I remember my cats using the snowdrifts to walk up to my bedroom window. We tried to keep them in but they were insistent about going out. They changed their minds QUICKLY.. :)
Kelly Lawler I was in North Buffalo we didn't have those snowdrifts, what a crazy storm it snowed every day in January. I also remember the whole country calling Buffalo SNOW CAPITAL OF USA
I remember that blizzard very well, I was hauling supplies with my snowmobile to people out of town, who were snowed in, and as I recall I did a lot of beer, and cigarette runs.
I remember in E Amherst, radio was encouraging people with snowmobiles to meet at places,Tops was one & legalizing their use anywhere for the reason you mentioned..it was the only way to get through.
I was in my early twenties and work for the New York City Department of Sanitation. I think we worked for 3 months without a day off 12 hour days. the coffee truck stops in the garage. He couldn't get home so stay for several days. We ate cheesecake for days.
Thanks for the recordings of news and weather! I was 27, living in Minneapolis in the autumn of 1976 (the cold weather started in early September, and seemed to never end.) By early 1977, I had set up interviews in Silicon Valley and SoCal, and left on January 9 (after the Vikings last Super Bowl appearance) when the temp was -15F (the low that day was -32, still the record for that day) and the high -9F. On the drive down to Dallas I was listening to the radio and the reports were exactly like.
I was 14 and living in Illinois at the time. We got hit hard too and there was a snow drift across my drive way tall enough I could have stepped onto the roof of the garage if there wasn't a 4 foot gap between the roof and the drift. Dad parked one of his cars on the street and it got buried by snow plows. We didn't see it for nearly a month.
Fantastic post! Thank you! I remember it well from here in Ohio. Those two winters were unlike anything before or since. The pictures were tremendous! I'll never forget the young people nearly touching the traffic signal. Wow!
Caine Alexander It really was a bad storm 80 MPH winds, it snowed everyday in January, to bad Buffalo still has to deal with 10-12 feet every winter from Lake Erie. To make it worse we have to wait till July to swim because the Lake freezes over every year. Those pictures are cool but people were trapped in there houses because of those snow drifts. That 77 Blizzard people were afraid of Buffalo like people were afraid of the movie JAWS. Buffalo is lucky Niagara Falls is close for vistors
Once we were able to get outside we, as kids, made so much fun. We were walking in the roofs of the houses. The snow banks and drifts were incredibly high. We were without power for quite a while but as kids were not too concerned... Not like today... Kids would b freakin out without Internet & cell phones!! It was scary too thou, my dad couldn't get home, many ppl died. The pics on RU-vid were nice to see, brings back alot of me memories & helps tell my kids the story. Thanks 4 Uploadin
Great job, it was this blizzard that gave Buffalo our snowy reputation! The pics really bring back the memories, stuck at home for days, walking over mountains to try to get to the store for milk and bread before they ran out....thanks for posting.
This is wonderful! I was 10 yrs old and living in El Paso TX then. It was January and snow stayed on the ground for a week. Sadly school was not closed but I got to ride my bike to school in the snow! This was a big thing for a ten year old boy.
Ill never forget this! I am happy it's loaded on RU-vid so I was able to show my kids. I was 7 at the time and remember it well. I was walked hone from school that morning by my brothers... You couldn't see anything! We lived in Port Colborne right on lake Erie very close to Buffalo but on the Canadian side. My dad was stuck at work for nearly a week. We couldn't get out of our door... Snow driftswere too high! It was unbelievable!
I was 11 yrs. and living in the Town of Tonawanda then. Our hedges and cars were buried. It was trippy. It was days of radio like this transmission. People needing help and thankfully others able and willing to do so. It could have been so much worse had people not helped their neighbors. God bless all who did and made a difference then and whenever there's a need, since and before this time. I was really proud for the most part of the city and people.
The winter of 1976-77 was brutal in southern Ontario too. I was in the seventh grade. We had four days of school cancelled due to heavy snowfalls. In all my high school years we had zero.
+Lava1964 It wasn't any picnic in CT either. Took many days just to open major roads with all the buried cars/trucks. There was some great sledding for days on my street- it literally took 3 days for the plows to show.
