# Blizzard of "78"



## grapeford (Nov 30, 2005)

Just got back from another night of plowing, and can't think of a better way to wind down by having a beer and checking out plowsite. Just wondering, I'm from Mass. and was a teenager back in the blizzard of "78" Everything shut down here for about a week. No school. no work, people died on the highways, you could barely drive on the roads. My question to you guys, do you think with the equipment we have today *(trucks, sanders etc..), technology *(radar etc..) that that would happen again ? Still look back on it, as one of the best times of my life.


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## IPLOWSNO (Oct 11, 2008)

no those years were awesome as kid, snobanks so high you had to scale them lol, we'd build forts and im not talkin a hole in a bank im talking guns of navarone forts lol, i liked war movies lol. we had escape slides that went down the hill to the tracks so after a cop car would go by and he turned around we'd be gone lol. we had them on both sides of the road, so we could fight each other before the usual targets would come by. you could always tell what time it was when greyhound came lol. the cops admired us because are forts were cool, as we spent alot of hours making them. nowadays you never see any lol


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## lucky4511 (Jan 3, 2001)

i live in indiana and i remember the blizzard of 78 - things here totally shut down too. i know when i was a kid we used to get soooo much snow i remember one year we could just step over our 4' chain link fence...i must have been 8 or 9.


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## grapeford (Nov 30, 2005)

Yeah, In those days we would walk around apartment buildings, knock on peoples doors and shovel out cars. We made a ton of money. Kids don't do that anymore.


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## justme- (Dec 28, 2004)

I was but a realllllllly young thing in 78, the closest thing since was the winter of 96 I think- there was a storm that dropped 2+ inches per hour most of the day- there were abandoned cars on 495, 6 inch ice holes on the roads because people were determined to get home or to work and packed it down well before the plows could get out. Took me 4 hours to get home from work, normally a 45 min highway commute. I was just plowing then, commercially only.

We have much better municipal response today than in 78- people back then also didn't do anything on Sundays, or feel the overwhelming need to be out and in the way in a snow storm.
We would have avoided last years messy commute home if Mumbles kept his yap shut and didn't tell everyone in the city to go home at 1pm - he learned for this year. Now if we can get that Gov of ours to get up before 8 am to declare a state of emergency at a more timely hour we can keep people home from work and off the roads in bad storms like that. Too many working people are already at work by 8:30 when he declared SOA for the 2 storms he did this year.

Unless we have a major storm you'll probably never see another shutdown like the '78 storm. By major, I mean 3+ inches an hour for several hours straight.


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## erkoehler (Sep 25, 2008)

We had a storm last year that closed sections of I90 between Janesville and Madison, WI for 12+ hours. People were stranded, accidents everywhere, etc. We really didn't end up with that much snow that day. I think 10-12in maybe.

I think it could happen again without a doubt.


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## Neige (Jan 29, 2008)

I'm sure it can happen again. You get a big enough storm, and you will get all kinds of people stranded. Lots more of them on the road today, so makes for many more obstacles. Also people forget how quickly a storm can turn ugly, they have no respect for the dangers. How many people are lined up outside a wally world waiting for it to open, when there are storm watch warnings telling people to stay home. Don't go out unless its an emergency.  I have also noticed lots of muni have scaled down equipment because we longer get storms like that. So I would say definitely yes.


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## willyswagon (Dec 19, 2008)

Absolutely it will happen again. Google search White Juan. A two day strom in Feb 2004. It had Nova Scotia and PEI buttoned down for days. Eastern PEI had over 100cm. Keep in mind that PEI got hit later that week by another storm that left a further 65cm. I am trying to find my pictures taken on the North side of the Island, of a 950 Cat with the blower up at full loader height cutting into the drifts That winter was NUTS!!!

All it takes is for one of these big systems to stall, and no amount of machinery can clean it up in a reasonable time frame,


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## jgoetter1 (Feb 23, 2007)

erkoehler;742891 said:


> We had a storm last year that closed sections of I90 between Janesville and Madison, WI for 12+ hours. People were stranded, accidents everywhere, etc. We really didn't end up with that much snow that day. I think 10-12in maybe.
> 
> I think it could happen again without a doubt.


That was mayhem. That happened mainly because of stupid people.


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## lucky4511 (Jan 3, 2001)

when we got that 3.9 inch shot yesterday morning in central indiana in came down in about 2.5 hours there was a 22 car 9 semi and 1 firetruck accident that killed 2 people. when we got the 13" last week they asked only people that had to drive do so but people don't listen.


