Blizzard of 1967
January 26th, 2013 at 1:15 am by Bill Steffen under Bill's Blog, Weather
<–abandoned cars and buses on Lake Shore Drive in downtown Chicago. I was in high school (New Trier East) and living in Wilmette, Illinois during the blizzard of ’67. The storm hit on Jan. 26, 1967. Outside of the snow, my best memory is some kid driving around the high school in the blizzard with his convertible top down and everyone pelting him with snowballs until the car was full of snow. A week before the storm, the temperature fell to -8 in Chicago. Then, two days before the big snow, the temperature hit 65. At 9 PM on 1/24, it was still 60 degrees at 9 pm and we were under a severe t-storm watch! I remember I was at a meeting of the St. Joseph teen club (I remember that meeting well for two reasons. The first was the heavy thunderstorm with strong winds – just like a summer storm – that came thru while we were meeting) and I wanted to be outside watching the storm come through. Winds hit 48 mph at Midway Airport, funnel clouds were sighted and one person was killed (four injured) when winds blew down a wall at a construction site. I remember measuring 29″ of new snow in Wilmette (a little boost from Lake Michigan) along with 6-foot drifts. An estimated 50,000 cars and 1100 buses were abandoned in the storm. A total of 273 people were arrested for looting on the south and near-west sides of the city. Officially, Chicago had 23″ of snow in 29 hours. Here’s home movies after the storm, and more video. That storm also hit West Michigan with very heavy snow, severe drifting and of course, lots of school closings. This thread has been advanced forward from last year. Comments in 2013 start with #85.
Bill Blizzard of 67 wow what a storm!!!!! Will west Michigan have a blizzard of 2012 let’s hope!!!! INDYYYY!!
Yeah right, the best West Michigan can muster is 6 inches, and that with a clipper AND lake effect
I remember it well. Morning was nice. Walked to Jr. (Middle) High School with a spring jacket. Walked home in middle of E. Main (Kalamazoo) with nary a car in sight, and having to fight for the two tracks that existed in the very deep snow. I had to shovel snow off of the roof over the front entry slab. When I finished, I just walked off of the roof. Doing summersaults into the drifts was a blast!
Could it be? Is there a remote chance that we could get a repeat of a blizzard of this magnitude, yet this Winter?
Maybe? C’mon throw me a bone here.
why do you always ask soo many questions? should bill & the bloggers pull out our magic crystal balls for you?
Fixxer: I’m done debating you! This is a weather blog, right. DUH!
Is there some rule that I have violated by asking questions?
I’m not that way, so please keep your balls to yourself!
I’m happy to be married to a woman, thank you!
Dan your in his so called spot light ! fixxer don’t like that!! U are getting more blogg attion than him!!! I learn to watch his smoke go up in the air!! INDYYY
Indy you have no idea what your talking about. If anybody does anything for attention on here its you. I just tell it the way is!
Right on INDY.
Although it may seem I have posted immediately after Skot, it is a coincidence. But Dan, You Da’ Man.
What’s that I hear?? fissster’s thunder? In January? Thunder Snow I believe its called. Uh Oh….I saw a hand go up and steal it.
Thunder Snow…Chuckle….that was funny right chair. Dont care if you was the Pope…..you be laughin’.
YES WE COULD HAVE A MAJOR BLIZZARD YET THIS WINTER SO VERRY TRUE AND I HOPE SO!!!!! INDYYY….
Because some people don’t have lives and sit around all day arguing with people and trolling the internet. Not talking about you, mind you
The worst snowstorm in Detroit history came in early April, 1886, and dumped 24.5″ from just after midnight to about 9pm. Accompanying winds caused drifts up to 12 feet high in some places.
Still can’t believe it… especially in early April!
http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=113
Hey Travis,
How about the storm of 1977? I used to live on the east side of state then.
I remember that one was a doozy of storm. I mean, major 4 lane thoroughfares were barely two tracks. I knew, because I had just started driving and I was braving that kind of weather.
The link I posted has a nice list of the biggest snowfalls (granted the article is from 2002).
Anyway, I bet you’re referring to January 1978 when 19″ fell in a day. 3rd highest ever! That must have been crazy too!
I remember the 1978 storm! It was crazy! We were snowed in for over a week. I remember my dad and our neighbor trying to open up the road with our tractor. Unbelievable!
If I’m remembering correctly, I think 1978 was the year that we only went to school 4 or 5 days out of the whole month of January.
I do not remember the blizzard of 67 although I was 5 and a half years old at the time. But I sure so remember the blizzard of 78. What a storm that was. Played the old atari games on the TV for three days straight. Loved it!!!