What made this storm unique is the snow displacement. It was a very cold and snowy winter up to that point, which meant the Great Lakes froze over early and had accumulated lots of snow from earlier storms on the surface. So not only did this blizzard pack a heavy punch of its own, but the gale force winds picked up all that snow on the lake and dropped it inland. We had 15-20 foot drifts all over, and an average of 4 feet of snow. No joke, it happened.
Hey Mr Ralph Jones - kudos to you for having the foresight to tape that radio report so that your grandson could post it on that "youtube thing" some 30 years later.
wow I was born Oct 77 in SC my mother was from Saratoga county and we moved back in 81 i remember her telling me stories about that winter as well many others. And growing up in NY I remember those 3-5 foot snow storms we use to get. Now we a lucky to get a couple inches for x-mas, and maybe 3 or 4 feet for the whole season. I don't think we will ever see anything like 77 again.
I was a freshman at SUNY Oswego during this storm. Typical 18 year olds, rather than being concerned with the storm, instead we were jumping off the roof into snow banks, and making road trips to IGA for beer (18 was the drinking age back then.) - Great memories
Ah yes, back when we had man made global cooling and the coming of an ice age. Now we are all going roast and drown because of warming. Please note sarcasm.
Whenever I see things like this it makes me thank my lucky stars my father dragged us out to California in 1964 when I was seven years old. Our extended family still lives in Niagara Falls, NY and endured it. My uncle sent me a commemorative 'Blizzard of '77' mug that I still have.
I lived in Buffalo then, worked in the Clinton-Bailey area. Co-workers left for lunch at 11:30, only went down the street to a bar and couldn't get back until almost 2pm because of zero visibility - the storm came on so suddenly. We were snowed in for 4 days at work - I finally got home, via a weird route that took hours, on Tuesday. It was an incredible experience. The building next to ours had the roof blown off. When I got my car dug out it was dead and had to be junked.
Originally from Niagara Falls, luckily was in the Navy and stationed at one of Subic Bay Naval Hospital Branch Medical Clinics in the Philippines when this hit. My parents sent me clippings from the Niagara Gazette and I showed them to Philippine Nationals that I worked with and they had a hard time believing what they saw.
I was there, it was awesome and crazy to look back at. I was in 4th grade and loved having off from school, and making snow mazes and forts in the yard...Needless to say I moved to Alaska in '93, we don't receive nearly as much snow here!!
I remember when this Blizzard hit , I lived on the west side of Buffalo , I was 7 years old, my mom got very sick that year my father had to try to get some help , and finally we were able to get her to the hospital , it was terrible. However I love Buffalo , and miss it there , even the snow I miss ( some times ) .
Reminds me of the Jan 78 blizzard in the midwest. Indiana Ill and Ohio. We got 15 inches and it blew for 3 days. Also cars and houses were buried due to the drifting. This looks a lot worse but until you have lived through a complete shutdown for days you haven't lived. Thanks for posting!
I was 13 years old in Flushing, Queens, New York. I loved staying home from school. Watched the TV new anchor on channel 4 NBC wasn't wearing his usually suit and tie. Just a pullover sweater over a white shirt AND jeans! I never seen that before on new reporter or anchor person. Maybe I didn't noticed it before. Memories
I remember the Pennsylvania storm. Pittsburgh was a mess! So unfortunate that so many died. I was in my home with my Mother and Father, cozied up by a coal and wood burning stove with my beloved sister (deceased) and baby brother. This brought tears to my eyes. I was just a child.
Wow, amazing! Here in Minnesota, we get a lot of snow, but I don't remember ever getting as much at one time as you did in this blizzard. This is a great little historical documentary you've made here with the radio and TV audio and the photos. I suggest you offer it to your local or state historical society for their archives. Thanks for posting.
I was less than 10 years old and lived in Cleveland Ohio back then. We had record lows and no school for quite a while also. My brothers and I remember it pretty well. We helped many neighbors dig out of their homes.
I remember it well. I was 9. Went to bed that night to green grass, woke up to 5 foot of snow. had to go upstairs to look out the second story window just to see the "street", which looked more like an open field. Everything was level, white and beautiful. We couldn't wait to go out and make tunnels and snow forts and the like. We even loaded all the presents up on a sled and walked to grandmas' house cause they couldn't drive to us. We all had a ball, and the power came on soon after.