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## hedhunter9 (Nov 15, 2008)

I remember the Blizzard of 78 real well. 
I had just bought a new 78 Blazer 4x4 the week before. (had 75 miles on it)
We hooked up with the civil defense (Capt. Ed Friend of the South Bend Police)
and ran in convoys to deliver medicine, food, Pick up doctors, etc.

We ran for 28 hours straight. Came home and slept for 4 or 5 hours and went back out.
The guy at the end of our street had been plowing our street constantly to keep it open.

From my driveway to the end of the street, the snow was as high as the hood on the blazer. I had to ram it thru the snow as far as it would go, then back up and get a run at it again. Kept doing that till I got out to the plowed section.

We ran 3 4x4's and 2 snowmobiles in a group . We would run the 4x4's as far as we could, then the snowmobiles would go the rest of the way, Either pick up someone or deliver the medicine or food or whatever. then they would come back to us and we would head to the next place. We got stuck so many times I lost count. But we would snatch the lead vehicle back out with one of the following vehicles. At one time, we had all 3 vehicles stuck and had to dig for about an hour. 

Everything was shut down... Everything. People were stranded at work, at stores, at motels, etc.... They had to sleep on the floors, tables, wherever. Some had no food.
Had to wear the same clothes for a week. No showers. Etc...

For the next 3 days, when we werent running for the civil defense, We ran food for all of our neighbors, but the stores quickly ran out of the basics..Neighbors helped neighbors.

We filled our gas tanks up at the county or city pumps along with the police vehicles.

On main street and Mckinley (US 20) a city bus was left stranded right in the middle of the highway. The snowdrifts were as high as the bus. 12 foot...

In front of K-Mart, one of theCity fire trucks was stuck and abandoned and you couldnt even see it... 

My 2 Brittany Spanials walked right over their 6 foot kennel fence. We couldnt open our back door of our house as the snow was up to our roof... 

My Uncle brought his front end loader up from Culver and worked up here for a 10 day period, just moving snow. Slept in his loader now and then or slept a few hours at my dads. He made enough to pay for the loader he said.....

It was wierd as all get out, driving down US 20 and seeing NO Cars, Nothing moving in the middle of the day.. Just people walking.... Hundreds of people walking, as that is the only way to get around. Skis and snow shoes if ya had em... Only one lane of US 20 was kinda open.... Snowmobiles and a few 4x4s now and then....

Yes the Blizzard of 78 was something... It could happen again..
There is not enough equipment around to prevent it...
But just like before, we would survive. 

But plow trucks are worthless for a storm like this. Only front end loaders would work
for this OR HUGE Snowblowers...They just dumped huge piles in the front yards of everyone. It was the only thing you could do....


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

It would be worse. As Paul said, most muni's have scaled back on their equipment and now every idiot under the sun needs to run to the store for bread and milk, the bank for money they can't spend because they're snowed in, gas up the car that won't move because it's buried in a drift, pickup 3 movies in case they do stay home, then decide to return them because they look boring and get some other ones, then pick up a pizza while they're out, then stop at the mall because they need a new coat, then head to Home Cheapos or Lowes and pickup a new shovel or snowblower, then have to get gas again for the snow blower and car. Etc.

Then you will have the idiots that have a 4WD SUV that can go through anything, so they don't have to stay home. 

Think about common sense isn't very common anymore--just look at who we elected as President--so it would only be much, much worse.


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## Neige (Jan 29, 2008)

willyswagon;742961 said:


> Absolutely it will happen again. Google search White Juan. A two day strom in Feb 2004. It had Nova Scotia and PEI buttoned down for days. Eastern PEI had over 100cm. Keep in mind that PEI got hit later that week by another storm that left a further 65cm. I am trying to find my pictures taken on the North side of the Island, of a 950 Cat with the blower up at full loader height cutting into the drifts That winter was NUTS!!!
> 
> All it takes is for one of these big systems to stall, and no amount of machinery can clean it up in a reasonable time frame,


Willy you guys still get storms regularly, heck it snows so much I'm surprised JD never moved out there : Danger is in places where it been some time since a big one. People forget, think its fun. Your right no amount of machinery can handle those kinds of storms. With the wind it not safe to be out plowing roads. Usually they just stop and wait till they can see again. Just plain nuts


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## cretebaby (Aug 23, 2008)

hedhunter9;743124 said:


> I remember the Blizzard of 78 real well.
> I had just bought a new 78 Blazer 4x4 the week before. (had 75 miles on it)
> We hooked up with the civil defense (Capt. Ed Friend of the South Bend Police)
> and ran in convoys to deliver medicine, food, Pick up doctors, etc.
> ...


