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Thread: Blizzard of '78

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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Default Blizzard of '78

    I was just watching a PBS documentary about the blizzard of '77, began on Dec 26, which shut down much of the eastern U.S. all the way down to GA.

    The center of the pressure system was over Lima, OH

    Temps were below zero for weeks, snow drifted to 50 feet in some places and the interstate highways were closed for days. 50 dead just in OH, billions in home and infrastructure damage.

    Snow penetrated walls, windows and any access point and the wind was so strong it blew down the doors of houses leaving the inhabitants exposed.

    Even down into TN there was over a foot of snow and the highways were closed. Schools were closed for Christmas already but did not restart until Feb.

    I still remember it vividly because my wife was pregnant and waaaay past due with our first. I made several "checkup trips" to the hospital with her driving on solid pack ice on I-40.

    I now live closer to Lima than I am to my old home in TN, and I try to stay prepared for these types of emergencies but watching the show brought back memories and put me into "prepper mode" since the temps have been a bit nippy the past few days, and Dec 26 is not far away.

    I realized that although I have supplies on hand many of them are in outbuildings that I would not be able to access if the snow was 10 feet deep!

    How many times am I going to see snow 10 feet deep in KY???

    Not often, but it did happen once, during my lifetime, and lots of people died because something that had never happened before fell upon them. And moving a couple of propane tanks closer to the house is a small precaution in case this should be another winter of wonder.
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?


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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    During that storm I was someplace below the surface of the South China Sea. Weather was great.
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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Remember it well....
    Had a New Years Party at our house...had invited everyone in the neighbor hood as we had moved in a couple of years earlier.
    Was kinda of a "Hello to all, come and celebrate at our house".

    As it was already loaded with snow......everyone walked down then block.....spent hours trying to keep up shoveling....kinda gave up.

    Jane Byrne got elected in April as Major Of Chicago....because the city didn't do well in digging out.......
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Byrne

    Supposed to start tonight.....dug out the brand new snow blower....had started it 2 months ago....before being told Not to blow snow after the last health episode.
    All of a sudden it is running like crap!.....coughing and popping.....WTH?????

    Suspect moisture got got in the gas????
    This is pizzing me off.....so much for getting stuff ready!....
    Haven't had a whole tank of fuel run thru it yet?

    Got a party to go to so gonna have to wait....I guess......
    Neighbor blows the driveway out the last couple of years.
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    I recall the blizzard of 67, but like Crash, Mr Carter & the CNO had warmer climate tasking for me.

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    Senior Member cowgirlup's Avatar
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    I remember my mom waking me up in the middle of the night because the rabbit hutch blew over. We bundled up and made our way out and got it upright. Before we could get the back up cage ready in the shed it blew over again. Poor rabbit looked shell shocked but we had to take care of it or we would have had to dig her out the next day. I remember the power was out and I was wearing several layers of clothes and had a ton of blankets on the bed. Shortly after that dad got a wood stove for the basement. I lived in Ohio at the time.


    The blizzards up here haven't been that bad. The last one had 3.5 feet of snow. I wouldn't mind being snowed in for a few weeks. it would be a nice break.
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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Started snowing about 5:00 PM......we will see.
    Snowblower...........Added some Sea Foam, yesterday...started it today....seem to dry the fuel and runs much better.
    We will see.....
    Picked up gal of fresh gas....the other stuff was only 2 months old....and can was sealed......?????
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    well let's see got up at 5'30 the weatheman lied to me again.
    by 7am was suited up and out the door. we were supposed to get 2-3in snow
    was more like a foot. tractor battery was dead had to charge it plug in the bolck
    heater and then went in for a nap spent a good part othe day plowing snow and hauling wood.
    oh it gets better folks for the next week or so subzero 20-35plus below zero.
    GOT HEAT
    coyotes listen to them, like children of the night what music they make.

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Blew the snew.....twice.....new gas.... smoothed it out....run very well....what a beast!
    Still snowing.
    Last edited by hunter63; 12-12-2016 at 07:19 PM.
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    I was actually close by. 400 miles away in Muscatine IA. Of course, I was nice and warm inside a womb of darkness. 6 months later, I officially made my presence known in this world. Surprisingly, I don't remember anything from that time. Looks like I am only a couple months younger than your oldest KYRS.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Seriously?! I've got socks older than you. (That's not right. That's just not right I tell ya)

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    Resident Wildman Wildthang's Avatar
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    I live about an hour north of Lima Ohio, and bought the house of an elderly couple that I knew before they passed. They told me about that blizzard and how they were without power for almost 2 weeks. They said that they both about froze to death in that house, and that they had no emergency heat whatever.
    So when I got to know them they had a wood heater, generator, kerosene heater, and a huge stockpile of food and wood. They told me that they learned their lesson and will never get stuck without heat that long again. I have remodeled their house and am now living there. Still have the wood heater and actually built the first fire in it Saturday night. There were still 3 pieces of partially burnt wood in that heater from the last fire they ever built and was thinking of them as I watched the fire burn.
    That storm turned them into preppers before anybody even used that word.

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wildthang View Post
    ......................... There were still 3 pieces of partially burnt wood in that heater from the last fire they ever built and was thinking of them as I watched the fire burn.
    That storm turned them into preppers before anybody even used that word.
    No one think that anything can happen....and if they survive the first time....most won't be caught ever again.
    Your Grand parents would be better prepared than most are these days......

    We didn't call them "Preppers" but had already been through some bad times....
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Ain't that the truth. They lived what we fear.

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    I was 11. When I tell my own children that I used to walk uphill both ways to school in a blizzard, that's the one I'm thinking about. Haha

    Moto Z Forced me to do this.

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Snow just quit....5" and more coming....19 degrees (is there a degrees symbol on a keyboard ?).....
    Anyway, it warned up... it was -5 this AM
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  16. #16
    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    It has been below freezing here for two days but just now went up to 32.

    Freezing rain now falling. It is supposed to warm and rain all day tomorrow than return to below freezing forever, or at least till March.
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

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    Senior Member Pennsylvania Mike's Avatar
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    It is 20 degrees and snowing, supposed to warm up by noon and turn into rain, then it turns cold again.

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    80 today......85 tomorrow.......brrrrrrr.
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    Blizzard of 78 was when I was in High School. We got about 5' of snow and the power was out 3 days.
    We had been doing the back-to-the-land thing for many years by that point.
    It was cold enough we didn't lose the freezer food.
    It sorta sucked getting out to the chicken coop but made a hard pack trail and cut steps down to get to the food and water door and to the egg door. They were all happy and warm in their snow cave.
    Had two woodstoves and a huge pile of wood.
    A couple coleman lanterns and a stove.
    And of course the BBQ grills.
    No generator but dad did have a portable power welder he could run power off the side so we used that for the coffeemaker because we didn't have a percolator type coffee pot! (important things in life!)
    But the most important thing was we had town water and that continued to run. Did bucket baths heating water on the woodstove. All it was for us was one big camping adventure within the comfort of home.
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    Blizzard of 1978? Didn't bother my wife or me. We were living in Los Angeles, where it might have been down to 70° F. People were at the beach having a good time and the surfers were skimming the waves.

    Today, however, it is a little colder here in S.W. Idaho, than in southern Calif. Got down to 8° F. last night. Six inches of snow on the ground. For pleasure, built a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed the fire with my wife and a stiff scotch & soda. I'm not like those guys who say they want to live in the "old days." I like central heat and hot running water.

    S.M.
    "They that can give up essential liberty to gain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

    - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790),U.S. statesman, scientist, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

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