Gosh I remember those days...I was living in Manhattan and going to college. When it snows in NYC, all surface traffic stops. The city gets slowed down and it's QUIET!! On Broadway, people got out their skis and would ski from Morningside heights to the Village just for a cup of coffee from Reggios. I called friends and we went to Riverside park with a football, there were plenty of guys to get a pick-up game going, no matter the temp, probably 12 degrees. That was so much fun, diving for footballs in 2 feet of fluffy white snow. Then the cars were just stuck because the garbage truck/snowplows just locked them into their spots. If you needed to move, get out the shovel and some friends because it took a long while. Most cars were stuck and were just white mounds on the side of the street. I think alternate side parking was forgone for maybe almost a month, amazing. Someone else chime in because this was close to the "son of sam" phenomenon Gosh those days of living in NYC were great. I left some 20 years ago, wish I hadn't. Best people in the world..now what do we have? Oh yeah, those guys with guns in Oregon who want to make believe they are "the people" They should be charged for using oxygen without a permit`
I remember this storm. We lived on the second floor and you could step right outside from my bedroom window. I was only 6 years old and that to me was one of thee worst snow storms I have even seen in my life. It was horrible. We were buried and locked in our apartment building for a long time.
I was 13 years old at the time of the storm. Us kids of the time had a blast!, no school, and snow drifts so big there was a sleading hill everywhere you looked!
I lived in Alabama that year and it was the coldest Winter I can remember. It snowed about 8 times 76-77. To compare, we went 8 straight years from about '95, without a single snowflake. 76-77 made the last two severe Winters look like child's play. We got down to 3 degrees one time and the heater in my car didn't work. My nephew was born in Oct '76 and we had to constantly wrap him up in layers of clothes and he was still sick most of the time. Oldtimers tell me the 40's were even colder.
I was 10 years old when this happened, living in buffalo, our house was in north buffalo near the zoo. Anyone that lived through this can verify how insane it was. Once it started it wouldnt stop and seemed to get more viscous by the hour. Definately a once in a lifetime storm !!
I grew up on a small Family farm in Ohio during the Blizzard of "78", and I remember on the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite reporting that Dayton, Ohio was the experiecing the worst energy crisis in the enitire country. I am almost 50 now and have never seen anything like it since. Each day, we woke up only to find more farm animals dead, due to the -50 below zero weather. We were off School for three weeks straight. I will never forget how we all pulled together to survive.
Wow I think the picture at 2:33 says it all. I lived in Oswego during this blizzard. I was only about 7 at the time but I remember my dad taking me to the store on his snowmobile. We had to drive about 15 miles to find a place that we could get gas and food.
I remember sleding off the top of the roofs, and the thurway overpasses. I also remember that we used some many snow days, that we had to go to school almost until July.
donna Johnson People were afraid of Buffalo like people were afraid of the movie JAWS. 77 storm was bad 80mph winds, snowed everyday in January, wasn't funny the whole country called us SNOW CAPITAL OF USA. Its true even now we still get 10-12 feet every winter from Lake Erie
I was unemployed that winter, so likely inside looking out. I do remember the lines at gas stations and heating oil prices almost doubled, but the winter wasn't all that unusual in Connecticut. Our storm of a lifetime came the next winter.
I still remember that storm. My senior year of high school in Jamestown. Started on a Thursday afternoon. By Friday could barely get around in our International Scout. Weekend was mostly by snowmobile. Schools were closed not so much for the snow but the brutal cold and the fact that natural gas was in short supply. I believe they were shut for almost 2 weeks and we made up the time on Saturdays and a shortened Easter break. We were fortunate to not have the abandoned cars like the big cities.
I was a senior in high school when this hit. It ended up lasting for weeks and all the area schools were closed for a month, of course we loved having no school that long but some schools ended up with graduation at the end of July too.
I was 23 at the time and living near Bailey and Walden. The worst thing about the blizzard was that the wind kept swirling around and shifting the snow drifts until they hardened. We had to cut the drifts apart. After the first week of shutdown, the city opened up for two days and there were so many cars stuck and blocking traffic, that the mayor shut down the city for another 3 weeks. No travel except for emergency and city workers.