Hasnt that happened on the interstate in Indiana in just the last few years?


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## Oshkosh (Sep 11, 2005)

*I agree worse!*

I was 13 years old during the Blizzard of "78"...
I remember my Mom being picked up by the National Guard and taken to work each night (RN).We had dead bodies washing up on our shoreline as the pilot boat(Can-do) went down trying to locate and save a beached tanker off Marblehead.It was a mess, that is when our town bought a large airport blower for the cleanup.We had firetrucks getting swamped with saltwater ,I remember the drifts from yard to yard going over 6' stockade fencing...
People knew how to slow down and drive in the snow as sand was used more and that is what you just did.You had snow tires and weight and that is how you got around
I think things would and could be worse now,The drivers now want to go the speed limit plus during the storms and they haven't learned to drive any better just faster...
People expect a black and wet level of service now and they couldn't handle that type of storm.
I know our State DOT doesn't have the equipment (Snowfighters).They would have to use loaders and graders that is all we have left of the heavy iron.It would be a slow process getting the roads open.


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## big pusher (Sep 9, 2008)

Mark Oomkes;743136 said:


> It would be worse. As Paul said, most muni's have scaled back on their equipment and now every idiot under the sun needs to run to the store for bread and milk, the bank for money they can't spend because they're snowed in, gas up the car that won't move because it's buried in a drift, pickup 3 movies in case they do stay home, then decide to return them because they look boring and get some other ones, then pick up a pizza while they're out, then stop at the mall because they need a new coat, then head to Home Cheapos or Lowes and pickup a new shovel or snowblower, then have to get gas again for the snow blower and car. Etc.
> 
> Then you will have the idiots that have a 4WD SUV that can go through anything, so they don't have to stay home.
> 
> Think about common sense isn't very common anymore--just look at who we elected as President--so it would only be much, much worse.


You hit the nail on the head!


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## grapeford (Nov 30, 2005)

I do think that the advancements in weather technology has made a big difference in at least being prepared for these types of storms.


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## willyswagon (Dec 19, 2008)

Neige;743155 said:


> Willy you guys still get storms regularly, heck it snows so much I'm surprised JD never moved out there : Danger is in places where it been some time since a big one. People forget, think its fun. Your right no amount of machinery can handle those kinds of storms. With the wind it not safe to be out plowing roads. Usually they just stop and wait till they can see again. Just plain nuts


If by storms you mean over 20-25cm/snow fall, You are right! The snow down here for the most part comes with wind of 80-100km or more. For this last snow fall the weather guy said fortunately there won't be any signifcant wind with this system, it will top out at about 75km/h.

We love when people say they got Hammered by 10 cm. You could eat a 10 cm snow fall. I assume they mean after cleaning of the 10cm me and the boys got hammered(drunk) as there was nothing else to do

We are lucky that way. People know how to deal with it. Everyone goes to the store for milk, bread and the essitials before it starts(cause it may stall over head and be here for days). Everyone fills their car with gas before the storm starts(cause it is a great way to store extra gas that may be need for your generator, when the power goes out). We also pick up cash cause when the wires for the debit/credit system go down, you can still buy with CASH!!!payup

PS The nice part of out here is that some snow and ice in a parking lot is acceptable! It's winter, surfaces are slippery, you should expect to fall. If you wear sneakers in winter, Your a Dumb Ass!


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## eshskis (Dec 1, 2008)

grapeford;742569 said:


> Just got back from another night of plowing, and can't think of a better way to wind down by having a beer and checking out plowsite. Just wondering, I'm from Mass. and was a teenager back in the blizzard of "78" Everything shut down here for about a week. No school. no work, people died on the highways, you could barely drive on the roads. My question to you guys, do you think with the equipment we have today *(trucks, sanders etc..), technology *(radar etc..) that that would happen again ? Still look back on it, as one of the best times of my life.


Wow I remember that storm what a blast...., we got totally SMACKED, Yes that amount of snow will without question overwhelm the current line of of what we use today. The problem is not the snow plowing itself it is a lack of space to put what you plow.


