inland cyclone with snow. It was incredible. The snow was coming down, if one could call it that, horizontally, with 100 mph winds and the bottom dropping out of the barometric pressure.
It was my boyfriend’s (husband’s) 20th birthday and I was supposed to go visit him. My parents said, “no.” I would never have made it.
I remember the wicked winters in Michigan during the late 70’s, the early 90’s, the early 2000’s, and 2011 before I moved out west.
The big joke was that we all wished for some of that “global warming” that was supposedly going around, but yet we never saw, unless it was in the form of white fluffy frozen water.
ICE and snow!
Lots of ICE! I was working the midnight shift at the local power plant and about 2:00 things started tripping off, lines freezing, loss of power and coal crushers. We went from 480 MW to 17 MW due to freezing coal feeders. Up-down. Up-down.
To make things worse, the big wigs at the company headquarters in another state were watching the power meters and thought we had tripped off. We had to start the igniters to keep on line till we got a coal feeders operational again.
If we had lost the plant, we would have turned into an ice palace. We fought ice for about eight days of our ten day shift. I was never so glad to see warm weather and my days off in my life!
A few years later, the power plant tripped off in a bad storm. We lost all reserve power so there was NO heat through out the plant. The supervisor had everyone out looking for broken water lines with flashlights. There was ice everywhere as lines were breaking all over the place. In some places, we had huge, dangerous icicles which we had to break down to make it safe to walk in some areas.
Survival items we were told to have in a car in Alaska back in 1968.
Blankets
Sterno 2 cans
Matches
Hard candy.
Since that time I’ve always kept these items in the car in winter, plus I add a few other food items.
I also add a PLUMBER”S candle to the batch.
I wish I still had the t-shirt.
The neat part about being a country of wimps is that we will strengthen up when we collapse.
I was 9 years old in 1978 and the only thing I remember about that snowstorm is all the fun we kids had. School closed and tons of snow to play in. Snowball fights, building snowmen and snow forts. Climbing on top of mountains of snow. Sledding all over the place. Etc. We kids were completely ignorant as to how this negatively affected the adults. As a result, I have nothing but fond memories of that snowstorm.