The severe blizzard of Jan. 25 and 26, 1978, was one of the worst of all time,not only for the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley states that it racked, but alsofor anywhere in the United States.The massive storm, or cyclone, was created by the melding of two distinctstorms. One, charged with a blast of arctic cold, swept in from the northwest.
The other emerged from the Gulf of Mexico laden with moisture and barrelednorthward.
The storm was at its worst from Kentucky north through Michigan, includingIndiana to eastern Illinois and much of Ohio. Everything related to normalout-of-door human activity was brought to a standstill by deep snowfall, aswell as blinding, blowing and extreme drifting of the snow.
Snowfall of 1-2 feet was common along the storm's axis with South Bend, Ind.,getting nearly 3 feet due to lake-effect snow.
Drifts heaped by winds to 80 mph reached rooftops. A passenger train wassnagged by a towering Indiana drift. The number of abandoned vehicles reachedinto the 100,000s.
The storm caused 70 deaths, most of them in Ohio.
I experienced the storm first-hand as a teenager near Dayton, Ohio. A stormnever to be forgotten.
Story of AccuWeather.com's Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews.
