History
The Blizzard of ’78 | New England by the Numbers
A collection of interesting facts about the Blizzard of ’78, when over 40 inches of snow fell in New England’s hardest hit areas.
By Julia Shipley|Feb 07 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine Keenan
Photo Credit : Jim McDevitt/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Wikimedia Commons
The Blizzard of ’78 | Facts, Trivia & Memories
2/6/78
Date that the blizzard began in the Northeast10 a.m.
Time that light snow began falling in Boston33
Number of hours of snowfall that followed92
Wind speed in mph of the storm’s highest onshore gust (recorded in Chatham, MA)40+
Number of inches of snow that gell on New England’s hardest-hit areas3,500
Estimated number of motorists left stranded on Route 12854
Number of New Englanders killed in the storm (29 in MA alone)2,100
Number of coastal homes destroyed in New England5
Number of crew on the pilot boat Can Do, which eas lost while rescuing a Coast Guard boat61
Estimated percentage of destroyed homes that were on the South Shore$1 billion
Estimated cost of storm cleanup across New England0
Number of times before the blizzard that The Boston Globe had failed to distribute an edition400
Number of volunteers who helped shovel out the MBTA’s tracksReader Memories of the Blizzard of ’78
One of my best childhood memories. I was 12, but it was amazing how everyone came together to help each other. I remember walking with my Dad and neighbors and my sled about 2 miles to go to the Big G market. No school for days and days. The national guard plowing. I’m sure now there were some people that didn’t fare so well, but for my memory, it was a wonderful time. — Gary R. I was 9 months pregnant and trapped by 4 feet of snow surrounding our house. I put our 0ldest girl out a porch window to kick snow away from the front door. Baby waited almost 2 weeks to arrive, thank heavens. — Sandy R. I was 12 years old, my father got a new snowblower, we didn’t see him for a week. He plowed the whole neighborhood. His new toy. — Patty B. I was working as a nurse at Spaulding Rehab in Boston and couldn’t get home for a week. No one could get in to relieve us. The city was so beautiful. Cross country skiers on the streets. — Susan W. Remember it well. We were living in Bristol, NH, high on a hill. We had no power for many days. Fortunately, I had a kitchen wood cookstove for heat and our water was gravity fed. The local farmers helped each other with hand milking. It was an interesting time. — Sylvia E. Do you remember the Blizzard of ’78? Share your memories below!
My dad was stranded on the way home from Rumford, where he worked, to go home to Pawtuxet. He left his car and walked a long way until he got to the Rhode Island Hospital where my mother worked as a nursing administrator. The hospital was staying open and allowing people who were stranded to go in for shelter. Of course, there were no cell phones then, so I spent 3 days wondering about my parents’ welfare because I lived in Maryland. We had a snowstorm too, but nothing like that.
I worked ar RIH at that time. What a experience stuck there fro three days then walking home to Johnston.Who was your mom?
My husband a veterinarian was stranded at his animal hospital for three days I had called him to tell him to come home but a dog in the vicinity has been hit in the storm and he wanted to help the dog so he waited for the arrival of the client with the dog.he and a helper stayed at the hospital over four days caring for the animals and administering to any new cases .There was not heat because wires were down and electricity off.Hecane Home when roads cleared
My brother, David Curley, was on the Can Do. Three days of agony and broken hearts forever. ?? I live in Mn and had to fly to NYC and take a train to Rte 128 station where my dad picked me up. I noticed all these ‘things’ sticking up through the snow when we were leaving (it was dark). I asked my dad what they were and he said ‘car antennas’… eerie sight.
My brother, Donald Wilkinson was also on the Can Do. It was an awful time, waiting for the worst news. My prayers go out to you and your family as we approach this sad anniversary.
I was aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Decisive, a 210 ft. ship, on routine patrol off of the New England coast when the storm hit. The Decisive proceeded to Massachusetts Bay to assist other Coast Guard units in their search for the pilot boat Can Do and a large tanker in distress. We had zero visibility with the blowing snow and the Decisive was rolling 40+ degrees at times. After the storm, we removed crew off of the tanker which was grounded in Salem Harbor.
I’m a second home owner in Vermont. Working for US Army Corps of Engineers
Emergency Management in 1978 dealing with an an ice jam on the Winooski River near Montpelier. We went home to NYC on February 5th in time for the Nor’Easter. The Corps of Engineers had just finished a shore protection project on Rockaway Beach NYC when the Storm totally took it apart. However, as these projects are designed (they are called “sacrificial projects”, they protect the mainland and are not intended to provide recreational beaches (as many people think) even though that is a side benefit.
I lived in the North End of Boston during the Blizzard of ’78 and my best friend lived right around the corner from me. My mother came from a big family and when I moved into that apartment she went grocery shopping with me for “staples”. She made sure I always had plenty of food available. I wanted to try Goose for the first time so I happened to have one in the freezer that a local Stop and Shop stocked for the Christmas season. I also had plenty of baking ingredients, so I was able to bake, also. She had a friend who lived in Harbor Towers and he kept a case of Champagne in his apartment and he was able to walk to my apartment. Yesterday, 2/6/18, Harvey Leonard was interviewed regarding his weather forecast for that storm. All of his predictions came to be, unfortunately, for all who suffered through that storm miserably. He even remembered his forecast pretty much verbatim. He said his wife, Lorraine, was 6 months pregnant with their first child and he didn’t get home to see her for several days. A friend, who built their home in 1978, and they dated it in one of the front corners of their home, gave birth to their first child during that blizzard. Yikes! That’s why they decided “to date their home”. They have 3 children in their marriage.
I was also born in that blizzard. Maybe your friends child was my first roommate.
I lived in North Adams at the time! My daughter wasn’t quite 5 my son almost 1! Oh how I remember being snowed in and using a sled to get around town with my children. More snow then I ever remember. We are now living in NC and dealt with the blizzard of 93 in March and it was a mess. 30” in one night and the first time I’d heard of ‘Thunder Snow’. I must say that we live in the mountains of WNC and at that time they only had two snow plow trucks that they called ‘snow assult vehicles’ when we finally got out two days later one of those trucks was in a ditch! Lol! Needless to say they have gotten much better since that storm. Everything was shut down for two plus weeks!
Two days after the storm I was sledding on my grandparents hill and the entire family was watching from the picture window. I was wearing a one piece read snowsuit and caring a sled when a driver came down the street and hit me. My brother said I looked like a bowling pin. I was 11 years old at the time and there was a lot of blood and my mother locked her self in the bathroom because she was so freaked out. Thankfully I was conscious and told her I was OK. But the entire side of my face was road rash and I received many stitches at the hospital. I was not allowed to go back to school for six weeks because of how scary I looked.
I was a freshman at UConn in Storrs Connecticut, where we spent a couple of days drinking beer and walking in the aftermath. Oh to be young again.
I was living in Nashua, NH at the time of that 1978 blizzard, I was pregnant with my third son Chris Anthony, I had a Dr’s appointment, that I know I couldn’t get to, I had no phone, so I walked into that deep snow to the nearest corner store to cancel my appointment, while I was there I decided to buy some extra milk, bread & a few cans of beans, I knew that I had to carry this home, so I couldn’t buy to much, I asked for a doubled bag then I was on my way, just waddling thru that snow, trying my best to make it back home, still 15 minutes away, all the time worrying that I would slip & fall I was 5 months pregnant, that trip seemed to take forever, then finally I made it to my doorstep, my son was born on Aug 11th, 23 days past the due date he was a big baby at 9.4 lbs. In the New England blizzard of 1953, my family were living near Pelham I believe at that time near the Mass border, my mom went in to labor for me, the hospital was across the border in Mass, so with no-way to drive there, my dad got out our trusty sled, got blankets folded up with a pillow, he secured my mother in to the sled, heading to the hospital, I was nearly born on that sled in that blizzard, but my dad got my mom to the hospital in the nick of time, i’ll bet that this has never happened to anyone else, I told my kids about the way I was nearly born, their like OMG mom.
Hi there…I too went into labor with my son that night the snow began to fall..we lived in Westfield Mass. at that time, and I was to go to Springfields Western Mass. Hospital to have my son..I made it there with the snow falling hard, though, my doctor did not, all they had for staff in labor and delivery were the Residents. I had gestational-Diabetes, that went away after I was pregnant and they were expecting me to deliver a big baby, and boy did I..! When I began my pregnancy I was 101 pounds, and 5 foot 2 inches tall..not a big girl by any means. I had a 9 lb. 14 oz. baby boy that was 23 and 1/2 inches long! Although, during delivery my pelvis was broken…if my Doctor were there instead of a resident, I most certainly would have had a C-Section I was told after I had my son…but there was no way for him to get there as that snow came down hard once it started, and by the time my son was coming I had been in labor for over 23 hours, and by that time, I don’t think that there was anyone that could get out from where they were..! Luckily we both made it and I’m here to talk about it and he is strong Healthy and Beautiful. Though, I have told him and his sisters about the storm of “78 many many times.
Woke up the morning of Feb. 7th (my birthday) to a snow day in Orono, Maine. My fiance and I and our house mates enjoyed a day off from school or work. We didn’t know what was happening in Massachusetts until the next day. My fiance was raised in Braintree so he was astonished to see Route 128 shut down. The storm that got our attention here in Maine was the Ice Storm of ’98. Whoa.
I was 12 , living in Bangor, Maine and was very sick. In the middle of it I was diagnosed with Reye’s Syndrome. BGR and BOS were both closed. I had to be taken by Army Helicopter from EMMC in Bangor to Boston Children’s. Both airports were closed and no traffic was alowed in Boston. My mom and I spent the better part of a week in the hospital. Longer than necessary but we like many of the staff were kinda stuck there. I wish I could remember the helicopter ride, I was so out of it I don’t remember.
Philadelphia 8th grade boy at the time.Pretty sure we got the southernmost part of this storm but not nearly as much as you folk.Shoveled out driveway and sidewalk then helped dad walk up out of road we lived on to the main road so he could get picked up to open Holmesburg (Philly) post office.Reason for my reply though is to say how blessed you truly were.My best friend died from Reye’s syndrome in 1974 when it was still an unnamed/ undiagnosed illness.It mimicked the Flu and they did not know how to treat it 4yrs prior from when you contracted it.Glad you recovered and were able to grow “old”.Wish they knew in 1974 what they learned by 1978 and maybe Johnny Murray would still be here?