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## Mstrfxit12 (Dec 29, 2006)

You folks in mass will remember the storm last December. We got like 6-8" inches of snow but look at the effect it had with timing of it. Commutes that take 45 minutes were taking 6+ hours. People were running out of fuel on the hiways left and right and just abandoning their cars right where they lay, which only compounded the problem. The hiways were gridlocked as were many of the secondary roads which prevented the surface treatment equipment from getting anything done. I think if you had a storm come through anywhere near the conditions of 78 it might even be worse. The only thing I think that has helped is the effect that storm had plus the effect the ice storm had earlier this winter that left some people without power for weeks. People have started to think again about preparing for these storms when they come through. And the stores are happy because now people are a little afraid again so the bread and milk purchase are way up ahead of the storms again like they use to be.


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## IPLOWSNO (Oct 11, 2008)

i remember my mom being single at the time, she could do more in a station wagon than most guys in a pick up lol, we were out in the country, and she needed to get me to a hospital as i was an asthmatic baby, nothing would stand in her way, we were driving in a kingswood estate 454 the snow was over the hood, and she just kept plowing thru then we hit a drift, all i seen was a mtn of snow, my mom knew the roads well and she just punched it and blew a hole right thru it, we get to the top of a hill and in the distance we see an walters plow, which is good and bad if it didnt turn he would of engulfed us with snow, well he turned and when he did he left a huge pile of snow blocking the road, again my mom wasnt afraid to floor it, it ripped the rack off our car lol, the doctor couldnt believe my mom got there. and neither could i.


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## NICHOLS LANDSCA (Sep 15, 2007)

IPLOWSNO;742651 said:


> no those years were awesome as kid, snobanks so high you had to scale them lol, we'd build forts and im not talkin a hole in a bank im talking guns of navarone forts lol, i liked war movies lol. we had escape slides that went down the hill to the tracks so after a cop car would go by and he turned around we'd be gone lol. we had them on both sides of the road, so we could fight each other before the usual targets would come by. you could always tell what time it was when greyhound came lol. the cops admired us because are forts were cool, as we spent alot of hours making them. nowadays you never see any lol


You will never see forts like that anymore #1 kids are lazy and too busy playing video games #2 we don't get the snow anymore. The last good storm we had was Halloween of 1991 3ft in less than 16hrs


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## IPLOWSNO (Oct 11, 2008)

yea i hear you on the lazy kids part lol when we were young and there was no school we would be out all day till dark, then my mom got us c/c skis and we were soon miles from home lol.

we still get lots of snow for that but its hit or miss we have about 3' compressed in my yard, but now im to ld to dig it lol or maybe im too lazy now lol


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## willyswagon (Dec 19, 2008)

IPLOWSNO;744062 said:


> yea i hear you on the lazy kids part lol when we were young and there was no school we would be out all day till dark, then my mom got us c/c skis and we were soon miles from home lol.
> 
> we still get lots of snow for that but its hit or miss we have about 3' compressed in my yard, but now im to ld to dig it lol or maybe im too lazy now lol


I just had a Cat 420 in to push back the banks in my driveway. I told him to leave it in some decent sized piles so the kids could play on/in them. School was cancelled yesterday due to 30 cm of snow and wind. When they woke up and heard it was cancelled they were pleased, when they saw thier snow gear hanging on the door, they knew what was up! See ya at lunch! After lunch gear comes out of the dryer, see ya at supper!!

If they don't like it, they can call the Kids Help Line!


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## tuna (Nov 2, 2002)

Oshkosh;743171 said:


> I was 13 years old during the Blizzard of "78"...
> I remember my Mom being picked up by the National Guard and taken to work each night (RN).We had dead bodies washing up on our shoreline as the pilot boat(Can-do) went down trying to locate and save a beached tanker off Marblehead.It was a mess, that is when our town bought a large airport blower for the cleanup.We had firetrucks getting swamped with saltwater ,I remember the drifts from yard to yard going over 6' stockade fencing...
> People knew how to slow down and drive in the snow as sand was used more and that is what you just did.You had snow tires and weight and that is how you got around
> I think things would and could be worse now,The drivers now want to go the speed limit plus during the storms and they haven't learned to drive any better just faster...
> ...


