The Blizzard of 1978, also known as the Northeastern United States Blizzard was a catastrophic snowstorm that struck New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the New York metropolitan area. The Blizzard dropped 27.1 inches of snow on Boston. The snow fell so quickly, streets and highways were disappeared. Several cars stuck on the roads and streets. Nearly all economic activity was disrupted in the worst-hit areas. The Blizzard killed around 100 people and thousands of people were injured. It caused more than US$520 million (US$2.04 billion today) in damage.
The lack of foreknowledge about the severity of snowfall impacted a lot on the preparations. Although the weather forecasting was adequate in the 1970s, the snow failed to arrive in the pre-dawn hours reported on the media. People thought it to be another failed forecast. Thousands of people were caught in the middle of the storm. Many people were stranded in their cars along roads throughout New England.
#1 Abandon cars along Route 128 near Needham, Massachusetts, during the Blizzard of 1978.
#2 Vehicles are seen stranded and abandoned in the deep snow on the exit for Burncoat Street off Interstate 290 in Worcester, Mass., Feb. 7, 1978.
#3 February 9, 1978, some of these people had a long wait for the bus on Victory Boulevard. in Tompkinsville, only to have it get stuck in the snow around the corner after they boarded.
#4 Esther Wright, a clerk for the Ravenna Police Department, trudged through snow drifts to mail a letter on Jan. 27, 1978.
#5 A car rest on top of the Indian Orchard exit of I-291 east in Springfield on Feb. 7, 1978.
#6 Bonnie Alexandre, of Boston’s Brighton district, attaches a sign to the antenna of her car in Boston
#7 Roy Sodersjerna of Higham, Mass. suns himself on the hood of his car which is stuck in snow on Massachusetts Route 128 in Dedham on Feb. 9, 1978.
#8 Cars and trucks are stuck and can only wait as Army and civilian plows and tow trucks approach from bridge Thursday Feb. 9, 1978 on Route 128, Dedham, Mass.
#9 A pile of snow in a parking lot frames a view of downtown Springfield during the Blizzard of 1978.
#10 Residents clear snow on Congress Street in Springfield during the Blizzard of 1978.
#11 Snow plows clear the intersection of Dwight and Carew Streets in Springfield on Feb. 7, 1978 during the Blizzard of 1978.
#12 Vehicles stranded in the snow in the southbound lanes of Route 128 in Needham, after the Blizzard of 1978.
#13 Springfield firefighters dig out a hydrant on Feb. 7, 1978.
#14 Two members of the U.S. Army 27th Engineers from Fort Bragg, N.C. move their bulldozers slowly toward downtown Boston as the city began to remove the record snowfall from the streets, Feb. 11, 1978.
#15 Weary shovelers struggle to free two buses that blocked an entrance to the Staten Island Expressway for two hours, a common sight all along the highway.
#16 Men struggle to free an ambulance carrying a heart patient that is stuck on Bard Ave., West Brighton.
#17 Cars are barely visible on Townsend Ave., Clifton.
#18 Residents of Home Place., Graniteville, begin the arduous task of cleaning up from the record snow.
#19 Frigid temperatures turned many flooded streets into sheets – or chunks – of ice. These cars stuck under the Staten Island Rapid Transit overpass on Amboy Road, Bay Terrace.
#20 At noon on February 8, 1978, business at the St. George Ferry Terminal was hardly “as usual” thanks to Ol’ Man Winter.
#21 Autos have made ruts in the ice on this section of Olympia Boulevard.
#22 Passengers board the S-6 bus on Bay St., near the ferry, during a blizzard on February 6-7, 1978.
#23 A Sanitation snow plow is welcome relief to residents on Naughton Ave., Ocean Breeze.
#24 A Volkswagen “bug” splashes through the water at Victory Blvd. and Jewett Ave.
#25 On February 6, 1978, skis were a good way to get around, as this couple demonstrates on Kingsley Street in West Brighton.
#26 Parking was difficult on Richmond Terrace in front of the 120th Precinct in St. George
#27 Mounds of snow along Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville
#28 This resident of Miami County, Ohio finds an innovative way to travel.
#29 Blizzard conditions arrived in Dayton early in the morning on Jan 26, 1978.
#30 Around 3 a.m. on Thursday, January 26, 1978, Ohio was hit by the worst blizzard in its recorded history.
#31 This scene early Friday (Jan. 27, 1978) along Hanover Road, about 5 miles north of Delaware, when a rescue team had to be rescued, was typical of many such efforts in the battle against the elements.
#32 Drivers kept this Reynoldsburg service station busy Thursday because they did not want to run short of fuel with a blizzard howling about.
#33 On Friday morning, January 27, state and city officials still had major problems.
#34 A woman pulls her collar closer about her neck as she waits in vain for a COTA bus early Thursday.
#35 Snowfall ranged from 5 inches in Columbus to more than 20 inches in northern Ohio. President Jimmy Carter declared. a federal state of emergency for Ohio.
#36 The storm devastated this house under construction on Royalton Dr. south of Galloway, Ohio.
#37 West Freeway Exit Ramp to Wilson Road.; Taken Jan. 27, 1978.
#38 No amount of road salt was adequate.
#39 Columbus had a record-low barometer reading of 28.47 inches.
#40 This front-loader is working on Front St. just north of Main St., Jan. 29, 1978.
#41 Truck driver James Truly is helped from the cab of his rig after spending most of five days buried in the truck beneath a huge snowdrift in Mansfield, Ohio, Jan. 31, 1978.
Truly stopped his semi-tractor trailer along Ohio Route 13 north of Mansfield during a massive blizzard. The storm raged for several days and snow completely covered the big rig. No one knew for a couple of days that Truly and his truck were in the drift. He was finally discovered on Jan. 31 when Ohio Air National Guard personnel were opening the state highway with a big snowblower. Mansfield News Journal photographer Alan King was there when Truly was rescued.
Lol remember when Connecticut had snow
The photos are all in black and white, as if they were taken by WPA photographers. In 1978, we were able to shoot in color. After that storm, my friends and I built tunnels in drifts.
Black and white film was still cheaper then