Enjoy Life everyone it’s So Sweet & so short!Even during tragically beautiful weather events.
I was 15 and the day before was admitted to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Prior to outpatient surgerys, normally a 3 day visit. They wouldn’t let me leave for fear per would be lost and I would get cold. So I stayed in the hospital 5 days, and part of the time, held newborns who’s parents could make it to the hospital.
“held newborns who’s parents could make it to the hospital.”
You’re a good person.
Around 2:00 pm I told my boss I was leaving. Working downtown I said that no Colleg Hill buses will be running so catching the south Worcester bus was my only way home. Walked up College Hill arriving safely. The next night I walked down to HoJo’s and had a great time with my friends.
the night of Feb 5th I drove the 211 miles from Shrewsbury, MA to Burlington, VT-racing the Storm; the next day, had the one & only snow day during 4 years at UVM
I was working at Boston Hospital for Women and most employees were going to stay over at the hospital …I caught 2 of the last buses running and back to Watertown Square…only 3 people on the bus…Arriving at the Square, I had to walk 4 blocks to my apartment which in reality was a huge struggle agains the winds and snow…Barely made it…The remainder of the week people got around on cross country skis, actually a winter wonderland and partied with friends. There were many people who weren’t so lucky and suffered during and after the storm.
I promptly moved to California that April
We returned to CA not long after also. Haha!
North San Francisco Bay area
My dad walked from his store in downtown Providence in brogues first to bring his secretary, who had heels on, to her husband’s work at a grocery on Chalkstone Avenue and then to our home near Providence College. He and my mom peeled off his socks and I still remember how relieved they were as his bright white toes were getting pink in basins of warmer water. We all stayed home for two or three days afterwards.
I was living in Litchfield NH at the time school was canceled so my friends and I were out sledding. On my second trip down the hill I lost control and went head first into a tree. My friends helped my back up the hill and I remember walking home was very difficult, I felt like I was lurching to the side. They had just closed the roads due to the horrific conditions so we were stranded at home for three days. Turns out I fractured my skull and my poor mother was in a state of panic that entire time.
I was a freshman at Curry College in Milton. From the dorms we watched the parked cars disappear under all that snow. There was a small strip mall within walking distance and the owner called one of the dorms to say he was snowed in and open for business. I don’t recall where the sleds came from, but they were put to good use, loaded with party supplies and dragged back to campus. Fun times!
Oh, I remember this storm, the snow then the ice in CT. The police came and took my mom, a registered RN to Hartford Hospital where she stayed for 5 days until other relief nurses could be brought in. My father operated a construction company, so he and my brother were working long hours trying to dig out essential services in town and surrounding areas. We had no power for at least 5 days … my job was to stay at home and keep the fires burning in the fireplaces hoping not to burst the newly installed hot water baseboard. Spent lots of time listening to music/news on my transistor radio and putting puzzles together by lamplight. Ahh, the memories.
Storm hit Monday. I was activated as an NG chopper pilot…what an experience. Thursday was a real milk run, 11 tons of it, from Bostich to Portsmouth.
I was in frankfurt Germany and wanted a leave to come home and help but they wouldn’t let me , I was so heartbroken seeing the pictures and reading the news from AFN
We lived in Needham, MA and I remember walking about a mile to see route 128 covered in snow. There were multiple cars and trucks stranded. People left their cars on the road and walked up the ramp to St Bartholmew Church where they could sleep and wait out the storm. We had to walk to the grocery store, pulling a sled with a laundry basket attached to it, to do our shopping. It was beautiful out after the snow stopped and the streets were plowed. Cars weren’t allowed on the roads except for emergencies so it was so quiet and peaceful. It took weeks for everything to get back to normal.
1978 was my first year out of college and I was living in Cambridge, working at Harvard. The school was closed due to snow for the first time in its history and my roommates and I couldn’t get out of our Inman St. apartment building anyway because the roads and sidewalks weren’t plowed. So we stayed inside watching TV. I remember watching All My Children for three days straight. Then, about 20 years later when I was recuperating from some illness, I happened to catch it again. The same stuff was still happening — I hadn’t missed a thing! ????????????
I was in Medical Technology school at Rhode Island Hospital. I tried to drive home, but too many cars were stuck in the snow. I turned around on the sidewalk and stayed overnight in a friends dorm. The next day I walked home, a little over a mile in my white shoes and uniform. When I got home I heard my mom’s story. She was driving home on route 95S. So many cars were stuck in front of her she crossed the median and drove on the wrong side of the road for awhile. She was one of the last cars to make it out, the entire highway was soon shut down with cars buried in the snow.
I lived with my two roommates in Hampton NH. We lived a road back from the coast and after high tide rose in the morning, lost power and noticed water coming down the connecting street. We were notified that all would need to leave. When one roommate and I went to a elderly’s couple’s home across the road to make sure they were alright, stepping down a few stairs, water was up to our thighs. Soon afterward volunteer firemen arrived. We left and walked up to the ‘ocean front road’ and climbed on top of a sand truck which led us to a connecting street. There we got a ride from the police to go into town where the three of us stayed with a friend until the next day. Upon our return, all three of our cars were totaled by both water and damage. A time I will never forget.
So remember it! I spent my birthday shoveling out my car with a dustpan as I was plowed in! Have lived in Florida ever since!
I was in high school and the only one of my friends that drove to school. When they released us to go home I was very popular because everybody wanted me to take them home rather than wait for the buses to be rounded up. I knew my Dad would kill me to drive that many people under such conditions but I dropped them all off and safely made it home.
I had just removed to Gloucester Massachusetts in October of 1977 from Florida.
On February 6 , 1978 , I went into labor with my first child. My daughter was born at 6:26 p.m. on the 6th of February. I was able to leave the hospital 4 days later. I was not expecting to see as much snow as I did, it was the first time in my life seeing that much snow. When I got home from the hospital, I called my parents in Florida and told them, I wanted to go home to Florida. Lol. But I spent another 26 years in Gloucester/ Rockport.
That was the year lost both my Grandmother and step father in the summer. Lived on middle st in Claremont nh and the city was shut down. We had over 36” and took couple of days to get out. Lived up town so the stores were close by but driving sucked.
This Floridian moved to Woburn 2 months before the blizzard. My husband and I would make a daily trek to the grocery store for our neighbors, who were mostly elderly. Our babies thought the snow was great fun. Me, not so much. Those grocery store runs would normally take 10 minutes each way, but with all of the snow it was more like 45 mins to an hour each way.
Had similar experience, moving back to Gardner from California in Jan (78). 1 1/2 year old enjoyed much more than I did.
Thanks for comment
My wife, four month old son and I lived in Marshfield, MA on Damons Point Road. I remember leaving work at 11 AM, that day, taking several fellow employees who lived in the Marshfield area with me. We survived the drive home and a jackknifed truck on the Southeast Expressway and, after dropping everyone off I got home at about 4:15. By that time I could hardly see my way down the road. I drove the back roads as we heard that 128 was getting bad. After arriving home I looked out the kitchen window and could not see the houses across the marsh on Hummarock and the sounds we were hearing sounded like a freight train running through our back yard. Our wind indicator read 80 to 90 mph breeze with a couple of gusts hitting 125 mph b efore it was blown off the house. We later heard that the shore was being pounded by 35 to 40 foot waves which took out many of the houses across the marsh. One two story house ended up in our back yard almost intact! The tide, (flood tide), was rising quickly and water started coming in under the front door. We made the decision to leave and make our way to our neighbors house on higher ground. We gathered our four month old son, wrapped him in all the blankets we could gather then, stepped out int o the water which was about waist deep at that time. Huge ice chunks were floating in the road however, we only had to make our way between them for a few hundred feet. We got to our neighbors house and all was well until 2 AM when her sea wall burst and the water flooded the basement killing the furnace. At that point it was too cold to stay in the house any longer so we proceeded to another neighbor’s house at the top of the hill where we, with several other neighbors, gathered to wait out the storm. The following day the fire department was able to take us all the the local shelter where we stayed for about a week. Our house had 7 feet of water in it during the storm and we lost all contents with the exception of a few things we were able to put on the top shelf of the closet before leaving. One we left the shelter we were allowed to return to our house along with two armed National Guardsmen to view the house. The house had to be completely rebuilt although structurally it survived. Our car was a total loss, filled with sand and seaweed. When visiting the remains of the house we had noticed that helicopters were constantly flying over the areas destroyed by the storm to prevent looting and looking for anyone in need of assistance. To this day most of us can still recount the day the storm hit and all the events that followed. Today when I see that an area has been destroyed by a storm, flooding, etc. I feel for the people involved in a much different way than I had before the Blizzard of ’78!
I attended a double session (morning afternoon) interview for a special needs teacher position. We broke for lunch at 12:15 pm and would continue at 1:15 pm. I left the build and drove my 4×4 Dodge truck two miles down the road for a bite to eat. Snow fall seemed to be intensifying so I decided to drive home instead. Shortly after arriving home the telephone rang and the gentleman asked if I planned on returning for afternoon session. My response was , “have you looked outside, it’s not getting any better out there”. I got in the Dodge and drove the five miles back to the school administration building. Never made it there but drove on. The roads were block with disabled and abandoned vehicle everywhere but the Dodge kept on going. Odd as it maybe, I enjoyed driving in this winter wonderland. There was no stopping the Dodge !! I got on a country road and headed out to the State Forest where I rode around til 1:00 am. By this time the snow was over the grill in the Dodge as I crossed my fingers, I thought am I going to make it home. Three miles out with snow building up under the frame the Dodge kept moving forward. Amazing ! The last hundred yards were something else, the Dodge was at a crawl, pedal to the metal and snow up to the hood I’m home it’s 2:00am
why would you drive to the State Forest during a blizzard? If you had gotten stranded, no one would have found you for more than a week. Did you want to get lost?
Driving around for 12 hours? In the snow for no reason. Um sounds a bit nutty.
