It started with widespread rain and fog the evening of Jan. 25, with temperatures generally in the 30s and 40s. Early the next morning, an arctic air mass pushed into the area with bitter cold temperatures and howling winds. Blizzard conditions reached the area around 3 a.m. Visibilities were near zero for much of the day and even into the 27th. Temperatures rapidly plunged from the 30s to the single digits.
Wind gusts reached 69 mph at Dayton and Columbus. Extremely cold wind chills around minus 50 degrees made it especially dangerous to venture outside. While snowfall was difficult to measure because of the strong winds, official storm-total snowfall amounts from January 25-27 ranged from 4.7 inches in Columbus to 12.9 inches in Dayton.
The powerful storm system produced some of the lowest pressure readings ever recorded in the United States. The barograph at the National Weather Service office at the Greater Cincinnati Airport had to be readjusted as an unprecedented drop in pressure caused the pen to fall off the initial chart scale.
Cleveland’s record low pressure reading remains the lowest ever recorded in Ohio and one of the lowest pressure readings on record within the mainland United States not associated with a hurricane.
Large snowdrifts buried cars up to their rooftops and made roadways impassable. Snowdrifts were tall enough to bury semis.
The winds and snow caused major complications across the region. Thousands of trees and many miles of electric/telephone lines were downed. Hundreds of thousands of homes were left without power and heat.
Gusty winds also caused other structural damage as well as massive snowdrifts reaching 15 to 25 feet in height. In addition to reaching the rooftops of houses and businesses and causing many roof collapses, these drifts brought practically all means of air, rail and highway transportation to a standstill for 24 hours or more. Cars were easily buried and many individuals were left stranded in their vehicles. Numerous closures of interstates and highways resulted, including Interstate 75, which was closed for three days. The prolonged highway closures resulted in food shortages in many areas, and the Red Cross and armed forces stepped in to help distribute food to those in need.
Thousands of men and women on active duty put in many long hours to help clear roadways, restore power, perform emergency rescues and evacuations, deliver food and medicine, and transport medical personnel to hospitals. In many instances, the only means of rescuing individuals with medical emergencies was by helicopter. Thousands of volunteers with snowmobiles and four-wheel drive vehicles also risked their lives to transport emergency personnel and utility workers and to deliver medical necessities to those in need.
Radio stations suspended regular programming to provide storm information and to serve as communication links where other means of communication had failed and highway travel was impossible. “Smilin’ Bob” Yontz stayed on the air at WBLY in Springfield for several days, coordinating local efforts to bring medicine and other assistance to people shut inside their homes.
The death toll from this epic winter storm included 51 in Ohio, with 22 the result of exposure as individuals abandoned their stranded vehicles or homes with no heat. Thirteen individuals died from the cold while trapped inside their vehicles, and another 13 died inside their homes after losing power and heat.
Mark Webber, who hosts “Garden Talk” on WHIO Radio in Dayton, mentioned “The Great Blizzard of 1978” on his blog recently. Doug Anderson posted a “Blizzard of ‘78 Gil Whitney’s Certificate of Self-Preservation,” which states that in Dayton, the temperature was 3 degrees with a wind chill of minus 65. It notes 12 inches of snow fell in 24 hours (a record) and there was 25.5 inches of snow on the ground (also a record).
In a 2008 column, WHIO Meterologist Rich Wridzek wrote “it wasn’t until May 5th when the last of the snow finally melted from the Blizzard of ’78.”
Less talk is devoted to the statewide cold wave in the Winter of 1977. In fact, the National Weather Service and Ohio Historical Society indicate the Winters of 1976-77 and 1977-78 were the two coldest in Dayton, with the former being the coldest of the two and January 1977 the coldest month known in Ohio.
The National Weather Service lists the Winter of 1977 as the snowiest, with 79 days of snow depth equal to or greater than one inch.
Tough as this winter has been, we’ve seen worse around here.
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