Ottawa Blizzard Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 I was checking some old data on the Environment canada site and found myself looking at obs from December 1979 in both Toronto and Ottawa. What a miserable month! Toronto and Ottawa both saw almost two inches of rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day after having had a 6" snowstorm on the 15th! How many people here can remember that winter? I've read there were concerns for the winter olympics that year due to lack of snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 I was checking some old data on the Environment canada site and found myself looking at obs from December 1979 in both Toronto and Ottawa. What a miserable month! Toronto and Ottawa both saw almost two inches of rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day after having had a 6" snowstorm on the 15th! How many people here can remember that winter? I've read there were concerns for the winter olympics that year due to lack of snow. I remember it well... I was pretty sure I knew what winter weather was all about as a young'n. I witnessed the New England Blizzard of '78 (still my fave event ever) We had a good sized October snow here in 1979. Windsor Locks tornado was in 1979... Winter 1979-1980 punished me for my insolence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottawa Blizzard Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 I remember it well... I was pretty sure I knew what winter weather was all about as a young'n. I witnessed the New England Blizzard of '78 (still my fave event ever) We had a good sized October snow here in 1979. Windsor Locks tornado was in 1979... Winter 1979-1980 punished me for my insolence Yes, so much for people who say that all winters back then had snow piled several feet high. They probably had flooded basements to greet Santa that Christmas Eve in southern and eastern Ontario! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxnut Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 I was living in the Niagara area of southern Ontario at the time.. (great place to be during those late 70 winters!) I remember being disappointed by all the rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.. (we hit 11C on the 24th) then for awhile, the rain starting mixing with big snowflakes on the 25th. We were all hoping it would transition to a nice heavy snowfall for a nice white Christmas, but it never did. Just changed back to rain and it was a wet, not white Christmas that year. Colder weather and a little more snow did return by February in time for the Olympics in Lake Placid (do you believe in miracles.. yes!) After those brutal late 70 winters, the winter of 79-80 was a definite change to milder weather and less snowfall. In fact, after that winter.. the winters in Niagara were never as harsh as the late 70s... the ones that all future winters would forever be compared to.. (especially '76-77!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle W Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 it was the 19th least snowiest winter out of 142 for NYC...Christmas was mild in NY...It got two snowfalls less than 4" on 12/19 and early January...February had two snowfalls that changed to rain...March had the biggest storm with a wet 5" snowfall...Temperatures were close to normal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottawa Blizzard Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 I was living in the Niagara area of southern Ontario at the time.. (great place to be during those late 70 winters!) I remember being disappointed by all the rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.. (we hit 11C on the 24th) then for awhile, the rain starting mixing with big snowflakes on the 25th. We were all hoping it would transition to a nice heavy snowfall for a nice white Christmas, but it never did. Just changed back to rain and it was a wet, not white Christmas that year. Colder weather and a little more snow did return by February in time for the Olympics in Lake Placid (do you believe in miracles.. yes!) After those brutal late 70 winters, the winter of 79-80 was a definite change to milder weather and less snowfall. In fact, after that winter.. the winters in Niagara were never as harsh as the late 70s... the ones that all future winters would forever be compared to.. (especially '76-77!) And yet the following winter was brutally cold with the coldest recorded Christmas morning. According to the data, Ottawa did briefly turn over to a period of moderate snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vortmax112 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Haha..that was the winter I was born. It kind of set things up for the dissapointment I would later have as a child in the late 80s / early 90s with lack of snow in the Boston area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAB1 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 ORF 41.9". I'll never forget it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 ORF 41.9". I'll never forget it. Yep.. That was a DC on south winter. The following winter ( 80-81 ) was the dead ratter for many from the MW/GL to i95. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poimen Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 I'll never forget it. I was living on the Outer Banks and we had two whopper snow storms/blizzards. One in mid February and then the famous March 1-2 storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjames1992 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Epicness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacoman25 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 1979-80 was a great winter in this area as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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