I was working for the State of Rhode Island at the time. For the only time that I know of, the State was shut down for a week because of this storm. Only light snow was predicted for that day. Most everyone was unprepared. I was lucky to get a ride home just before it got really bad, and there I stayed for a week. There were many cars stranded right outside my apartment. My friend called to ask if, somehow, her new husband could stay with anyone in the house. He wound up staying with me. We didn’t really know each other and it was, to say the least, very awkward. But, we played lots of board games and I cooked and, somehow, we made it though. There was a lot of people staying with friends, family or strangers since almost everyone was stranded in their cars. The streets were cluttered with cars stranded in the deep snow. There were several folks found dead in their cars, after the snow had stopped. Emergency vehicles were unable to traverse the buried roads. Even plows couldn’t move. It was an eerie feeling and very frightening. To see highways totally unpassable and so many cars just left where they stopped was unbelievable. People trying to get around were walking from car roof to car roof to move along. One thing I remember well was the sound of many snowmobiles going through the streets, as well as they could, bringing groceries and supplies to the homes of stranded people. They were a welcome Godsend to many. Oh yes! I remember it well. I’m sure this feeling of not being able to get out inspires many folks to make sure they purchase at least break and milk when a storm is predicted.
To me the storm probably represents the scariest moment lot my life. I struggled over back roads to try and complete a commute from Lexington to Westwood. Finally I was in the Westwood Industrial Park within 2 miles of my house. Yet, the car got stuck in a drift and would not go any further. Plus the drifts coming up were much higher than the car. I decided to try to walk home. I didn’t really realize how deep some of the drifts were and soon realized I was soaked through my down parka and in serious trouble. I knew I couldn’t make it home. About that time a tow truck came by trying to get through the drifts. I was desperate, I struggled to his passenger door and hopped in. The driver wasn’t happy and wanted me to get out. I told him I just couldn’t. But, he tried to back down from the drifts and was soon stuck. We struggled to a nearby appliance warehouse that had opened it’s arms to people that needed help. I really felt like they saved me, as I warmed from extreme shivers. They had opened their executive liquor cabinet to help some us in need. Forever thankful to the good folks at that warehouse.
Our family’s greenhouse collapsed under the weight of the snow. We spent most of the week huddled around the fireplace and even brought our pet gerbil closer to the warmth so that he would survive!
Long story short. My brother wanted to attend the bean pot hockey games that night. So we drove to Quincy mbta parking garage from our parents bayside home in Hull Ma. Since we got stranded at the Boston Garden, were I worked in the popcorn concessions room ( that night was .an optional work schedule for me), we spent the next two night there until we finally hitched rides and walked back to Quincy toretriveourcars! If we had stayed home that night, we might have lost our vechiles like so many others. I could tellman6 stories about those two nights at the Garden…maybe some other time.
I had just graduated from UMO and was living in Augusta, ME working as an intern at the State. Everything shut down. Luckily I didn’t have a car so I didn’t have to worry about that. One of my roommates hitched to Boston and told me that he literally walked into Boston (on 128 I guess). In hindsight, I should have gone skiing (but not car)))
I lived in the Berkshire’s, Southfield Ma. A week with no heat or electric. Gas oven to stay warm and a picture of my 6 foot tall Uncle, snow shovel in hand, next to the tallest snowball we had ever seen. In New England that was a badge of honor. I moved to Florida in 1983 and never looked back.
I was a senior at Malden High School, we ended up having 3 weeks off from school 2 weeks due to blizzard 1 week was February vacation….they almost extended our school year to make up for the missed days luckily that didn’t happen and graduated on schedule! I also remember my mom taking request for groceries from neighbors and trekking out with the family sled to pick up at the local stores.
I was a senior at Boston College, and the snow was so high, the Rec Plex was shut because the roof was unsteady. It was near Valentines Day and I think it was cancelled. We walked to the Tam O Shanter to drink beer. It was so much fun until they ran out of kegs. It was beautiful in Chestnut Hill, and being stuck on campus was just fine….
I was working in Boston on State Street commuting from Easton everyday. The forecast was did not seem anything to be overly concerned about. I wore a suit trenchcoat and dress shoes to work. I drove my pickup truck into Boston on the expressway with no problem. they closed my office at 3pm which seemed silly at the time because there were just a few light flurries but the wind was very strong. I had fight against the wind to get across the Northern Avenue bridge the first time in my life that I could not bull through the wind. I had to pull myself along the railing. I was a pretty big guy so it was a bit of a shock. As I was leaving the parking lot near Pier 4 a radio traffic report mentioned that the expressway south was blocked because of a trailer truck across the road. I then made a stupid decision. I decided to take the Mass Pike to 128 South. As I drove further west the snow intensified. Heading South from Weston on 95 South was bumper to bumper already but moving slowly. I reached the East Street exit in Westwood at 11 pm already on the road for 8 hours. The wind alone would bounce my pickup truck around a bit but I had enough clearance to drive over the snow but cars had a much more difficult time. I had been heading down the road with a van next to me for hours. I decided to get off the road and head to my sister-in -law and brother-in-law’s house which was near the exit. I had to guess where the ramp was because it was already buried in a snow drift. I gassed the truck, took a guess, and plowed into the drift. I had guessed right and was on the ramp. I broke through and as I drove up the ramp it was almost clear of snow. The force wind had blown the snow form the upper end of the ramp down towards the highway. I got to Adams street which is very close to the highway. I headed down Adams street which is very short but could not make it any further. I pulled it off the road as best I could and started to walk the 300 to 400 yards to their house. I was not sure I was going to make it. I had to climb over drifts that were 4 feet to 6 feet tall but then hit a patch that had almost no snow. I hid behind the drifts to avoid the wind. When the wind gust calmed I would struggle to the next drift. I made it to the house and my sister-in-law was on the phone with my wife. I saw my her mouth moving but I could not hear a thing. I had snow packed into my ears acting like a plug. We were stranded in the house for 3 days before we could reasonably walk down to the highway. The truck that I had driven side by side for so long was still there. The roads were closed but I was able to hitchhike home after 3 days by generous oil truck drivers making emergency deliveries stopping to pick me up.
Great story!!! Thanks for sharing
I was a freshman commuter at Boston College. The women’s hockey team was supposed to travel to Providence College to play Monday night. We were planning on making the trip (in our own cars) until they called us and said “Don’t come.” I was snowed in for five days at BC with teammates who let me stay in their dorm (gotta love the Mods at BC). It was a fun time 🙂
I was working at Western Electric in No. Andover. They sent us home at 11:00 AM. I was driving my 3 man car pool. We had an 18 mile drive to Newburyport, didn’t get home until 10:30 that night. Never got stuck, thank God, but had to keep moving stuck cars out of the road to get by. I had van and that’s what saved us from getting stuck. Couldn’t get anywhere except by foot. Had three young daughters, milk and diapers were a must. Moved to Florida that August. Never shoveled snow again.
The Hartford Civic Center roof collapsed and the Whalers had to play their games in Springfield until it was repaired
Wow! I didn’t realize that happened. But I was 8 yrs old so what did I know but building the most amazing snow fort of my life at the end of the driveway on our quiet little road in the back country of Marlborough CT. Great memories for me as a kid. Although reading some of these stories I am sorry for those that didn’t fair so well.
The Civic Center roof collapsed on Jan. 18th, 1978 during a different storm.
I was 21 years old and I drove into Boston every day in my 1969 VW Fastback–engine in the back! My best friend at the time commuted in with me to her college. Weather technology was very primative and I think we only knew it was going to snow that day.
Around noon time my friend showed up at my job saying her school let them out and I opted to leave work and off we went. Down route 1 and I imagine it was snowing. The best thing about the old VW’s with the engine in the back was they were little snow mobiles.
It was only when we got to the stadium in Foxboro that I remember the driving getting really bad. My friend clearly upset, me, at my young age tenacious and convinced we’d get home safe.
I opted to stay on route 1 and carried on. My friend lived in Wrentham and I lived in Plainville. I made it to Plainville center and have no doubt I could have made it to my house but chose to go on to Wrentham. The bizzard got worse and worse. After I believe three hours on the road we finally arrived at my friend’s house and there I stayed for four days. Safe and sound.
During the Storm of 78 I was turning 18 years old!! Finally able to LEGALLY have a few at one of the local pubs. My birthday was on the 7th but when I saw it begin to snow heavy on the 6th of February I went out to have dinner at a pub I knew wouldn’t have a problem serving me a day early!!! Well, we all got trapped in that Pub and Damn if that wasn’t on of my most memorable and truly fun birthdays. I didn’t get wasted as some might think because I already knew what a hangover felt like and never wanted to experience another. Others there got really plastered since the owner decided to have an unofficial open bar once we all knew we were snowed in for the night. The jukebox was put on auto play and once it had played most of the songs at least twice the owner but the radio on. The next morning I had to struggle to get home through all the snow and drifts and all I kept thinking was Thank God! no one is allow to drive right now!!! I ended up volunteering at some of the FEMA offices in Revere and Salem advocating for some of the really hard hit individuals on the North Shore and also helping people fill out the numerous forms for FEMA assistance. I don’t think the Federal emergency services were known as FEMA back in 78 but maybe it was. I remember sitting with a lot of these people making sure they got something hot to drink and a baked good donated by one of the local bakeries. Sitting with them and listening to their stories of making it through February 07, 1978. A few people lost their pets but for the most part the first responders back then also risked their lives for those family pets. That Snow Storm was really something, a snow storm Birthday I will never forget. I do often wonder if in today’s social climate would there be as many of those wonderful stories of people acting selfless toward other people, showing and doing simple honest acts of kindness to their neighbor even when the neighbor was a stranger. I wonder if there would be just as many of those stories if the people living in that area were to face another disaster like the storm of 78?
I was living in Marshfield and a student attending QJC in Quncy. I remember deciding to leave school around noon and not go to work at Jordan Marsh in downtown that night – a very good decision as it turned out.
My father and sister also worked at Jordan’s and ended up getting stranded in my father’s “boat”, a Buick Electra 225. They ended up getting evacuated to a shelter for several days. Meanwhile back in Marshfield near Humarock, we lost our power and had no heat (electric). I remember my mother, brother and sister closing off the family room and using the fireplace for heat. At one point we started burning furniture that was stored in the garage. Once the snow stopped I trekked the 4 miles to Marshfield Center to get some milk and provisions. I recall being surprised to see the parking lot full of cars despite the driving ban. I asked a cop why they were allowed to drive and he said they need to get food. I said so did I but walked to get it.
The best story was that we had just bought a snowblower which was a huge help as we had a long steep driveway.
I also had a great opportunity. Jordan Marsh had a huge warehouse in Squantum. I got hired to work as part of the emergency snow removal team clearing the snow off the roof so it wouldn’t collapse.
