Ginx snewx Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Take the time to read this technical report http://www.weatheranswer.com/public/blizzard1978.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Foster RI coop had 4.5 W/ E , sick That's one of the areas where 40"+ totals would be believable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Westerly RI had 6.35" LE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Was it middle of the road ratio stuff? I know the wind really drove it everywhere, but I recall it being pretty heavy- of course, being 10, everything was heavy...lol I need to research the 2005 storm. Any good overviews? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Was it middle of the road ratio stuff? I know the wind really drove it everywhere, but I recall it being pretty heavy- of course, being 10, everything was heavy...lol I need to research the 2005 storm. Any good overviews? From what I understand, in the BOS area and south....esp SE of I-95 it became more of a wet snow as NE winds brought in milder temps....still cold enough though. That may have helped that area like Foxboro and into Nrn RI regarding any CF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Don't forget too some areas still had piles from ye 20" bomb 2 weeks prior. Although snowpack may have been lost in coastal areas those piles remained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Don't forget too some areas still had piles from ye 20" bomb 2 weeks prior. Although snowpack may have been lost in coastal areas those piles remained. We def still had snow on the ground from the Jan storm, but I have no idea how much. The reason I remember that is because the morning of the Blizzard, we were "sledding" - using cardboard, etc, down a hill in my school playground. It was an icy, hardpack, but was def still there. Then the first flakes started (prob around 9AM), school was quickly closed and we went home. Can't recall how we got home since we walked normally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 We def still had snow on the ground from the Jan storm, but I have no idea how much. The reason I remember that is because the morning of the Blizzard, we were "sledding" - using cardboard, etc, down a hill in my school playground. It was an icy, hardpack, but was def still there. Then the first flakes started (prob around 9AM), school was quickly closed and we went home. Can't recall how we got home since we walked normally. My mother has a pretty crazy story. I know I told it before, but she basically got off 128 when all the trucks were jackknifing and spent two hours lost, trying to make her way home with no visibilty. She decided to pull over having no idea where she was...knocked on somebody's door and asked what town she was in...lol. Luckily she was 5 min away from our house in Brockton at the time. The family who answered the door allowed her to call my Dad and let her know she was ok. No cell phones then. My Dad thought they had a good 3' at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scituate44 Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 I'm to young to have been around for this storm, but the stories however never get old! My father was just starting out on the Scituate Police and to hear some of the tales of the coastal flooding that occurred just leave me saying WOW! As far as snow amounts the blizzard of 2005 i guess would be the closest thing I have experienced in my lifetime thus far, or maybe 2003 not sure. I lived just across the street from the ocean in Scituate in 1978 and still live there. The storm was wild. I'll never forget the sound of the wind as the storm was starting to ramp up. I'll never forget it. The only other time I heard wind like that was during Hurricane Carol in 1954. I rode out the hurricane on my uncles boat on the South coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbc360 Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 11 years old and living in Killingly, no school for a week, I have no clue what we "officially" got, for a kid who couldn't stand to be indoors it was fantastic. I vividly remember feeling sorry for the National Guard operators on the pay loaders with no cabs thinking they had to be frozen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Foxboro Company parking lot on Mechanic Street in Foxboro was used as a snow dump. Snowpiles were still there in June Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 More fables Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Don't forget too some areas still had piles from ye 20" bomb 2 weeks prior. Although snowpack may have been lost in coastal areas those piles remained.As much as you bust my chops. I remember asking my Dad during the Jan storm, we had 18-20, if this was the worst storm he had ever seen, he said nope very sharply. After 78 he said to me, this storm was twice as bad as Jan and the worst of my life and I was in Germany in 1944 during the worst blizzard they ever had. I know you know the stories well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 11 years old and living in Killingly, no school for a week, I have no clue what we "officially" got, for a kid who couldn't stand to be indoors it was fantastic. I vividly remember feeling sorry for the National Guard operators on the pay loaders with no cabs thinking they had to be frozen.Based on the COOP report from Foster which I know is not very far from you, you got smoked. 35-45 is my guess. Hoping we can repeat that someday, I can only imagine what the back roads around here would be like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapturedNature Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Since a lot of folks focus on the snowfall, imagine the totals if they were sweep and measure every 6 hours like some folks do today. You'd easily have 50" totals. It wasn't too big of a deal in north central CT but I know that just east of here it got bad pretty fast. I think I measured 17". The wind was pretty strong too but I don't remember insane drifts here but I know the stories. I also remember my folks buying us T-Shirts that said "I survived the Blizzard of '78". CPTV did a program on its impact in CT...maybe they or other broadcasters will re-air storm related programs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan76 Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 LOL @ Weather map we've come a long way.