I was also 13 in 78 and sat up all night listening to the radio converstions between the Can-Do ,USCG and Salem Control on my scanner.It was chilling to hear those guys last words and something I will never forget.Have you read Micheal Tougias` book "Ten hours Until Dawn" about the wreck of the Can-Do?If not I highly recomend it


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## MickiRig1 (Dec 5, 2003)

It will happen again, you get the right snow fall rate and drifting. They lose control rather quickly with some events. Then it's catch up time.
I was 18 when that storm came. We had a 1/4 mile long driveway. I kept it open every few hours with a Farmal Cub and grader blade on the front. Dad had a 73 F250 with a Meyer. He was gone, money to be made. I was a volunteer fireman at the time. We dropped a building fire at a cemetery near the end of the storm. It took a while till we could even get to the fire. You had to go "ramming speed" to get through drifts. I had a 70 Maverick with huge truck snow tires on the back and lots of weight in the trunk. Then the water tankers ran dry at the fire. They would go get water and we would get closer to the fire to stay warm. They would come back with water. Start fighting the fire again. I never thought you could get fire trucks stuck, but we did. Our road dept had military surplus 2-1/4 ton 6 wheel drive trucks with highway plows on them. They did a hell of a job keeping the township roads clear. We used theses trucks to pull out the fire trucks. Six wheels a spinning on the end of a big chain was too cool.


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## justme- (Dec 28, 2004)

You guys really think and lack of Snowfighters makes a big difference in New England? MA got rid of most of theirs, but with the majority of DPW trucks around me, there's no reason anything less then a sustained 3+ per hour couldn't be managed- it's all about managing the snow - not waiting until 5 am to go out, common sense stuff- you know, what we all as pro plowers use every storm....

incidentally, during the Bliz of 78 my father was a claims adjuster for a big insurance co- he had an apartment and was living in Brattleburough VT most of the week, coming home to Arlington Ma to my mother and I on weekends and such. He drove from VT to MA in his company car ( a lincoln I believe) IN the storm to check on us, stayed for a couple of hours then drove back to VT.

You know there is a fine for abandoning your vehicle in the travel lane of a road, especially a highway in most states?


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

justme-;744145 said:


> You guys really think and lack of Snowfighters makes a big difference in New England? MA got rid of most of theirs, but with the majority of DPW trucks around me, there's no reason anything less then a sustained 3+ per hour couldn't be managed- it's all about managing the snow - not waiting until 5 am to go out, common sense stuff- you know, what we all as pro plowers use every storm....
> 
> incidentally, during the Bliz of 78 my father was a claims adjuster for a big insurance co- he had an apartment and was living in Brattleburough VT most of the week, coming home to Arlington Ma to my mother and I on weekends and such. He drove from VT to MA in his company car ( a lincoln I believe) IN the storm to check on us, stayed for a couple of hours then drove back to VT.
> 
> You know there is a fine for abandoning your vehicle in the travel lane of a road, especially a highway in most states?


Not sure you're grasping the intensity of this storm. It wasn't just the snowfall, but the wind that came with it. Think about the blizzards they have in the Great Plains without snow falling and how they close the interstates. Then compound that with a whole bunch of snow and you'll come closer to understanding.

If you can't see because of the snowfall and blowing, you can't keep up with it because people do abandon their vehicles, then the next guy stops and can't get moving and it just dominoes.

Locally, everything was shut down for at least 3 days, closer to a week.

And if you don't think it can happen, it just happened out in Denver a few years back.

It can and will happen again and no amount of forecasting will prevent it or prepare people enough.


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## Neige (Jan 29, 2008)

It happened here last week when the closed highway 10 for a stretch of 8 miles both directions. It was not snowing at the time, just the winds picked up, and you could not see 10 feet in front of you.
Usually people abandon the vehicles because they get stuck or it stalls, then like mark said you get a domino affect. Once that happens you cant get around anymore. When they do start clearning they do it against traffic and tow the cars one by one, its a long process. I remember once after a storm at our local garage they towed all the cars that were abandoned on the highway nearby. More than halve had stalled, because under the hood it was just compacted with snow, that the engine suffocated. When they say stay of the roads people should listen.


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## theplowmeister (Nov 14, 2006)

The problem with the 78 storm was weather forecasting OR the lack of it, we've had storms since then of about the same size. But where ready for them.