Oh there is one life lesson I learned and take away from living through that snow storm. That one fact is that when the weather man mentions that we might get maybe an inch of snow over night. If you need milk or Bread you better head for the store as soon as the first mention of snow is made public. I swear that if you are in New England and the weatherman say the word snow. You need to beat everyone else to the store because the is this strange phenomenon that it seems a lot of New Englanders believe to be fact not fiction. And that is if you don’t get mild and bread before it snows you will be waiting a life time for those products. Because I swear these New Englanders shop like this snow is world wide and is going to cause every cow to die and all the wheat in this country will be destroyed so you will never have bread again either. (LMFAO)
That’s hilarious ???? but true. Born and raised in CT
Sorry about question marks …that was supposed to show a laughing emoji.
I had arrived home from the hospital and found that my colleague that was on call walked hone across the brightman st bridge so I called him & said I would take the call. One of the other thing that occurred was my street was cleaned multlple times by the plows since the owner of the contracting company lived on our street. Also, our refrigerator gave out and we used the snowdrifts and a galvanized barrel sunk into the drifts to keep our food cold
It must have been in southern New England only. I was attending the the University of Maine at Orono and we didn’t have a blizzard there. I would have remembered it. It’s a cold, windy campus in the middle of winter.
It came as far north as Fairfield. We lived on an island in the kennebec river between Fairfield and Benton. The snowbanks were HUGE – the storm delayed our annual trek from Maine to Florida by a couple days so roads could clear.
Southern Maine was hit hard. I taught at York High School then. We received early release, and I remember bringing about 8 kids who had missed their bus packed into my 1973 VW Sunbug! I dropped them off on th way home to Kittery Point. We ended up with 36 inches on the Point, with drifts up to the roof line of our house. Storm surge destroyed the Town dock on the cove behind Frisbee’s store.
We were called back to school 3 days later. The snow in the courtyard outside my classroom was so deep we couldn’t see out the windows!
There were snowbanks in Kittery Trading Post’s parking lot into early May. They had to use a payloader to remove a 12 ton boulder dropped into Anchorage Motor Inn’s office by high tide.
Farmington sure got the storm. I don’t recall the details of how much snow fell or what time it started. I was only in elementary school, but I remember it snowed for 2 days. The 3rd day the sun came out but there was still no school, as the plows had a lot of work to do to clear the roads, parking lots, etc. The teachers/school personnel went back to work the 3rd day, and one of my sisters and I went out walking. It felt so good to be out after being cooped up at home for two days. It was so warm that 3rd day (relatively speaking), we just had our ski sweaters (no coat) and sunglasses walking around town to check out the snowbanks.
We were living in Nashua, NH In 1978. My husband worked in Portsmouth, NH. The storm came up from the south, so it didn’t start to mount up in the morning. By 3:00 pm, though, it was coming down pretty fast and his car pool partner decided the should leave. It took them 3 hours to get home. The next morning the ridge across the driveway, made by the plow, was higher than the car. My husband called in to work to say he was going to be late and a security guard answered the phone and said the place was closed and no one was there. He was able to get to work the next day but the coast had taken a pounding and many of his coworkers suffered major damage. The company headquarters was in Massachusetts and had to get permission from the governor of Massachusetts for payroll to be transported because the state roads were closed.
I was a college student at Northeastern University living on Winslow St, in Brookline. My roomates were from Hull MA and we thought little of the snow until the next morning when all classes were cancelled for the entire week. We lived in a third floor apt on a short side street. We had little food but lots of beer. I have vivid memories of the deployment of the National Guard and curfew and road and travel restrictions. Acrooss the hall were two nurses whom had sufficient food and knew how to cook, we enjoyed each others’ company for the week. The snow was piled so high, we opened the living room window and were able to chill our beer in the snow, with ease.
We ventured out in search of food, and found a convenince store open, we made a makeshift sled from platsitc milk cartoons and dragged our provisions for several miles.
It was during this time that for the first time we received our weekly Sport’s Illustated magizine, but this one was remarkably different. It was the Swim Suit edition.
Two college students with cold beer, communal female companionship and the Swim Suit edition; —–what could be better.
The snow lasted on Comm Ave until after Memorial Day.
The storm of ‘78 was my first memory I believe.
We were living right on the water in scituate-right by the lighthouse. I remember an air of tension as my parents hurriedly discussed what to do and how quickly we needed to do it as the water was rising and Beginning to cover the roads quickly. We took a few things and left in a hurry. In scituate I just remember rising water, it was as we drove inland to stay at my aunts house in Brighton that the snow became an issue.
We stayed away from Scituate for weeks-eventually coming back to stay in the Clipper Ship-the hotel in the harbor.
It looked like war had happened-which in a way it had- a war between what man had built-and the sea. Houses were off their foundations, cars, furniture, refrigerators, were all over yards, all over the roads. Sand, rocks and debris covered the ground.
It was an incredible sight. I remember the Red Cross was around-they gave me a few toys since we lost all the contents of our house.
It was an amazing event in New England history to have lived through, especially to have experienced it down in Scituate. I’m glad I did.
The toll ticket from the Mass Pike still hangs in my dad’s shop. The only one he never paid and brought home. He made it home from Dorchester to Sutton!
I was visiting friends and we went to a restaurant in Henniker, NH. Had a couple pitchers of beer and then drove to Hissborough, NH. I was in the back seat and a car lost control coming down a hill. The car hit us and I was hurt. I remember being in the back of the ambulance going to Concord Hospital. Not another car on the road the whole way there. The next day(s) I spent in Hillsborough with crutches, but still loved all that beautiful snow. Certainly a time to remember:)
I taught at East Boston High School and lived in Natick Mass.They let us out of school at 1:00 PM. I started home on the Mass Pike Extension, but when I got to Newton, they had closed the Mass Pike. Drove home the Rest of the way on Route 30.My most vivid memory was on Wednesday Morning after the snow had stopped,I walked about half a mile to the convience store on the corner of Hartford St and Rt. 135. where I bought eggs,2 loafs of bread, and milk. As i began walking back, I heard a growling behind me. I looked and saw a large German Shepherd. Thinking Quickly, I opened the bread and threw the dog a piece. By the time i got home, I had fed the dog 1/2 a loaf of bread. When I got home, my wife asked why I only had a loaf and a half of bread. I made up a story that they were rationing the bread. My wife’s reply was B***S**T and then the real story came out.Also before the storm, my wife had bought wallpaper and she spent the time stuck in the house wallpapering most of the rooms.I ended up having No School in Boston for 3 weeks.
I was 11 years old, living in Brockton. We were afraid that my mother would not make it home from work in downtown Boston but she did. After that it was all good memories of me and my brother and friends having snowball fights from 2-story mounds in front out my house, being out of school for 2 weeks, and people skiing down the road to get to the corner store.
I grew up in North Central Massachusetts-Gardner- before leaving for sunny California in 1970. Married, and mother of 1 1/2 year old, we set out to return to Gardner in January of 1978. Little did we know that our welcome, just a month later, would be the famous blizzard of ‘78! We did a great deal of walking in during that time. Our daughter loved the new sled and snowflakes on her nose. Me-not so much.
It was an experience that few here in California can comprehend ( yes, we fled back). As strange as it seems, however, it comes flooding back as fun and fond memories to this day.
I was snowed in with a week of led baby and a 2yo child. Luckily, my husband made it home from work that first evening after picking up his mother at the train station in Framingham.
Although a lovely woman, she refused send to help me n any way, so I ended up having to take care of all of them when I wanted it not to focus on my two babies.
She did take a lot of photos of our yard and home to commemorate her visit!!!!!
I was underway on the USCGC Decisive, a 210 ft cutter, in Massachusetts Bay. We were there to assist in the search and rescue of the pilot boat Can-Do and the tanker Global Hope.
I was working at Northeast Utilities, Customer Service Center in Madison, CT. We were allowed to leave work at 2 p.m. , when the weather report predicted a major storm. I lived in Chester, CT and had snow tires on my car and made it home safely in about two hours. The blizzard continued all night and we lost power. I was called to return to work to help cover the phones, due to all the power outages. However, Governor Grasso had ordered all roads to be closed, other than to emergency vehicles. A local coworker who had a Jeep offered me a ride to and from work for the next several days. We worked 10-hour days in the office, but the linemen risked their lives working much longer hours to help restore power. Some remote areas were not restored for weeks.
I was on 128 for three days during blizzard with family and we were interviewed by WBZ and finally got to a hotel and took off cushions in lobby and slept on them…The National Guard came and brought food and my two girls served….Men were breaking the cigarette machine ……….Barbara Feb 5th, 2020
Frightening!
My husband was working in Boston and made it home in the middle of the storm in a little volkswagon bug. I was living in Wareham at the time and was worried sick. We did not get that much snow and while everyone else was snowed in the next day we were pulling the kids down the street on the sleds and the entire neighborhood was out. Although we were not snowed in we could not go anywhere as the state was shut down.
I was in 8th grade at BLS. We took the bus to school, excited that it was going to snow, hoping for the next day off. As we listened to our Boom Boxes, the predictions went from 1-2”, to 2-4”, and 3-6”. We got dismissed early (normal time was 1:35pm). They packed as many as they could onto each bus, as quickly as they could and got us out of there. I went to my grandparent’s place (as was normal on Mondays). My mother got out of work early and raced to pick my younger sister up from school in Hyde Park and then get me so we could go home. She called from my sister’s school and told my grandparents to watch out the window for her up the hill, and to just “toss her out the door, and tell her to JUMP into the car, I can’t stop”. If mom stopped the car, the snow was so deep she’d never get moving again. Let me tell you it was exciting! We got home, and were, like everyone else, housebound for days. But we had plenty of food.
It was days before my dad made it home. The nature of his job kept him in place until someone showed up to replace him. Once he got home, he and mom dragged out the 6′ toboggan, and knocked on our neighbors doors, making a list of who needed what at the grocery store that was about a mile away. After they returned with what groceries they could get, the snowblower went into action. Dad was awesome. My strongest memories are of being able to SLED anywhere and everywhere; of the HUGE front end loaders that came down our narrow street to remove snow. They had 5′ tall wheels which I know because I was just over 5′ tall. They made enormous piles of snow, that you could sled on, at every street corner! I also remember that we measured the snow’s depth, by lowering the little boy next door off the porch into the snow, and determined that the snow was “1 Greggy deep”.
We had practically the entire month of school off, which meant we had to go to school 30 minutes EARLY every day, and 1 hour LATE every day for the rest of the year so we weren’t in school after 4th of July. It was totally worth it.
