Great Blizzard of 1978


The Great Blizzard of 1978 was a historic winter storm that struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions from Wednesday, January 25 through Friday, January 27, 1978. It is often cited as one of the worst blizzards in US history. The third lowest non-tropical atmospheric pressure ever recorded in the mainland United States occurred as the storm passed over Mount Clemens, Michigan, where the barometer fell to on January 26.

Meteorological synopsis

Late on Tuesday, January 24, 1978, surface maps revealed a moisture-laden Gulf Low developing over the southern United States, while a separate and unrelated low-pressure system was present over the Upper Midwest. In about 24 hours, the merger of the subtropical jet stream and the polar jet stream led the low-pressure system to undergo explosive cyclogenesis as it moved rapidly northward during the evening of January 25. To be classified as undergoing explosive cyclogenesis, a storm's central pressure must drop at least 24 millibars, or an average of 1 millibar per hour, over a 24-hour period; the Great Blizzard dropped by a remarkable 40 millibars in that span of time.
The storm initially began as rain, but quickly changed to heavy snow during the predawn hours, leading to frequent whiteouts and zero visibility during the day on January 26. As the storm headed for Ohio, it was "of unprecedented magnitude," according to the National Weather Service, which categorized it as a rare severe blizzard, the severest grade of winter storm. Particularly hard hit were Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and southeastern Wisconsin, where up to of snow fell. Winds gusting up to caused drifts that nearly buried some homes. Wind chill values reached across much of Ohio, where 51 of the total 70 storm-related deaths occurred.
Canada did not escape the wrath of the storm as blizzard conditions were common across southwestern Ontario. London, Ontario, was paralyzed by of snow and winds gusting to.

Barometric pressure

On January 26, the third-lowest atmospheric pressure recorded in the mainland United States, apart from a tropical system, occurred as the storm passed over Mount Clemens, Michigan. There the barometer fell to. In Detroit, air pressure fell to. At around the same time, the absolute low pressure was measured at Sarnia, in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, where the barometer bottomed out at. Toronto pressure fell to 28.40 inches, breaking its record by 0.17.
The barometric pressure measurement recorded in Mount Clemens, Michigan, was the third-lowest non-tropical atmospheric pressure recorded in the mainland United States and the lowest in the Central United States. The lowest confirmed pressure for a non-tropical system in the continental United States had been set by a January 1913 Atlantic coast storm. The lowest central pressure for the 1978 blizzard was measured in Sarnia, Ontario. On rare occasions, extra-tropical cyclones with central pressures below 28 inches of mercury or about 95 kPa have been recorded in Wiscasset, Maine and Newfoundland. In addition, the blizzard is the highest-ranking winter storm on the Regional Snowfall Index, with a maximum value of 39.07, and one of only 26 storms to reach Category 5 on the scale.

Impact

The blizzard was the worst in Ohio history; 51 people died as a result of the storm. Over 5,000 members of the Ohio National Guard were called in to make numerous rescues. Police asked citizens with four-wheel-drive vehicles or snowmobiles to transport doctors and nurses to the hospital. From January 26 to 27, the entire Ohio Turnpike was shut down for the first time ever. The total effect on transportation in Ohio was described by Major General James C. Clem of the Ohio National Guard as comparable to a nuclear attack. Michigan Governor William Milliken declared a state of emergency and called out the Michigan National Guard to aid stranded motorists and road crews. The Michigan State Police pronounced Traverse City, Michigan "unofficially closed" and warned area residents to stay home. WTCM radio staffer Marty Spaulding, who closed the bayfront location station the previous night at 11 pm, was called to reopen it the next day at 6am as regular staffers could not get there due to impassable roads. Upon arriving after a 45-minute walk in waist-deep snow from his home 10 city blocks away, he had to dig down "a foot" to put the key in the front door.
In Indiana on day two, just a half hour after the front blasted through, the Indianapolis International Airport was closed due to whiteout conditions. At 3 am, the blizzard produced peak winds of 55 mph. Temperatures dropped to zero that morning. Wind chills remained at 40 to 50 below zero nearly all day. Governor Otis R. Bowen declared a snow emergency for the entire state the morning of the 26th. Snow drifts of 10 to 20 feet made travel virtually impossible, stranding an Amtrak train and thousands of vehicles and weary travelers. During the afternoon of the 26th, the Indiana State Police considered all Indiana roads closed.
Classes at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio and the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana were canceled for the first time in the history of those universities; at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana for the third time in its history; and, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for the first time since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. An inch or more, usually much more, of snow remained on much of that area for nearly two months. The storm did much damage to the Ohio valley and the Great Lakes.
In Brampton, Ontario on Thursday afternoon, school buses could not get through deep snow to the then-rural campus of Sheridan College to take students home. Neither could any other vehicles, so some community college students had to stay on campus overnight. Muskegon, Michigan, had the most extreme measurements: up to 52 inches of snow in 4 days due to heavy lake-effect snow squalls after the blizzard hit with a whopping 30 inches.

Quotes

C. R. Snider, National Weather Service Meteorologist in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said on January 30, 1978:

Snowfall totals

The following table displays selected U.S. snowfall totals during January 25–29, 1978:
Note: * = Total data for a 24-hour period.