I remember walking to a store in 78, now it was only a city block. But I remember it kind of being cool! No traffic, no sound really. It was cold, but the wind had died down by then.
The silence was the most amazing thing about the blizzard of 78. There was no noise. Zero noise.
No cars could drive for a week. People were just cross country skiing up and down the roads. And it was totally quiet in the city. And the snow was higher than the street signs. Not unusual for North Dakota maybe but very unusual for the rest of the country.
The wind didn’t stop blowing here until today. There is literally no place for the kids to even walk right now but in the street and that is literally a sheet of ice.
The ambient air is never really the problem. That 40-50 mph wind gets under your clothes and just numbs and burns you up. We had 3 cardiac deaths plowing and 1 exposure death so far. There have also been several fires.