I SO remember this. First winter in a new house, in Laconia, and I had to get a local farmer to bring his loader to clean out my driveway, as the &^%$&%$&!! Sn*w was WAY too deep for a regular plow ????
Going to work that February morning from Warren RI to Swansea MA I was behind a truck putting salt down. The 6 1/2 mile drive that took 20 minutes in the Am turned into a 2 hour drive at 2pm! After being home for a week and not being able to drive in RI we started walking to my parents house in MA when a National Guard truck picked us up and brought us to the state line where my father picked us up. MA didn’t have a ban on driving. Spent the next 2 days there. I live in Florida now!
My recollection of the Blizzard of ’78 has me living in Hudson, NH and traveling to work at General Electric Medium Steam Turbine in Lynn, MA. On the day of the storm just about everyone left work early to avoid problems on the road. As was my usual custom, I would stay after work and catch up on things that I let slide throughout the day and wait for the traffic on Route 128 to subside. That day was no different and I held back leaving for home until somewhere around 6:00 pm. Before leaving the office, I called home to see if the TV had any traffic reports and learned from my wife, Pat, that Route 128 was becoming quite hazardous, so I decided to take the back roads and go up Routte 114 and eventually cut over Route.495 to I93 and then on up to Route 111 in New Hampshire, which led directly to Hudson At the time I was driving a two wheel drive pickup truck with some fire wood in the back for ballast, and was fortunate to make it home with little difficulty. Realizing the severity of the storm, we went out and stocked up on food and supplies to insure we had enough provisions to sustain us for several days if necessary. After returning home from shopping, we lit a nice fire in the fireplace and turned on the TV to find that Rt.128 had been closed and that hundreds of cars stranded, and the storm was intensifying. As the winds continued to escalate it was reported that there was sever damage on Boston Harbor and that the Anthony’s Pier Four lounge, a side wheeler, The Peter Stuyvesant, tore loose from the main restaurant and eventually sank. The storm never reached full potential in southern New Hampshire, but Massachusetts was declared a State of Disaster, and with the roads impassable all Boston area businesses were closed for about a week. Fortunately I had emptied the papers from my desk into my briefcase and spent the week catching up on paperwork.
John A. Eagar
02/05/2020
I lived in Northbridge, Mass. and drove to work in Ashland, Monday before it started to snow. I left work at 4 pm for my half hour ride home. Cars were stuck on the big hill in Upton. I had to go back and go through Milford and Hopedale. I got home 3 hours later. I didn’t move my car for five days. No traffic except snowmobiles were on the streets.
I was working in the power plant at Hartford Hospital. Governor Ella Grasso had closed the highways to all but emergency personnel, which I was. Leaving work, and traveling South on I-91 at 8 a.m. seemed so strange. I was literally the only vehicle on the road. I was greeted at my home in Haddam by a 5 foot high bank of snow at the end of my driveway.
I was a Jr at Framingham State, but had no classes that day. I was supposed to go to my job at the New England Deaconess Hospital, but I had a bad headache and called in sick. I laid on the coach and took a nap. Not sure how long it was but when I woke up I looked out the window and the snow was up over the taillights on my ‘71 Challenger! I could believe what I was seeing. Later, it got scary when I heard my Dad was stuck out on 128 and eventually got a ride from a Trooper or somebody! Anyone who did go to the Deaconness that day was stuck there a week. I heard people were all switching off and doing each other’s jobs out of boredom and no replacements. I was very bored at home after a few days but glad I didn’t get stuck.
I experienced the blizzard from both near and far. Living in San Antonio in South Central Texas (courtesy of the Air Force), I had gone to Holyoke inWestern Massachusetts to move my mother to Texas after my father died. The movers carried my great-great-grandmother’s curly maple grandfather’s clock out so carelessly (after we warned them) that the bonnet (top) fell off and shattered between the drifts. (They later claimed it was old so that’s why it broke and therefore they weren’t responsible.) We flew out of Hartford ok, but then the van took forever to get to Texas because it was stuck in drifts in Connecticut for almost a week. Every time I see the repaired scars at the top of the clock I think of the blizzard and the van line (never to be used again).
I was blessed to be on the last train to make it from North Station to Reading, MA. Watching the storm on TV and listening to the police scanner, especially in Revere is my strongest memory. And walking to Mass the next morning. We had family on the other side of town and walked there multiple times. It was so beautiful and peaceful for us. Not so for people on the coast. Pictures of 128 and the ocean barely told the story of the nightmare this storm was to so many. The memories are so strong that it seems like yesterday.
I was a freshman in college in western Pennsylvania. My brother, Donald Wilkinson was one of the crew on the Can Do pilot boat. I remember getting the call from my Dad saying that Don was missing and to come home. The weather was already bad at the time and I remember seeing the railroad tracks in places on fire from PA to Providence. As we got close to RI they were announcing on the train that all transportation had been halted by the national guard and only those with permits were allowed to go anywhere. At that time my father worked for New England Power at Brayton Point in Somerset. Somehow two of his coworkers were at the train station when I arrived and they were able to drive me home. They were among many angels that were there for my family and I in that very sad time. So much of that time is still a blur for me. I believe my family was driven from Somerset to Salem by the National Guard so we could be there for his funeral. So many lives were impacted by the Blizzard of 78. Every year my thoughts take me back to that experience. It is a sad time to relive for many families.
I lived in Salem, MA. My daughter was only 18 months old at the time. We lived on a hill. My ex had a snowplow on his dump truck so he was considered an emergency vehicle and one of the few allowed out on the roads. He plowed out neighbors and made runs to the store if anyone needed anything but most of us were well prepared. I took my daughter for rides on a sled down the middle of our street since no cars were allowed for almost two weeks.
I was at the next town over from you! I was at Endicott College in Beverly and I remember the plows were constantly going up and down Rte. 127. My roommate and I tried to walk to the beach located behind one of the dorms (Tupper Manor) but as we went through the snow with great difficulty and barely reaching the side of Tupper Manor, I noticed my boot had stepped into something different. I pulled my boot out and looked down to see that it was slush. I realized that the tide had risen extremely high because of this monster of a storm. We immediately returned to our dorm!
Every single school and college in Massachusetts closed…except Smith College. Sheesh.
Bert February 6, 2020
I had just moved to Boston from North Carolina to study Latin and Greek at Harvard. I lived with a family on Beacon Hill and helped to take care of a little boy who was celebrating his first birthday. The father of the family and I went grocery shopping and bought enough food to last eight days, which was fortunate, since the snow began the next morning, and we could not get out of the front door onto Revere Street for the next eight days. Having just come up from North Carolina, I was amused to see that the North Carolina contingent of the National Guard came to Boston to dig us out. I remember that the water on the came into coastal areas so quickly that some people sleeping below ground level were overwhelmed by the water and drowned in their basements. Some children were overwhelmed by the snow and suffocated in the snow near their homes, and they were not found for several days. Weather reporting at that time was not as rapid as it is now, and so the storm caught people by surprise in a way that it never would now. The whole episode was shocking and unforgettable. It was a kind of adventure for people who were unharmed, but a tragedy for many families.
I’d forgotten the year; but surely remember the storm! We were living in Southington, CT., just 18 miles S of Hartford and for the first time ever, Gov. Ella Grasso closed Hwy. 84. Cars were stuck and stalled everywhere – my husband was one of them who wasn’t able to make the drive home from work in Meriden! He worked most of the next day shoveling the car out and making his way home to get it off the road!
That morning I walked out of a bank in Framingham, after signing papers for a mortgage for house in Ashland. At the time I was renting an apt in a building that my uncle owned in Needham. When I came out of the bank and saw how fast the snow was coming down I needed to beet feet it out of there and get back to Needham. All of us who lived in the apt’s were stranded for a week or more. My uncle owned big trucks and was able to get to us, and asked us to shovel as much snow from the back of the vehicle’s so we could back out and he could plow the parking lot. At the time I was driving a VW bug, I cleaned off the drivers door and wind shield started her up, put her reverse, gunned it and backed out and never had to shovel a stich of snow. Thank you VW.
I was 12. We lived in Melrose. We had snow drifts so tall in the front of our house that all we saw was white out the windows. Days later, my father built a box on top of a sled, and we guided it to Cerretani’s market downtown along with dozens of other people. It was easier to guide an empty sled down hill than a full sled uphill! My father commented that what he loved about blizzards is that everyone forgets their animosities and comes together. During the days after the blizzard, he talked with a man down the street whom he disliked (the feeling was mutual). When things returned to normal, so did their relationship.
I (Pat Maloney) lived in Waterbury, Ct at the time of the storm. I worked in an office in downtown Waterbury and everyone in my office had left early. From past experience, I knew sometimes it was better to wait before leaving which I decided to do. I was in a large office building. Around 3 PM a lawyer from a downstairs firm who lived near me came into the office and informed that we were the only people in the building. We decided to leave together and go in my car. We started out and headed to one street that took us up into our neighborhood and discovered it was totally blocked with cars. We tried a number of streets with no luck. So we decided to park the car in a ramp garage and get something to eat. Then after seeing the snow situation hadn’t change so we decided to try to walk. It was about 3 miles. I had no hat, no gloves and just in shoes. My partner had gloves only. We walked about 4 blocks and were hit head on with blinding snow. Back to the restaurant bar. My father lived in a one bed room apartment downtown so we called him and stayed with him overnight. At 7 the next morning, our Mayor located both of us by phone (we were both on municipal boards), picked us up and delivered us to the City yards where they had a emergency center. We ended up going out in trucks and reporting back to the center about the snow conditions in Waterbury. Finally at around 4:30 the mayor picked us up and delivered us home. I had been gone from home for 36 hours. Never got back to work for three days. Worst storm I have ever seen in my 76 years. My friend and I celebrated the 30 year anniversary in 2008 and had a drink at the bar we hung out in while waiting on the storm.
I was living in Manchester CT at the time. The governor closed all the roads. We were out of milk. About 3 blocks away, a local dairy farm had a milk machine. They sold quarts and 1/2 gallons of milk. Oddest thing I ever saw but just like any vending machine, you put in your money and you get your milk. I put my golden retriever’s harness on and got on the sled and he pulled me over . We both had a blast. He always loved the snow. I would be shoveling the driveway and he would burrow through the snow and come barreling out of his snow tunnel into the driveway, making more work for me but he probably thought he was helping. Then I got a call from my boss to come in to work. But the governor closed the roads. He stated I would not have a job if I didn’t come in. At the time I really had no choice. The roads were plowed at this point as it had stopped snowing at this point. Very errie with no one else on the road but was really odd, I never saw any police cars and no one stopped me even though the ban was not lifted for 2 more days.