I lived in upstate NY in 77 and the funny thing is,I have absolutely no memory of this blizzard.I went into the service in Dec 77so not only did I see the winter of 76-77(this blizzard) I saw the winter of 77-78. We lived pretty close to Vermont so basically every winter we had a blizzard.This would've been the year after I'd gotten my license and I do remember driving home one night from town in a storm that consumed the road on my way home. Snow was breaking over the hood. Head lights?Buried.
My Grandmother was trapped in Watertown, NY and only got home because our Uncle drove a Tow Truck and was able to get her home. The snow was almost to the roof of our 2 story house, it was crazy but it was actually still a simpler time than today.
Thanks ricottafrittata, glad some people are sensitive in this world. My grandpa (Ralph Jones, from the video) dind't just tape the audio you hear, he lived through it. He definitley remembers it like it was yesterday. Even though he was in the marines and fought in many battles (Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal) I'm sure he was scared to death of the storm. He is 80+ years old, and lives right by me. Glad he is still alive and well.
I was 8 and this was my first winter in NJ after having lived in the south up until then. I can remeber the stinging snow/ice. Everything was buried under a blanket of white. What a way to be introduced to Northern winters...lol.
I was working hard on that Friday on Buffalo Ave in Niagara Falls at Carborundum. I ignored the warning for an hour and then could not go home. Spent 3 days at work without going home. Broke into the company pantry to cook and feed myself and others who were stuck.
We lived in Buffalo area back then. I was forced to work and stay at the medical facility where I worked for 5 days. My was wife and about 20 other people were stranded on a city bus for two days but still couldn't get home for another three days.
Awesome storm. With wind gusts ranging from 46 to 69 mph and snow drifts piled up over 30 feet in some places, it was one for the ages. We never see storms like that here in Richmond, VA.
Was 8 going on 9 living in Tonawanda, NY when this happened. Also remember the board game called Blizzard of '77 my parents bought for us. If I remember correctly, it was a twisted Buffalo Blizzard take on Monopoly. I remember sledding down the hills off the Youngman Highway and walking on "crunchy" snow that were actually cars. Sorry for those dents folks.....
What people who've never been trapped in one may not realize the keys element of a blizzard isn't just the snow but the wind. It takes your breath away. It causes those 15-foot drifts. and it kills as surely as a wildfire.
It's funny to hear the talk of a 4 10 hour day work week from back then. I worked a what was called a compressed work week for years, nothing better than a 3 day weekend every week, and all I did was work 4 10 hour days. I loved it. Course now I'm retired now so every day is a day off.
I was living in Cleve, Oh. at the time and believe me, it was no picnic there either. Lake Erie doesn't even slow down the Canadian wind. I lived up there for nine years. Moved south in '81 and have been back only 1 time since. Don't miss it a'tall.
Remember it well! I was the perfect age of 12 and lived very close to Lake Ontario in New York. Sledding on 7 foot snow banks was a blast. We didn't have power and had to open the gas oven for heat. I remember listening to the battery operated radio to learn where the National Guard was flying bread and milk in by helicopter...then walking with a sled to get it at the IGA. No school for a week! It was great!
We had that blizzard up here in Ontario Canada.. I remember we lived in a small town that was blocked off for three days..No vehicles running except for yellow ski doos. what a great time!
My brother started as a freshman at SUNY-Buffalo in the Fall of 1976 - he tells stories about how they ran ropes between the buildings on the campus for you to hold onto so you didn't get blown away or lost in the snow...
i was stuck at cassidy's bar (corner of main and amherst) that first night.....finally decided to walk home.....4 miles up hertel avenue near deleware.....what a night...!
I undoubtedly heard the same news broadcasts as WMMN AM 920 in Fairmont, West Virginia was also a CBS affiliate. I had that station on from the time I got up to after I went to bed. Days and days of school cancellations. Vegetable soup and homemade pizza. A great time to be 12!
I was in Buffalo auditioning for school...my first trip away from home alone. I had to get back to the NYC area. Oddly enough, Amtrak plowed through the blizzard and got me home.
i remember this storm really well. we had a porch on the front of our mobile home that was 3 feet from the ground. after the storm we had to step up to get off the porch.. my parents were stuck at a friends house the entire 4 days this thing lasted .. was home alone and our neighbors ran out of food and water.. very scary storm
They also piled the snow 50 to 60 feet deep on playgrounds. It wrecked all the play equipment. In June and July as it was melting, rats were all over eating the garbage that got mixed into the snow. A few small cars were found under the snow along with 7 human bodies. In the winter of '77-'78, we got even more snow - 199 inches. But it came down a few inches every day, not in one large dump. Exciting times!
