the great blizzards and a birthday – michigan history!
today is the anniversary of two of michigan’s greatest blizzards.
which both started on the same date January 26th, one in 1967 and the other in 1978.
also on this date
my brother scott, was born in 1965 under clear skies.
happy birthday!
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The 1965 birthday. Scott was born, he was cute, and I wanted to bring him in for show and tell, but my mom refused and made me bring a picture, which I was really mad about. He did not like shoveling snow, but he did enjoy playing in it, sledding on our school hill at recess, and throwing it at us.
The 1967 storm. The big Blizzard went down as one of the all-time worst blizzards in Michigan’s history mainly because of the way the weather conditions quickly changed drastically and people were caught off guard. In the days leading up to the blizzard, some areas had temps in the 60s, quickly plummeted, and the skies dumped 1 1/2 feet of snow in a very short time.
The 1978 storm. Snowfalls for the entire storm included a whopping 30 inches in some Michigan locations. There were already 4 to 6 feet of snow on the ground before the storm started, and there were many drifts of over 15 feet.
In both storms there were wind gusts up to 65 MPH and both had several periods of thunderstorms with the snow, (thunder-snow).So far there has not been a storm that has come close to the intensity of either of the storms since 1978. My brother still enjoys playing in the snow and celebrating his birthday. And I’m glad for all of this.
—
“apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today.’
-mark twain
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credits: michigan history, clarence white
sounds like toronto recently 😊
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weather is always a bit crazy
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more and more all the time
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it’s really ramped up with climate change
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the worst storm in ten years will happen every year 😢
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or twice a year
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😯😯😯
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Snow can only last so long, but brothers are forever.
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an excellent point
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Happy birthday to your brother. I hope you don’t get similar blizzards this week.
Best wishes, Pete.
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thanks Pete, and just a small snow this week )
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Happy Birthday Scott, and coincidently today is ‘Australia Day’ .. 🌏🌞
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one more event! and yay!
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Wow! Both seem like very intense storms. HBD to your bro.
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yes, really crazy and thanks!
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That’s nature for you! Putting on a power show to intimidate us.
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There are days that remain in memory forever.
And days like yesterday …. that draw a blank.
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so true
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I remember the 78 blizzard as it covered a lot of territory. We had snow rollers in southeast Ohio. Coolest things we’d ever seen and due to that rapid temperature drop they formed as the wind picked up speed. Another January birthday…..happy birthday to your brother, Scott.
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And to you!❤️
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Happy Birthday, Scott! I hope you get to play in some shallow snow today. May those two blizzards forever stand as Michigan’s worst.
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Happy birthday, Scott. A lovely post, Beth.
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I remember the 1978 blizzard. We shared that with you!
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A day that will go down in infamy?
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Oooof I don’t miss the snow at all!
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I remember a storm in Buffalo, in the 50s, that dropped half my height of snow. I was probably about 4 or 5. And we had six-inches on the beach this winter: rare and beautiful.
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First, happy birthday, Scott! Beth, I love that you wanted to take him to school for show-and-tell.
I’m pretty certain Minnesota experienced similar weather in the years you cite. I write this as I woke up to minus 20 degrees this morning with wind chills in the -35 to -45 degrees. Many schools are starting two hours late with some even closed due to the extreme cold.
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Wow
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Beautiful story !Happy Birthday to Scott! I love the quote. Deep!
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Thanks!
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Pingback: a day to remember. – Nelsapy
Born and raised in Michigan (Muskegon), and it seems winters just aren’t the same as when I was a kid. We used to lose sight of the grass in late November and not see it again until April. Not so any more, even though there is an occasion dump. Ah, climate change…
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Right –
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“Show ‘n’ Tell” Babies!
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Why not?!)
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Happy Birthday, Scott. And wishing you all a bright sunny day.
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Thank you!
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Caught off guard is putting it mildly. LOL And happy birthday to your brother.
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You’re so right!
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We had snow in Chicago in ’67 and ’78, too. Dad died on January 25, 1967, and Mary and I were married January 28, 1978. I remember both storms very well.
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Wow, so many life changing events
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Happy birthday to your brother! Does he like peanut brittle? It’s National peanut brittle day 🙂
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Ooh!
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I remember that snowstorm in 1978. I think we were off school for a week, and me and my siblings played PONG on our TV screen. The first video game ever. LOL! I still talk about that snowstorm with my childhood friends. They’d come over and we’d play in the snowbanks the plows left after plowing the snow. We had a blast! Oh and happy birthday to your brother!
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The best! Thanks!
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A day you’ll never forget! HBD to your brother! Thank you for sharing the history of the storms-eery, fascinating, and beautiful all rolled in one.
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Life is always a mix
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apparently not
Sent from my iPad
>
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Right!
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Wow, three severe weather conditions on the same day!
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Right!
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Feliz cumpleaños a tu hermano! (Not so much the blizzards.) January 26 is GREAT day to have a birthday… 😉
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❤️🎉
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I haven’t yet experienced “thunder-snow” (I love inclement weather!)…
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You’d love it then!
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Definitely on my weather phenomenon bucket list now. I was so excited in New Mexico when I saw a dust devil of some note…it was taller than the electric poles and moved across the street right in front of me!
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I’ve never seen one!
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It was so cool!
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You know that’s right!!!!
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Lots of great memories, Beth. Growing up in the Dakotas, I spent many a winter day playing in the snow. There is a photograph of me walking onto the roof from a snowdrift that had piled up next to it from the snow and wind.
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That is so great
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Thank you Beth. Having a birthday in late January in Michigan is tough. I still have the force of a blizzard for that reason.
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you have to be )
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being down in Oz I have not experienced a blizzard but I have experienced many birthdays 🙂
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I’ll bet you have -)
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we won’t say how many, Beth 🙂
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This made me smile! Happy Birthday to your brother! I remember snowstorms. I can’t say I miss the shoveling, but a first snowfall is a wondrous experience,
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it really is, and some snows are bigger and more sudden than others
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Happy bday to your brother, a lovely history lesson, and a marvelous quote – so true.
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some dates are just like that –
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I hope your brother had a fun birthday, one that did not involve any shoveling…
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not too snowy here right now so he was lucky)
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so that was a good birthday present for him!
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Yes, and not too expensive)
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🙂
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Pingback: Five For Friday: Top 5 On January 28, 1978 – The Sound of One Hand Typing
I remember the 1967 blizzard in Chicago. Five feet and total stillness.
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wow –
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Great memories, Beth. I love the photo! As I type, we’re watching a near-blizzard snowstorm.
When all is said and done, we’ll have over 18″, and the Cape will have 2 feet. Yikes!
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I’ve been watching. stay safe and warm
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Happy (very) belated congrats to your bro. I’m so glad he still enjoys ‘playing’ in the snow. Those photos are very impressive and glorious too. I sort of remember having had ‘real winters’ when I was a kid and we were able to build igloos right in front of our house. Us children asked to sleep in them but weren’t allowed. In our ‘house’ every family had several children and very little room. But we were happy to be outside, build ourselves ‘palatial homes’, get stuck to icy metal bars with our tongues, were blue in the face and sported frozen fingers.
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all good fun) . we have a big snow headed our way in a couple of days )
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