I was in 9th grade. North Quincy High was being rebuilt so it was running double sessions. My older brothers had the first session and were home before it got bad. I was in the second session, noon ’til 5:00pm. I took a bus home because it was dark when we were done. The school closed at 3;30pm and I got on the bus. Usually the bus let me off at the corner of my house, but this time, the bus stopped at Safford St., two blocks away, and most of the other kids had further to go. We were all ordered off the bus to get to our homes as best we could. The snow was about a foot or so deep, but the wind and blowing snow made it hard to breathe, and impossible to see. I trudged on, using each fence to hold onto, and so I could keep my bearings. I didn’t know I’d reached the end of the block. The snow was completely level, but my foot went down off the curb. I was scared. If I didn’t walk straight, I could end up trudging into the road and miss my house.
The scarf over my face was frozen and snow pelted my face. I was so relieved to feel the next curb, and then the next chain-link fence, that I stopped there, grasping the wire and catching my breath. I knew there had to be other kids around but I couldn’t see or hear anything but snow and wind. Each house on my block had chain-linked fences so I just had to count the posts as I went. I reached our back gate. My mittens were coated with frozen snow so I had trouble with the latch. Once inside the yard, I knew I’d make it to the house. By the time I reached the back porch, I started crying with relief.
When I fell into the back door, Mom was on the phone with Dad afraid I was lost. She’d called the school and was told all the kids should have been dropped off some time ago. I saw the relief on her face. I sank to a seated position, exhausted. Mom had to pull my boots off as well as my mittens, scarf, hat & coat.
Our school was closed for two weeks. The snow was so high it completely covered our picnic table. On the far side of our detatched garage, (used to be a small horse barn,) there was a frozen wave taller then me. The wind had thrown it upwards and it just froze. Gorgeous!
We took our sleds to the nearby Stop&Shop for essentials. Unfortunately, we were blessed with very intelligent parents who valued learning. We got no snow days. Dad set up a huge chalkboard and we all had school, every day!
I was in Belmont New Hampshire. I remember trying to get home. The combination of snow & wind & blisterring cold made the trek near impossible. The storm had a grip on the entire North East though I was only concerned about getting someplace warm. Got home after leaving the car quite some distance from my front door. Later that night with two chains, two friends & two trucks. . The three of us wrangled the “Olds” back to its’ vacant & waiting perch ( the driveway ) Ansolutely EVERYTHING closed for just about two – three days. Now in recollecting those past days in New Hampshire I sit, I wonder, I remain calm. The Blizzard of 1978, Oh yes LOCKED in the memory. Just now I’ll make a fresh coffee and scramble some eggs & maybe some turkey bacon.
Was living in CT – had a 5 year old and a 1 year old. My husband, working 25 miles away, was released from work early, but stopped on the way home at a friend’s Blizzard Party on the way home. By the time he thought about coming home, the governor had closed all the highways, and he was “stranded” away from home for 3 days. I stayed awake most of the night through the storm and kept clearing the snow away from behind the back door so the girls and I wouldn’t get snowed into the house. I woke the next day to 5 foot drifts around 3 sides of the house, the back door was snowed in tight. I started to dig my way out, only to discover that the high winds that had caused the drifts on 3 sides of the house, had completely blown the snow away from the front of the house — and there was a 4′ wide strip of bare ground all across the front of the house! imagine my relief!! I spent the next 3 days shoveling 4′ of packed snow out of the end of the driveway so my husband could get into the driveway when he was finally able to make it home!
A blizzard party ? omg…he should of came straight home. I would of been livid being home with two small children and having to shovel. lol
I was in grad schoool at Boston College. My husband was working in Cambridge at the hospital. I lived in cambridge. I had always wanted to know what streets looked like in the days of no cars. Well, I found out. I looked out the window and all the cars were covered. Could not even see the roofs. Then driving was banned so trucks could come into the city and haul the snow out since there was no place to shovel. I remember major storms for 3 weeks in a row.
I was to leave for Spain on my Sabbatical. I had yet to retrieve my plane tickets for the flight on February 8. My travel agent worked in Brighton. I was in Cambridge. I put on my cross country skis and made my way over to Brighton to get my tickets. My travel agent had spent the night in her office. I took the T to Logan Airport only to find my flight had been canceled. I put my luggage in a locker and returned home. Only on the next day was I able to get a flight out.
My wife and I worked in Boston in government center area. We lived in Norton and my company decided to close at 2 pm. I called my wife and her employer wasn’t closing early. So I had her tell her boss she came in with me and had no way to get home so they let her leave. We managed to get last train out of south station heading to Providence before line was shut down. Was able to drive from Mansfield train station to our home and get into driveway there was about 7 inches snow already. Was home for a week.
Maureen Cardelle: February 6, 1978 was a Monday. I remember this because I was living in Providence, and when I went to my Mom’s house on Friday, in New Bedford, she told me my Godmother had passed away. I went back to Providence, and never gave it another thought…That’s denial! But, because I forgot, never made it back to NB for the funeral on Monday. I remember being at work, and someone came into the offce and said something about the snow, and it hit me. I said ‘oh no, my Aunt Mary died’. I was so ashamed. But it really was a good thing, because, back in Providence, I had a dog and a cat, who may not have made it through.
During the blizzard, I was twelve. We lived in North Eastham on the Cape, where my parents owned cottages. But Mom had to go into Mass General to have a cancerous polyp removed, that’s probably more info than you need!!!
So anyway…. living on the Cape, they hated driving in Boston. So of course getting there was it’s own Hell.
So we drove to Hyannis, and hopped the bus to Boston, and then grabbed the T to the hospital.
It had started snowing like a madman. So after we got Mom all checked in, we ran to catch the T back. And our train was JUST starting to leave the platform… so, I said “DAD! HURRY! We’re gonna MISS it!”
We missed it. Turns out, that subway car was involved in a horrible accident. There were fatalities. So, we jumped the next train… and God was DEFINITELY watching out for us!
We got on the bus, finally. Hopped into our beat up but very heavy Cadillac. That night, Mother called us. She was in a room with 3 other women. I could hear all of them laughing in the background, and the opioid meds that were supposed to go to mom’s roommate somehow ended up in her arm. So she was having a PARTY with her roommates, and ALL of the nurses and doctors had to spend the night, so it was this epic slumber party!!
Meanwhile, my best friend’s dad went to Coast Guard beach in Eastham with his camera, and he got amazing pictures of the waves that had.. maybe some of you guys remember, a bath house. The waves were three times as high as that. And the waves crashed over it, totally annihilated it, and floated away. The parking lot just crumbled.
But the saddest part, for me, was that Beston’s Outermost House, was swept into the ocean. They were able to grab the Fo’castle sign, but the rest, sad to say, was TOAST.
Definitely a storm I’ll remember all of my life. Now I live in Utah.
I tell some people about this, but I get zero empathy. They have NO clue what a Nor’easter can do!
What a great recount of your experience! I, too, remember it like it was yesterday, living in Brighton with 4 UVM girlfriends, and working in Boston (age 22 and straight out of college). I had actually driven myself into work at One Beacon Street. Well, my boss took one look at me…said “what are you doing here?!?!’ and sent me straight home, saying that we were about to get a huge storm. We called that ‘work ethic’ back then! And boy, was it a doozy! I now live in Northern California, but those college besties are STILL my soulmates and kindred spirits….it was a terrible time for many, but I was a lucky one! What a time it was! All the best to you beautiful New England readers!
I love your blizzard story! We now live on Cape Cod. But in 1978 I was a young adult living in CT and had spent a couple of weeks each year of my childhood in a little cottage on Thumpertown Beach. We frequently walked the stretch of beach between Nauset Light and Coast Guard, and especially liked seeing Henry Beston’s Outermost House. (My mom was a big Beston fan and even has a letter from his wife.) We were incredibly sad that the Fo’castle was a victim of this storm. As you know, Coast Guard Beach was forever changed, too. Thanks for sharing your Cape memory.
I know what your talking about…born and raised in Worcester Massachusetts and during my growing up years there was quite a few noreasters, I live in Boise Idaho
I was a freshman at Quinnipiac College ( now University) in Hamden, CT. I still have pictures of me and my suite mates sitting on top of high snow drifts. Food delivery trucks were unable to get to us so food needed to be rationed. To this day, the thought of hotdogs for breakfast is not on the top of my list!
Larry M. – Coventry, CT – February 6, 2021
My wife and I remember the storm SO well . . . not for the hardships that it presented to us, but for the satisfaction that we felt at that time. My wife was 9 months pregnant and finally delivered at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford on January 27, 1978. I had, for weeks, shoved snow out of our driveway again and again to be sure we could get out if my wife needed to deliver the baby. Finally, labor was induced on 1/27 and we had our first child, a beautiful little baby girl (Meredith). Because Meredith had some functional jaundice (not uncommon in newborns) she had to remain under lights at the hospital for a few extra days and my wife was allowed to remain as well (likely would not happen now), but we finally brought our little girl home with us on the last day of January – a VERY cold, typically New England winter day. Within days we began hearing news of the impending storm that would hit New England (did it ever!!!) so we made sure we had adequate wood set aside for the small wood stove we had in addition to our oil burner and stocked enough standard food supplies as we would for any impending storm . . . and then we listened, watched, and waited. As others have attested, the Blizzard of ’78 hit with a fury 6 days later and we were snowbound. I was a school principal in a town about 25″ away, but all of the schools in CT were closed and Gov. Ella Grasso officially closed the roads in the state so the 3 of us were “stuck” at home for days. We live on a corner of a fairly main road (a state highway) and there was/is usually steady traffic on the road throughout the day, any day, any month of the year. But, in February ’78 I recall walking out to the road, standing in the single plowed lane that existed and. . . hearing . . . absolutely . . . nothing except for the unceasing wind. The road was totally empty and remained so except for an occasional snow plow. It was as still as if I had been standing in any open field in New England – not a sound! But, as I noted at the beginning of this piece, we were very contented to know that our new baby girl was safely home and the 3 of us were together in a cozy, warm setting while the Blizzard of ’78 howled and blew outside and shut everything down for days afterward. We remember the Blizzard of ’78 for its ferocity and having experienced such an awful weather event, but we remember it best for the security and contentment that we felt as well. It’s a nice memory combination to this day.