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## BigDave12768 (Nov 17, 2006)

No one ever remembers that about 5 days before blizzard we got about 16 inches of fresh snow and the pack on ground was already over 2 feet. so when that thing hit and drifted everywhere it made it look real bad. But that was a mother load of snow. My parents went to Florida for the weekend and we got dropped off at grandparents. Well 3 days turned into 10 days. It was the worst. But a storm that size wont stop New England again. we ahve to much equipment and to many now have 4x4


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## eshskis (Dec 1, 2008)

justme-;744145 said:


> You guys really think and lack of Snowfighters makes a big difference in New England? MA got rid of most of theirs, but with the majority of DPW trucks around me, there's no reason anything less then a sustained 3+ per hour couldn't be managed- it's all about managing the snow - not waiting until 5 am to go out, common sense stuff- you know, what we all as pro plowers use every storm....
> 
> incidentally, during the Bliz of 78 my father was a claims adjuster for a big insurance co- he had an apartment and was living in Brattleburough VT most of the week, coming home to Arlington Ma to my mother and I on weekends and such. He drove from VT to MA in his company car ( a lincoln I believe) IN the storm to check on us, stayed for a couple of hours then drove back to VT.
> 
> You know there is a fine for abandoning your vehicle in the travel lane of a road, especially a highway in most states?


Your jokeing right?


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## PORTER 05 (Dec 28, 2005)

i wasnt alive during 78 so i cant compare...but the blizzard we had in 05 must have been somwhat close, we got 38 inches that storm i think it snowed for 2 days, 5 inches per HR at times,and the wind was blowing @ about 60 MPH with gusts to 80 MPH... i was out plowing we lost almost every lot and driveway we did, lucky it dint put us out of biz.....i saw national guard hummers all over my town, they had camo loaders too plowing and pushing piles around , logan was shut down i think for over 24 hrs and i dont know how much of 128 was shut down but our part thats about 2-4 miles was shut down for about 20 hrs....i talked to a few sub contractors during the storm that plow for my town , they told me they all got called off cause they couldnt keep up and they could not see more than 1 foot...it was really bad , and i hope we never get anything close to that again, nothing but a horrible mess-it doesnt matter what kind of trucks we have if youre getting 4-5-6 inches per HR with 70+ MPH winds theres nothing you can do but let it come down and bring out the loaders when the sun comes out-


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

eshskis;744304 said:


> Your jokeing right?


Thanks for the pic, that sums it up right there.


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## Oshkosh (Sep 11, 2005)

*I haven't..*



tuna;744084 said:


> I was also 13 in 78 and sat up all night listening to the radio converstions between the Can-Do ,USCG and Salem Control on my scanner.It was chilling to hear those guys last words and something I will never forget.Have you read Micheal Tougias` book "Ten hours Until Dawn" about the wreck of the Can-Do?If not I highly recomend it


 I'll have to look it up...
The hull was raised and refitted with a new pilot house and the boat was moored on the north side of the Beverly/Salem Bridge the last I knew. Something I didn't think should have happened.


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## Oshkosh (Sep 11, 2005)

*I dont think I...*



eshskis;744304 said:


> Your jokeing right?


 I know equipment makes the difference.
I know in the April Fools storm we where one of the only stretches of route 128 that stayed open the duration of the storm, I know my Oshkosh pulled five ten wheeler plow trucks out of the median,Down off ramps as they couldn't get enough traction to go even down hill until my boss put a stop to me playing tow truck and had me keeping the highway open, I know I watched One ton 4x4's with ballast on route 127 hit the snow banks in a effort to push back and bounce off and that the Oshkosh was the only truck in our area that would touch the banking's.The road had narrowed to just one set of tracks over the center line.So yes from first hand experience I know equipment will make a difference.


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## ksgcapecod (Feb 13, 2006)

I remember the "Blizzard of 78." I was 11 years old. The cops were using people snowmobiles to try and get places. It certainly could happen again. The last big storm we had was 5 or 6 years ago and I think the schools were shut down for 3-4 days. The year after that I bought a plow. I swore I would never again be stuck in my driveway. (no problem driving since I had 4 wheel drive but had to smash through the bank at the end of the driveway to give the plows access to the roads since I had to go to sleep).I was returning home from work at approx. 10:00 a.m. after being held over due to the storm. It was still snowing and white out conditions. Traffic was all backed up. Come to find out some idiot in a 2 wheel drive Honda Civic thought he could he would venture out and got stuck. He screwed eveything up. I wish those kind of people would just stay home.