I was almost 10. My father was trapped at work (across from airport) for a couple days. Power outage for a day or so as well. A day or two after main storm, I played outside walking from roof to roof all the way down the street. You could basically jump off any roof with out worry as drifts were so high. Neighbors two houses down had a wicked cool party igloo with carpet and fire with exhaust pipe built between the houses which was easy due to 12 foot drifts. Chime in here Nick or Maria.
I lived in New York when this struck. No high tech weather information back then and the storm hit by surprise. I was in Buffalo and tried to get home, ended up spending night in a department store - following day truck convoys moved people to their towns/home. My car was totaled by a snowplow because cars were buried in the snow. Helicopters brought food to the town I lived in and travel was done with snowmobiles. I now live in the Boston area - but still haven't experienced a storm as bad.
I was about to born when this storm hit. My mom tells me about now 38 years later. My husband (14years older than myself) has been telling me where he was, what he was doing and how it affected him and his family. I love seeing the videos and hearing the stories and how it seems like our country united for such a tragic event. I sit here wondering why it takes such a horrific event such as this or 9/11 to unite us. Breaks my heart I guess... Thanks for sharing and His bless.
+olskoolnewpaint .... not really creepy unless he would have persuaded me at that age. We just got married not quite 3 years ago. And believe me when I say he is the best looking Italian man I've ever laid eyes on....
I remember this, only I was in Michigan. I was small, only5, but I remember being on a snow bank while my Papa, whose head was below my feet, shoveling out snow...
I started an album from news paper clippings. Still have it. Bought a new 3stage cub cadet two years ago and I have yet to use it!!! Last two winters sucked for us snow lovers here in N.E. pa
I remember the Blizzar4d of 77, I was 16 and we walked home from downtown where we were to Elmwood and W. Ferry. We were out the next day shoveling snow from walks and driveways. All in all we took in about $700.00. And get this, back then, you could "Hitch" on the bumpers cars and take a ride down the street. Today, they'd probably go ape if they saw kids hanging off the rear bumper of a car as it traveled down Elmwood or Delaware Ave.
I was a dispatcher for south buffalo cab that first morning. I sent a cab downtown to pick up a fare. The driver count's return for three days because of the snow
I remember it well. No school for a week and sledding off the roof of my house. I thought it was awesome, but I was a kid. Didn't actually realize it was a disaster. We had snowmobiles, so got around fine.
I was born during this blizzard. I never believed my mom after all these years she would tell me about it before she had her bleeding stroke a few months ago.
Great video... I don't live up there, luckily... but I remember the new broadcast... Fabulous recording. And, unlike one of the posters, it is from the 70;s...he may be a genuis (sic) (correctly; genius), but he certainly can't spell the word correctly... and he certainly never witnessed snow of this proportion. Amazing stuff...simply amazing.
I was in this Blizzard in 1977 stuck at school #4 in Buffalo. A friend had to bring us home. I couldn't see a thing. It was a complete white out. I could not believe what I saw the next day. People actually had to dig us out of our homes.
I am from Dunkirk NY and no stranger to terrible winter storms. I was living in Ohio...east of Cleveland. My house was buried in snow like those in these pics. We had to dig out of five or more feet of snow to get out of the house and the snow was up to the roof line. We moved to Florida in June. I have not,and never will, complain about the heat! Bring it on!
I was 11, and made 56 dollars, Mom had me open a bank account, 1978 was a bad winter also, I Rember a snow drift was has tall as a second story house, winters were winters back then.
I was in southern N.J. when this storm hit. (Cape May county) We had to dig our way out of the front door. We got 3 1/2 feet of snow, with drifts going from 9-12 feet. There was NO power for 3 weeks. (luckily we had a Franklin stove on the first floor and a fireplace on the 2nd.) food was left outside. (no refridgeration) School was canceled for weeks. Even the 2010 storm was not this bad. 1978 had another similar storm.