WOW Dan I bet hafe of the blogg was to little to remember theee storm of 1977!! I know I was 1 year old my family tells me about it !!! Pics tell a goood storm\story I see, If only our recored setting Blizzard would of been in the day light last year people really coud of got the real effects off it!!!INDYYYY
I remember the one on 77 also.. Was a Senior and we didn’t have school for over a week
I had moved here is 2001 and in 2004 we had a decent Blizzard. I remember watching the snow fall sideways. There times, I couldn’t even see my neighbor’s house. The house was about 100 yards away for so!
It was really something to watch!
We are seriously over due again. When bloggers call 4-6 inches a storm, its time for a reality check.
Greatest 24 hour snowfalls in GR history:
1978: 16.1″
2011: 16.0″
2000: 15.1″
I find it very odd that Detroit’s 24-hour record is 24.5″ of snow even though GR gets around double every year. In fact, Detroit’s next highest is also higher: 19.3″ on Dec 2, 1974.
Maybe something with record keeping and a bigger city.
Nah, just synoptic storms that take a more southern track and are unimpeded by the Great Lakes.
When I first moved here from the east side of the state (Bay City) I also was surprised that GR’s record snow 43s snow falls are lower then the east side of the state. One thing is the storm track and GR’s location that is in the so call storm bubble that is always mentioned so its true west Michigan is in a storm bubble.
SlimJim
this is no different than the large tornado that hit here many, many years ago. yes it’s due for a return but in reality it’s not going to happen.
And fixxer why do u try to be so real all the time on the blogg should we get out a wejee board and ask it !!!! INDYY
LOL
I dunno maybe the same reason i dont get hammered on sprites amd come post here.
So says, Fixxer! The great weather prognosticator.
What really does happen? This is the internet. Therefore, it is not real!
Realist more like it!
Pill time open upppppp!!!! INDYYY
You mean sprite time?
Good job Kent county plows still going up and down my street!!! INDYY
Plowing what?….dirt?
could it beeeeeeeee….hmmm….ice perhaps? I forgot you live in that Wyoming Bubble.
The ice would be melted with the mild temps. Oh yeah they salt ice not plow it.
Wow…the afternoon forecast discussion from GR is actually more than two sentences long.
My favorite parts: “No arctic blasts seen past Sunday” and “no pattern changes” either.
It looks like the GFS run Bill referenced when he predicted a very cold start to February is completely gone now.
The connection that the NWS is talking about in its long term discussion, could be a decent storm. We look to have mild temps then, so, looks to be rain if it does come to pass. This is many days away.
Snow Storm coming in the long range! Woo hoo! We will get dumped on at least once this Winter!
YEAA Dan we will double our snow mounts this winter it’s only the end of JAN. Lk Michigan still has some good cold snows coming forrrrrr with arorrrr west michigan will scorrrrrrr….INDYYYY
Still in denial huh? Why cant you guys face that the winter is almost done and its been overall mild? Is it that hard to say?
Hey Bill – you said you remember the teen club meeting for two reasons. What’s the other reason?
What is this, the Dan and Indy show?!?!?!
[yup]…..
Ahhhhh, I see what you did there.
Freakshow
Great show !!!!! I wish it would snow…
I remember that storm well. I was a freshman at Grand Rapids Junior College (Now GRCC)and I was carpooling with a girl I graduated with from H.S. She had an old beater of a tank of a car, and it’s a good thing, because we drove all the way there (for first hour class – 8:00 AM) in snow that was at least a foot deep.
I also remember Mayor Jane Byrne took a lot of heat because apparently Chicago was unprepared (how can you be prepared for something of that magnitude?). Snowplows were ramming into cars parked along side the streets because they were buried. It was a mess.
I don’t thing we got hit quite as bad here in GR, if I remember correctly.
I think tomorrow will be the anniversary of a mini-blizzard in 1977. We didn’t get all that much snow, but there was a lot of wind, and it was very cold. I sometimes took the bus to GVSC (now GVSU), but it couldn’t make it up the Lake Michigan Drive hill by the seminary there.
Then there was the monster blizzard of 1978. I was stranded in Allendale for three days. I worked as a dishwasher at Duck’s Restaraunt, but I couldn’t make it to work. Duck’s management sent somebody out in a SUV to pick up those the SUV could get to. I think there was another case where someone in a SUV came to the aid of a lady going into labor – the ambulance couldn’t get through.
The plows couldn’t get to the side streets, but people came together with snow blowers and shovels to clear the streets. A lot of community spirit then. I miss those days. Also, we haven’t had much in the way of blizzards on that scale lately. I miss that too.
Upon reflection, I think the blizzard Mayor Byrne got in trouble for was in 1979. I think that was the year we had snowstorms every weekend in January. It was like clockwork. None of those storms reached blizzard status here, I think, but they were pretty hefty storms nonetheless.