Uconn student in Storrs. Everything closed, no classes. But incredible fun! Massive dorm vs dorm and quad snowball fights on an industrial level! High diving into snow drifts! A flask of schnaps and some female companionship to stay warm. Great memories – once in a lifetime event.
I was also at UConn in Storrs and have the same recollection. It was great to be with all your friends and no classes, although I remember food getting low by the 3rd day. It was great to walk/sled around the campus with no vehicles although it was tough to get around. We had an incredible time and I’ll never forget it.
I was at UCONN at the time too. The package store near campus was somehow still delivering. My friend announced that Hell Must of frozen over because UCONN cancelled classes.
Francine S.
I was 9. My parents owned a bakery in Waltham. My dad worked 6 nights a week, usually going in about 11. We lived about 30 miles away from the bakery and the trip at night on the empty roads was usually quick, according to Pop. That night, my brother and I had been cleaning off the driveway so my dad would be able to get out. Well he did, and he made it to the edge of town (5 miles) before getting turned around. He finally made it to the shop hours later. He still baked fresh bread and pastries, ran the back and front of the store himself for 4 days. He was one of the only stores open in the Wal-lex shopping center that week.
I was working as an RN at Women and Infants Hospital in Providence. I had to get home because my dog was alone in my tenement flat and my landlords were in Florida. I walked 3 miles, sometimes on top of cars that were abandoned on the freeway and finally made it home to find the power was out, but my dog was fine. A day later a National Guard jeep came and took me and my dog, Roy, back to the hospital. We camped in my office for 4 days. It was kind of fun. I got to ride in a helicopter to pick up a woman in labor and everyone spoiled Roy with steak and other treats.
Rockport, MA We lived in Lexington in ’78. All snowed in together for a week, our 13-year-old daughter would live only a few more weeks with cystic fibrosis. Precious days shoveling with her watching from the window. My husband had had a rough drive home from work in Needham the night before, but we were safe and had a living room fireplace and a small amount of wood to burn for heat.
I remember this storm well. Living in Andover, Ma, my husband had to dig a tunnel from our door so we could get out. Amazing amount of snow. Had to hike to get groceries with my baby daughter in a backpack. It was surreal to walk in street with no cars and so much snow. My husbands coworkers were stranded on I-93 from Boston for days.
We were living on Water St in Quincy when the blizzard happened. Our daughter was about 1-1/2 years old. I still remember looking out our living room window when the snow started coming down, gently at first, then it picked up speed. Our oil company came and delivered oil, and we had no idea how important that was going to be until things developed further! A few days after the storm, we put our daughter in our little red plastic sled, and walked the 1/2 mile down the middle of Water St to my sister’s house for a visit, and to get out of the house! Other people were walking in the middle of the street too. It was so strange not seeing the usual heavy traffic on the street! We will never forget this storm. It’s something, even 44 years later, that you can’t help but remember!
I was a pediatric resident at Boston Children’s Hospital. There was a great sense of camaraderie. I lived in Jamaica Plain, not too far from the hospital, and worked extra shifts to cover for colleagues who could not get to work. The Emergency Department was nearly deserted— only the true emergencies came in, not the huge number of children with colds usually seen in February.
I forgot to add that nine months later there was an increase in the number of newborn deliveries!
We owned a dairy farm in CT at the time and shipped milk to Christiansen Dairy in North Providence, RI. Every other day, the milk would be transported by milk truck to the dairy. Because the milk had been picked up the day before the storm, we were able to milk the cows for two days. However, after the two days, the milk tank in which we contained the milk was getting full. Some farmers were letting their milk go down the drain. My husband refused to do the same. He contacted a man in Foster, RI named Ralph Pierce. He had kept milk cans from when he had used them when he milked cows. He had preserved them so that they hadn’t rusted. We took our Dodge pickup truck and loaded it with as many cans as we could. We drove back home to CT, scalded the cans, then proceeded to fill all the cans with milk. We called the dairy to tell them we were on our way. As others have mentioned, the highways were closed except for emergency vehicles. When we got the the RI/CT border we were stopped by the state police. When the trooper heard we were delivering milk, he gave us a police escort all the way to the dairy. When we arrived there, there were men waiting on the dock to unload the milk as fast as they could. For weight, they filled the empty milk cans with water so we wouldn’t get stuck on the way home. We made one additional delivery to the dairy before the milk truck was finally able to pick up our milk from our tank. We didn’t have power but had a generator that we ran with the tractor. That way the milk truck driver was able to upload the milk onto his truck. Luckily, we were never forced to waste the milk by letting it go down the drain.
I was the Service Director of a large Cadillac dealership in Providence. I closed the dealership at 12:30 pm on Feb.6, but had to wait alone for one of my employees, who had been sent to deliver a car to an insistent owner. He finally returned at 1:30, with the car, because the owner had reneged on his promise to drive my employee back to the dealership. So we both got into that car and I dropped my employee off near his home. But by this time cars were getting stuck and blocking all the roads to my home. Finally, I was getting very low on gas, so I returned to a gas station that was still open near the dealership. I filled the tank and went into the station’s phonebooth (remember those?) and called my wife to let her know where I was. (By this point it was 7:30 pm.) She suggested I call another one of my employees who lived near that gas station, and ask for shelter until the roads were unblocked. Well, my service cashier was very accommodating, and so I drove over and parked in her driveway. She lived with her mother and sister, and they invited me to stay for dinner. But it never stopped snowing for another 24 hours, the roads never became unblocked until a week later, and I wound up bunking at their home for three nights! I remember playing lots of backgammon and doing lots of reading, mostly Sherlock Holmes stories, which happened to be the book I had with me. I didn’t get home until 3 days later, when my boss, the Car Dealer, sent our Parts Dept manager to “rescue” me on his snowmobile! We traveled across Providence, sometimes gliding on the snow right OVER the cars that were still blocking the roads. When I finally got home, my wife and 3 very young kids had been joined by 2 aunts, who walked through the blizzard from their offices to my house. We were about to run out of heating oil, so one of my neighbors plowed our street just far enough for the oil truck to get to my house and make the delivery, then back out again to return to his office. We found out a week later that one of my uncles, who had disappeared from his home during the storm, was found in his own backyard, buried under all that snow. He must have gone outside to take out the garbage, leaving the back door open, and probably suffered a heart attack and collapsed in the backyard.
We had just moved to Southern California for work. Both sets of elderly parents were trapped by the storm. My in laws were okay, as they lived in a multi unit home, and were aided there. My parents lived on the side of a hill on Needham. The homes were always a bit isolated in storms, often due to the steepness of the street. My parents’ neighbors checked on them regularly, shoveled their walkway, and skied to a store at the bottom of the hill to pick up supplies for my folks. They made sure an elderly couple were warm and fed. When people come together they are amazing, caring, helpful, and kind. I will be forever thankful they were there when I was not.
I was staying a few nights in southern NH during the storm. On the day that the storm stopped, I was due to return to my job as a 3p-11p ER nurse at Malden Hospital. I called the State Police to ask how the roads were and was told that Rt.93 was passible going towards Boston, at least to the Malden exit, so I went. All was OK until I got off the exit and had a HORRIBLE time trying to drive the short distance to the hospital. Most streets were unpassable, but I was fortunate to find a back way that was barely drivable. At the end of my shift, most of the staff felt they were unable to leave due to the fact that streets in Malden were not plowed and the snow was above two feet, higher if it was in drifts! I thought that I would ‘give it a try’ and left for my home in Beverly. The Fellsway has one lane that was plowed on each side which allowed me to pass through until Rt 1. Rt 1 was not to be believed! It also had only one lane partially plowed and the snow on either side of my car, while I was driving in this lane, WAS HIGHER THAN THE ROOF OF MY CAR! I was only able to see where I was by occasionally getting a glimpse of something on the roadside that stuck up higher than the huge bank of snow. I had heard that Rt 128 was a ‘parking lot’ so I remained on Rt 1 until the Rt 22 exit to Beverly. The city had better luck at plowing than others because I was able to FINALLY reach home after a 2 1/2 hour drive that usually took 30 minutes! I was blessed that no car ahead of me became stuck while travelling on the single open lane, otherwise I would have been one of the thousands of stranded motorists whose cars were left where they stopped. When I arrived home, I DID have some serious shoveling that night in order to get my car into the end of my driveway….but I was HOME!!!!
We had moved back from Australia to Massachusetts. Our first winter back, what a welcome. We had one car, my husband worked at the Stow small airport outside of Concord Massachusetts and I worked nights waitressing at Howard Johnsons. I worked until 2 am and followed a plow home to Ayer Mass crying while driving I was so scared. The next day we were walking on our cars digging down to find the color to clear our cars. It was a really scary time for so many.
I live in San Antonio, Texas where my Air Force husband was stationed. At the time of the blizzard I was in western Massachusetts in Holyoke helping my mother sell her house — my father had died the year before — and move to San Antonio. The blizzard started during the actual move. I remember one of the movers carrying my great-great-grandmother’s grandfather’s clock out the door dropping the bonnet which shattered. We were able to fly out the next day from Bradley, but the moving van was stuck in the snow in Connecticut arriving a week later than expected in San Antonio. The sun was out full, and the temperature in the 50s-60s when we arrived. We were lucky to get out when we did, and were lucky to see the rest of the blizzard only on the national news. Although it lost much of its value, the bonnet on my great-great-grandmother’s curly maple clock was glued back together. However I never look at it that I don’t think back to the blizzard and how fortunate we got out when we did.
I was living and working in Worcester, Ma It took me 3 days before I could find my car to shovel my car out and got to make it home. Our company shut down for the rest of week. It still was nice to see people working together and happy to be helping out.
I was isolated in a lake house in Old Lyme Ct The lake association did not try to plow I was a nurse & they called to ask if I could come in It was a 1/4- 1/2 mi walk to a main rd that was plowed I walked out a bit & didn’t get too far& made it back to house & stayed there. We didn’t have a lot of extra food etc & being young we weren’t really prepared Had the wood stove going & it became like an isolated time off from work A friend up the road was able to get out to a local privately owned store & brought food by We had to go knee- thigh deep down the driveway/ dirt rd to meet him It was kind of a special time
I was 23 and just moved to Boston from Ohio in ‘77 as a young nurse. I was certainly used to snow. My first job was in the Respiratory ICU at MGH. This storm was beyond anything I recall in OH. The National Guard was driving healthcare workers to and from the hospital…I’ll never forget riding in a National Guard truck along Storrow Dr drive to work! Janice L
Being of Italian decent we had a huge freezer and 3 refrigerators and took care of lots of people who didn’t have access to food or drink since the stores were pretty empty for a while..I couldn’t find my convertible car under the snow and people were actually walking over it.. that was crazy but a really fun time in my life to experience real generosity and friendship!