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Since a lot of folks focus on the snowfall, imagine the totals if they were sweep and measure every 6 hours like some folks do today. You'd easily have 50" totals. It wasn't too big of a deal in north central CT but I know that just east of here it got bad pretty fast. I think I measured 17". The wind was pretty strong too but I don't remember insane drifts here but I know the stories. I also remember my folks buying us T-Shirts that said "I survived the Blizzard of '78". CPTV did a program on its impact in CT...maybe they or other broadcasters will re-air storm related programs? It's on you tube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavisStraight Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 The more I read about the more I feel I was lucky to have been in the meaty part of the storm, we had the 15-20' drifts, offical records say 28" but not sure how accurate that is. I remember it was 20 degrees the whole storm, I watched the snow from my living room under the street light, it was snowing sideways from daylight til I went to bed at about midnight. The next day after it stopped it started up again when we got caught in one of those bands that were spinning as the storm moved away, that dropped a decent amount on top of all the other snow. Dave made a good point about those other storms closing roads/schools for two days, it was a week in my town too, I just got my license that year and after a few days I thought I would start exploring, I didnt make it to the end of my street, luckily my neighbor had a 4 X 4 and pulled me out, I parked the car and left it there a few more days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codfishsnowman Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 If there is anyone on the board who was in the springfield area or even northampton area for the 78 storm i would really like to hear an account of what went on here. i have been looking on the internet but the information i have found is vague and everything focuses on the harder hit eastern half of the state. i know this area was def a minimum and i think had even less snow than bdl and certainly hartford thanks in advance to anyone in the area who has an accurate recollection. how much snow on the level, totals on the ground, peak rates, was there any thundersnow etc would all be helpful. i am pretty certain it was windy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 I think the official high amount is 39"? A couple coops reported that, but can't remember. I think one of them was Woonsocket, RI. Actually, Will, a co-op observer in Norton had 39"! He recently became a coop, and works in the RFC. Has taken OBS at his home since 1976. BTW, got two TV stations (Channels 4 and 25) coming in this week to film info for the anniversary of '78. Not sure about Ch. 4 now, though, with possible snow on Mon night/Tue...we'll see. He will be a part of the videotaping, showing his official B-91 form for February 1978. We'll see how that goes. --Turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 I'd have to imagine there was still snow depth after the Cleveland bomb...ORH had a snow depth of 11" still after that cutter, so even BDL had to have had a cement glacier. The piles and large snow banks made it difficult though to deal with the Feb '78 storm. We did lose quite a bit of snow, but large snowbanks and what was left on the level after the OH valley Bliz of '78 (CLE bomb) likely didn't help with the clearing of the snow from our Bliz of '78. It also didn't help that the snow was falling 2-4"/hour!!! Hope you like the show (see CT Blizz's first post)!!! --Turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 That sounds like a drift measurement lol Yes, Ryan, it was. When I put this show together, I wanted to show the difficulty of measuring that snow. My colleague in the RFC said that exactly, with all the wind. It was EXTREMELY difficult to measure and had all kinds of huge drifts. It was ironic that the two higher amounts (55 and 54 inches) were in N RI, where the bullseye was. --Turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 I think the official highest total was in Ipswich Mass. 43.7 http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ussc/USSCAppController?action=extremes&state=19 Good find, Steve! Something new to add to the show!!!! --Turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Happy Blizzard of '78 anniversary!! Chronicle on Channel 5 had their anniversary show on last night with Harvey Leonard. And, (ahem...) FOX 25 had their 5 minute segment on about the anniversary, which included footage from NWS BOX included talking about then vs. now. They did a good job. Channel 4 also came to BOX to film a segment for the anniversary, but I don't see it on their website (though it's tough to find there). Joe Joyce came out to film it. FOX 25 has the video on their site, but I don't know how to use their embed to bring that video over (sorry)...maybe one of you savvy folks here could do it? Or, if you're watching the Fox Morning news, it'll be on again (and again...and again) from 5 AM to 10 AM. Let me know what you think! --Turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJonesWX Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Happy Blizzard of '78 anniversary!! Chronicle on Channel 5 had their anniversary show on last night with Harvey Leonard. And, (ahem...) FOX 25 had their 5 minute segment on about the anniversary, which included footage from NWS BOX included talking about then vs. now. They did a good job. Channel 4 also came to BOX to film a segment for the anniversary, but I don't see it on their website (though it's tough to find there). Joe Joyce came out to film it. FOX 25 has the video on their site, but I don't know how to use their embed to bring that video over (sorry)...maybe one of you savvy folks here could do it? Or, if you're watching the Fox Morning news, it'll be on again (and again...and again) from 5 AM to 10 AM. Let me know what you think! --Turtle i saw it last night, and thought it was very well done. nice job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 i saw it last night, and thought it was very well done. nice job! TY!! Get ready for a new one??!??! --Turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I think the official highest total was in Ipswich Mass. 43.7 http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ussc/USSCAppController?action=extremes&state=19 With the anniversary coming up again, and another storm right around it, I decided to hunt down the actual cooperative observer form from Ipswich. GOT IT!!! Direct from NCDC!!! Oh, and there's another high snow report. One of my colleagues that works here from Norton is now a co-op observer. He's kept records at his place since 1976! His Blizzard of 1978 snow total??? 39.0"!! Will be updating my show to reflect this!! --Turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baroclinic Zone Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 ^^^ Makes me feel comfortable about the ~4' in Foxboro area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 ^^^ Makes me feel comfortable about the ~4' in Foxboro area. 4 feet was possible in that for several areas, including FoxboroI would also imagine that modern measurements would inflate amounts Again, our entire driveway and front yard had snow as high as a VW Microbus. Some drifting to be sure but man oh man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 ^^^ Makes me feel comfortable about the ~4' in Foxboro area. 4 feet was possible in that for several areas, including Foxboro I would also imagine that modern measurements would inflate amounts Again, our entire driveway and front yard had snow as high as a VW Microbus. Some drifting to be sure but man oh man It's amazing how much snow there was measured somewhat accurately considering the strong winds. Oh, and my colleague from Norton said on his co-op form that, if he had measured every 6 hours (as they are usually supposed to do), he would have had 40 inches or a bit more! Looking back at last year's blizzard with the higher amounts, IMHO, we would have seen higher amounts back in '78 with the way we measure snow now. Working on a comparison between '78 and '13 now for a poster, and it'll be interesting to see the similarities and differences. --Turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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