I had a friend who had an old Suburban. A bunch of us would load up a chain and we’d drive around looking for people we could drag out of ditches. We drove all over town and in the outlying areas. We called this “blizzarding”.
Wed Jan 25, 2012 Red Wings Canadiens
7:30 PM RDS(HD), TSN, NBCSP(HD)
GO WINGS!!!
YES D’S BEST THEEE WINGS!!! INDYYYY
Can’t Win Them All.
I hate weather in general. ALL weather. PERIOD. But I DO LIKE hot and humid air. And I mean 100 degree temps and 100 percent humidity. I come to Bill’s Blog to tell people forecasting is bogus beyond 8 hrs and to well……I wish I lived in a South Afican Rain Forest where it is sweltering. NO RAIN though. I am currently seeking a loan so I can put a sauna in my tiny little apartment so I can use it in July and August at SOLAR NOON. By the way, why does everyone ask questions? Does nt everyone know EVERYTHING like ME??
That is funny!
I laughed.
…very hard too.
Stand on your head and yell out I am from theee great and powerfull eastside of things!!! Fixxer Elixxer!! INDYYY
..sleeve wiping tears type laugh.
Lol that you guys think that is me. Keep trying and FAILING skot & indy!
lol FAILING !!!!! Mr. Wejee says YES when asked !!!!! INDYY
Winter is far from over. The NAO is heading neutral and the AO is about ready to crash. We are headed for accumulating snow over the weekend and more snow and cold next week. Still looking for a big storm within the next 8 to 10 days. Get ready to ROCK & ROLL!! Snow, cold and more snow on the way!
MILD!
RJ DAN AND INDY BILL’S SNOW MACHINE !!! INDYY
SNOW! SNOW! SNOW! There is more to come our way.
Fixxer just doesn’t like to be wrong. You can also tell that he really doesn’t get out that much.
Who knows, maybe we get a late season snowfall in late April!
start it up
Switchy
It seems that with all of the advanced forecasting, the weather channel, accuweather, NWS, social media, etc….our chances of being caught “off guard” are pretty slim. I get a kick out of reading stories from as recent as the 70′s where a small snowstorm turned into a mess. Didn’t the Blizzard of 78 start out as a travelers advisory(what we now call a winter weather advisory) in some areas? I may have that story mixed up with the Dec. 74 or 75 storm that surprised Detroit with 19″ of snow in one day. That storm was not forecasted to hit even that morning…but my mid morning, the NWS knew they were in trouble.
Isn’t that always the way it goes though?!?! We seem to get those advanced warnings or advisories…as soon as they’re down…it snows!!! LOL!!!
Yeah…you could look at it that way. Back then, things probably weren’t hyped because the few models weren’t forecasting more than a couple days out.
Yeah, Jim, I remember kind of the same thing. In the late afternoon there was light snow falling – snowflakes just drifting down real slow, and no wind. Someone said there would be a snowstorm that night – I think another GVSC student – but nobody thought much about it.
When things got really ramped up after nightfall, we turned on the TV and they had constant coverage. I was stuck at a friend’s apartment back borth of the campus.
So, yeah, the radar and other technology wasn’t what it is now.
I remember it well too. I grew up in a suburb of Detroit. My mom said that I could stay home from school because of the blizzard. I never heard my school closed on the radio so I headed off to school. (I was that kind of kid) I had to walk in the street because I couldn’t make it on the sidewalk. I made it to school, just to find that school had been cancelled. Thank goodness there was a teacher that did make it and let us warm up inside the school before we headed back home. (I wasn’t the only silly one to walk to school)
It was the only snow day I ever remember!!!
Did you there up hill? Both ways?
Wow the northern lights are awesome, if you got clear skies take a peak there bright around mt. pleasant in the country away from city lights.
Are they a pinkish color tonite?!?!
Hope they’re still firing – our skies are just starting to clear!
It’s hard to tell…the sky to the north looks like a reddish/pinkish color!!!
I my wife take a picture of me earlier and thought I’d share….Tell me what ya think gang.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_eLmz5Ce_jBA/SWPtCm6Zb2I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/R5mqWmUbwQM/s320/droopy_dog.jpg
Its not at all impossible we could see a blizzard before march. I have it seen snow in May. So to all the nay sayers, and we know who you are, “We shall see” OOPS! did I just say that out loud?
I REMBER STORM OF 1978,I EAS ON MY WAY HOME FROM KOREA,I WAS IN THE ARMY/ 2/17TH FIELD ARILITY,I WAS THERE 16MONTS,23 DAYS,8HOURS,40MINITES.ON THE AIRPLAINE WE SWAYED TO&FRO.. ONE LANE OPEN ON US-31 EACH DIRECTION,POLICE WERE GOING TO CLOSE IT DOWN,BUT WE COULD DRIVE IT”AT YOUR OWN RISK. I WANTED TO COME HOME.