I lived in Somers, CT (on the MA line) in 1978, and my first child’s expected due date was February 7. Since I was feeling fine, I was still working full-time in Bloomfield (just outside of Hartford) on Feb.6, although I was attending a meeting several miles farther west when the snow started. As businesses began to close, I returned to my office, only to find that my co-workers had left me a big note begging me to go home so they wouldn’t be responsible for delivering the baby! We closed soon after, so I drove my Camaro the fifteen miles or so home—fifteen miles more distant from the hospital I would soon need. My son was born at about 6:30 p.m.on his due date, in the hospital in Hartford. We’ve always felt that all that driving, on the “closed” highways with the car-topping snow drifts, was ample evidence that low, wide, “sporty” cars can make excellent sleds. Every year since, I’ve fielded questions about our snow baby—who is now 44, strong, healthy, and a seasoned driver in all kinds of weather.
I just had a serious pelvic follow-up exam at the old Lying-In Hospital, I had an earlier appointment, but my paperwork was waylaid in error, so I ended up last. Had I gone in on time, likely I would have driven home before the storm!! Tired from waiting, and in discomfort, I was Shocked to see the snow as I got into my Karmann Ghia to drive home to Hope Street. I got as far as taking a right from Maude St onto Smith, before realizing it was fruitless, and luckily found a safe enough spot to pull over, lock up, and start walking down Smith Street.
——Could not see a foot in front of me, and I certainly wasnt dressed for a blizzard, so worked my way through biting wind till I saw lights of a grocery store. (probably where an Aldi is today). Crossed the street and I was their last customer… I bought several pairs of grocery store socks, for inside my shoes, outside my shoes, and over my hands, and a grocery store tee shirt that I pulled over my head like a rudimentary balaclava…The clerk laughed with me, but better than nothing!! I continued east on Smith Street, trying not to cry for my discomfort had turned to pain. I got as far as Orms Street and realized I was just not going to make it home, when a man waved me down, saying he had a 4-wheel drive, and a few other people, so come along… It was a relief to sit! Everyone buzzing with their stories and the shock of how swiftly this nor’easter came upon us.
—The fellow was the owner of Portland Transmission, cannot recall his name, so grateful he saw and rescued me! Ah, like others, he tried to drive through, but even his 4-wheeler could not make it past a couple of blocks down Orms St. We all had to abandon ship, and while 2 people had friends in the area to stay with, a dentist and I did not, so we trudged back with Mr. Transmission to his shop. I was not sure I was going to make it, but he kept encouraging me. He took us down Jewett St to his son’s place, arranging for him to put up two stranded wretches until the worst was over.
—I was then suddenly aware how frozen I was! Transmission Jr provided warm clothes as best he could, and took Dr. Dentist’s and my wet things to his dryer, while we warmed up with the best cup of coffee I ever had!! One of those wonderful spacious Providence apartments, with 2 spare bedrooms, as luck would have it… And luckily his phone was still working, so I could call Jack to let him know my situation before the lines cut out. I completely conked out, the rest I needed to recover from my treatment at Lying-In. And speaking of frozen, the next day I saw he had a turkey in his freezer, which I thawed out and cooked for all of us! Big enough to last for the three-four days we imposed on young Mr. Transmission. When the phones came back on and I called home, my 4-year old son kept asking me “Mummy are you still stuck in the snow?” — he envisioned me up to my neck in snow with a telephone by my side!!
——When things let up enough to get out, Jack walked over to get me, with several bottles of libation in thanks to the Portland Transmission father and son for taking care of me in safety!! Brilliant sunshine outlined white lumps of cars buried in white — Could not believe when we crossed above I-95! Miles of buried cars! But at last I was home with one happy little guy!!
——A few days later we walked down Thayer Street, marveling at the quiet without cars, and so many people out walking! Further down we saw a ruckus, and there were folks pelting Andreas restaurant with snowballs, because they posted a sign saying price increases due to the blizzard!!! I think they lost enough business to take that sign down!! It was a week, probably more, before we finally got over to dig out my Ghia and get it back to Hope.
Debbie A. February 4, 2023
I had been driven to Mass General hospital by my partner who said she best get going for it was starting to snow pretty heavily. I agreed as I settled in for my elective surgery on my elbow which I had broken playing volleyball with my students. It was obvious very soon that my surgery was not going to take place but I was now a healthy prisoner in the hospital. No one was going anywhere for the snow was just piling up. The first night I sat in the lobby of the hospital looking out at Storrow Drive which was totally empty no cars no people just barren mounds of snow. This was Monday and by Wed. I was going stir crazy and wanted to leave and try to get home. My surgeon gave permission so I packed my suitcase left the hospital and started on my most memorable trip of my life. I walked down car less street with people mixing about sharing glasses of wine as students were diving out of windows into the snow. I walked Beacon street into Brookline and I was wickedly tired lugging that heavy suitcase with my bad arm. I saw a police car and I jumped out and he stopped to pick me up. Sitting in that cruiser was a blessing and he drove me up Route 9 to Chestnut Hill where it becomes Newton. I had to get out for That was the end of Brookline. I stood on Route 9 in a usually in credibly busy intersection and there was no one at all. No cars, no people, no noise nothing at all just me. It was like I was the last person on Earth and very scary for now what was I going to do. As I stood there a car pulled up driven by a doctor as he dropped off a young man. I stuck my thumb out and he said get in. That doctor drove me almost to my front door but being a young person with shabby manners, I never got that doctors name but I did certainly thank him a number of times. As I entered my house I had arrived home in time for Happy Hour on my birthday. A PS to this story is I never had the surgery, just an arthroscopic procedure which removed the bone chips from my elbow that had been acting like a wedge.
Wow so many snow stories . I was a senior @ Middleboro High School living on Marion Road out in the boonies aka sticks lol no school for two weeks I was getting ready to go to Colorado for college so the snow came and came no electricity but a gas grill in the back yard to cook on and a fireplace for a heat. Had a small Kubota tracker and plowed out a lot of neighbors it was fun and beautiful but really learned how to respect mother nature .
The Saturday following the blizzard, the roads still weren’t passable, but my friend and I, who were band members at Providence College, began walking the 10-mile trek from our homes in Pawtucket, RI, to the Providence Civic (ranked No. 7 nationally) in basketball. We didn’t know how long the walk would take, but, instruments in hand, we began our journey when, lo and behold, we were greeted by military personnel, who allowed us to hop in the backs of their vehicles and provided transportation both to and from the Civic Center. The crowd at that game was sizable, despite the travel issues, as if we were all willing to do whatever it took to get some much-needed relief. And the Friars complied, beating North Carolina, 71-69. Fans stormed the court in response. Both the governor of R.I. and mayor of Providence had considered canceling the game, for obvious reasons, but decided in the end that it would serve as a helpful distraction. “An event like this will give everybody a boost,” the mayor said at the time. “It will show the nation the fiber and strength of Rhode Islanders in the face of a great national disaster.”
I lived in Salem, Ma., and worked as an RN at Boston City. When the storm began, I decided to go to work early, in response to a call from the hospital asking staff to try to get in if they could . Enroute, the National Guard stopped my ’77 VW Rabbit, to tell me to get off the road, but signaled me on, when they saw me in my uniform and I explained what I was doing. Staff slept in the interns’ quarters on site, and would do a shift, go and sleep, and come back on duty. There was camaraderie amongst us, and I have good memories about the ordeal.
I was attending grad school at Harvard and seriously courting a classmate. I was living in a triple-decker in Allston and she was living in a Harvard dorm.
When I woke up on the morning of the storm, the snow was level with the front porch on the triple-decker which was about five steps above the street level. Having grown up in the Boston area, I immediately realized this was far from a normal February snow storm.
I bundled up and trudged to the campus through the snow. I knocked on my friend’s door in her dorm and said “There’s not going to be any classes today!” She replied that Harvard had not cancelled classes since the noise from the canon fire during the American Revolution made teaching untenable.
I explained that the faculty used to live within walking distance but there was no way that they could drive in from Lexington, Wellesley and Dover. That was Harvard’s major difference between the days of the American Revolution and th Blizzard of ’78.
We walked over to the class room building and found a handful of students wandering the halls but, as expected, no faculty. So, we went back to her dorm so she could retrieve her skis and together we made our way back to my triple-decker.
We spent the next few days serving spaghetti dinners to fellow students and, by the end of the week, we sent a Telex to her parents who lived overseas, saying “Snowed in here in Boston. Have gotten engaged.”
We will be celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary this year!
Having grown up in Northern New Mexico at an altitude of 8,000 feet, I had seen my fair of significant snows, but nothing prepared me for the Storm of ’78. I was stationed at Hanscom AFB (bordered by Bedford, Lexington and Concord) and living in the dormitory when the storm hit. A few days before the storm, a drunken airman from Maine had tossed a chair through the common room where the television was. The base got about 40″ of snow. The common room got nearly as much–not to mention how much freezing cold air came in through the broken window. The Maineiac earned a measure of forgiveness. As the biggest guy in the dorm, he literally shoveled a path to the chow hall with his hulking body. We all followed in very close succession.
I was a senior at URI. School was shut down for about a week. My father was stuck at a conference in Boston and my mother was alone at our house on the east side of Providence. The only transportation available was the train. I took it from Kingston Station to Union station in Providence with a few of my fraternity brothers. It was late afternoon in February when we arrived in downtown Providence. It seemed like a scene out of a science fiction movie. National Guard helicopters were circling the city and their jeeps were at major intersections. All roads were completely covered with 3-4 feet of snow. The only means of traveling was by foot and hundreds of people were out doing that. There was silence other than the muffled sounds of feet on packed snow. It was about 2.5 miles to my parent’s house on Vassar Ave. As a kid I had shoveled snow many times at the house but was not prepared for snow up to my chest (I am 6’3″ tall). When I got there I went right to work shoveling the snow from the driveway and sidewalks before going in the house. My mother said she was aware I had arrived when she heard me shoveling and was glad to see me. Large front loaders removed snow from the street 3 or 4 days later.