Jan26

a day to remember.

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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

82 responses »

  7. 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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  14. 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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  17. 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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  23. 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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  29. 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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  38. 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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