WE ARE WEST MICHIGAN!!!
WE ARE BILL’S BLOGGG!!! INDYYYY
What does that have to do with anything Indy?
Sorry, love ya an all but….
Get those snow blowers tuned up and ready to go. You will need them by the end of next week!
You sure, RJ? It only looks to be a couple of inches at most. There isn’t much moisture and there is a lack of a disturbances to really get the snow guns firing.
I was a senior at Hartford (MI) HS. and will NEVER forget it. Lived out in the country, no plows could get through. Neither could the milk truck to pick up the milk. After a couple of days, my dad was out of milk storage room and had to dump it out in the snow. We marked the top level of the snow on the trees along the road and were shocked, come spring, to see how high it had been. We lost MANY days of school that year.
I remember it well…was in junior high. If I recall correctly, the Lansing schools were closed for a week following the storm.
Hey Bill…I was in Evanston IL at the time…I remember the first day back to school after this blizzard and waiting and waiting for the bus…everything was still late. They had to load railroad cars with the snow and take it south to dump because they couldn’t dump it in Lake Michigan (salt content of the snow). It was crazy crazy! But kind of fun, too! There were tunnels cleared eventually on sidewalks and in the alleys. Good Times!
I was born at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston and we lived on Seward St. My dad found a lot for sale across the border in Wilmette and he built a small house where we lived while I was in elementary and middle school. My mother sang in the church choir at St. Mary’s Church for 27 years.
I was in jr. High, in 67. No school 4 Sure! My older brother and I, Made some COINAGE,Shoveling and Pushing out cars that were Stuck.. I also Recall , Our street was Always Plowed First, Because our Neighbor, Was G.R. City Engineer.. My Family Like that. My Father suffered his First Heart Attack, a Fews Days after thee Blizzard, He Did 2 Much Pushing of Cars !!! I Think in Some Drawer Somewhere, I got Some Old Photos of the 67,Blizzard..Have 2 Due Some DIGGING (pun intended ) …I Guess !
Actually this was my first really big encounter with snow. I had arrived in Chicago from New Orleans in Sept 66 to start college at Ray Vogue School. I had been in the north about 4 1/2 months. On the 25th, I opened mah cajun mouth and said “Where all this snow I hear so much about?” My friend JE Miller was spending the night at the dorm. We didn’t get our wake up call the next morning and when I called down to the switchboard (our dorm was a refurbed hotel) the guy said, “Look out your window.” We decided to go to Janet’s house which was almost to Oak Park down Chicago avenue. What would have normally taken us 45 minutes to an hour using the “L” and buses, took us hours and hours. It was like a SciFi movie. I mean the greatest city in the world (in my 18 year old opinion) was stopped cold. This was really something. A memory I will cherish forever.
I see I did not drop a line last year so I will this time around LOL
In both 67 and 78 I lived in the Bay City area while both storms were very similar the 67 storm had the upper edge. With more snow and IMO higher drifts. Both had a period of heavy thunder and lightning both started late on a Wednesday night. One difference was in 1967 we were snowed in for 3 days before our street was plowed and in 1978 we were able to get out late Thursday of course in the 1978 storm we lived in just outside of Essexville
anyway here are the top snow storms from Saginaw.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dtx/display_climate.php?file=mbssnowdays.htm
SlimJim
I was in elementary school and I believe school was closed for at least a week. I remember our road not being plowed for several days. We all slept in the living room with the fireplace keeping us warm. The electricity was out so we played poker for pennies and for entertainment.
My favorite memory is an ice storm that occurred around that same year. It left a thick covering of ice on top of the snow. You could actually skate on the snow. My brother, sister and I went to the back hill because we decided it would be a great idea to “skate” down it. I fell into the weeds which were coated with thick ice, that actually hurt. Does anyone know if there was also a major ice storm in 78?
Country Girl, There was a Ice Storm, in78. In Illinois ,not M.I. It happened on Easter Sunday. By The way your NAME, made me Think of a Song !!! Here it is Enjoy and GodBless. SPIN: The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, COUNTRY GIRL – YouTube
► 4:23► 4:23
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYqi8bWN54s
How about this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYxjNPzwAXI
Nice Bill, Ya Got that on Album in your Collection? Hey, what was EXP. In the 78 ice storm,on Easter Sunday.?
Add.Your*
That date will always remain with me. I was in 9th grade, and when I walked to school that morning, there was just a slight dusting of snow on the grass. They closed school around noon because of the huge amount of snow. A couple of my father’s co-workers that lived in neighboring towns ended up staying with us a few days until they could get their cars uncovered. The adults played cards and my brother and I watched horse racing on tv. (I have no idea where these races took place, but it was goofy entertainment!)