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## unimogr (Feb 18, 2004)

I was 23 and working for the Schlitz distributor in RI. At 3pm they decided to send us home early. I had to drop off our uglyest secretary home and on the way broke down on Rt 95. Took 1/2 hour to get the van running but got her home. 

Made it to my 2 room apartment and got a call from a friend that worked at a nursing home around the corner that needed room for her and 4 of her friends to stay. WHAT A WEEK. 

RI was shut down, all my college accounts were calling me for beer deliveries. The only account that week to get beer was the Providence Worcester Railroad bar, they sent an engine to our loading dock and put 2 kegs on the side catwalk and ran to Cumberland, dropped them on the street and dragged them 500 yards to the bar. 

I spent the week walking to my parents and ran a backhoe for the week. Then home to the crowd at my appt at night. By the end of the week we had 6 girls and 2 guys staying there. 

I could only wish it would happen again.....

The big rumor was the RI State DOT workers had a slowdown over pay or overtime and 
got so far behind they could never catch up. The news at night showed pics of the RI/MA border with the highways covered on our side and clean in MA.


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## tuna (Nov 2, 2002)

Oshkosh;744365 said:


> I'll have to look it up...
> The hull was raised and refitted with a new pilot house and the boat was moored on the north side of the Beverly/Salem Bridge the last I knew. Something I didn't think should have happened.


The boat is still there I saw it yesterday.It was renamed "Grampus" which was the original name of the boat before Frank Quirk bought it.Bob Cahill who was the Beverly Habormaster years ago wrote a series of short books about shipwrecks and haunted places on the North Shore.Bob spent a night aboard the Grampus and was so creeped out by an erie presence he swore to never step foot on that boat again.Legend has it that the owner was told by superstitious fisherman to never bring that boat in to Gloucester Harbor as it is considered a "Jonah".I agree, it should have been cut up for scrap.


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## tuna (Nov 2, 2002)

BigDave12768;744275 said:


> No one ever remembers that about 5 days before blizzard we got about 16 inches of fresh snow and the pack on ground was already over 2 feet. so when that thing hit and drifted everywhere it made it look real bad. But that was a mother load of snow. My parents went to Florida for the weekend and we got dropped off at grandparents. Well 3 days turned into 10 days. It was the worst. But a storm that size wont stop New England again. we ahve to much equipment and to many now have 4x4


I remember it very well,it was accually about 2 weeks before somewhere @ Jan 21 we got 21 inches in Swampscott


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## Tommy10plows (Jan 1, 2001)

*Blizzard of 78*

First of all, it is hard for me to imagine that storm was 31 years ago.

I plowed it with equipment that you guys laugh at today. 1965 Jeep CJ 5, 4 cylinder with a Western plow, and belt driven hydraulics, 1962 Willys Pickup, hurricane 6 cylinder engine, with a 90" Meyer plow, also with belt driven hydraulics, and a 1972 Jeep CJ 5 American Motors version of a GM engine, 304 V8, with a Meyers Plow with belt driven hydraulics. All my pumps were made by Monarch. Every truck had v-bar reinforced chains on all four wheels, 7.75 x 16" Goodyear snow tires on the 65 jeep, military tires on the pick up, and 8.55 x 15 " General snow tires on the V8 CJ5. All were manual transmissions, and we plowed in low range in order to move the weight.

You could either run the heater or the defroster on the older jeeps, not both. They had vacuum powered wipers that slow down or stopped when you went up hill. That 1972 was like a Cadillac compared to the '65. It was real luxury, good heat and good wipers.

We kept up with the storm, plowed out the police department lot and my local fire department driveway many times, got more free food and coffee than I can remember, ran to drug stores for meds for those who were stuck, pulled stuck cars, a 1976 Chevy Blazer out of a drift, pulled a F-250 longbed with plow out of a ditch, slept in the trucks for a few minutes at a time, I even got to drive home some little hot babe that I went to high school who was too cool to talk to me when we were in school, You guys know the type I mean. I saw her at a reunion about 15 years ago, and she is still a snot. I should have pushed her out face down into a snow bank instead of being a nice guy back then.

We were on the road when nobody and I mean nobody was out there. The only others we would see on the roads were the trucks our town had, one was a 1962 FWD Dump with mechanical spreader box, another was a 1972 Oshkosh Cummins powered with Alison automatic.

There was no Nextel or cell service, we used CB radios, and (gasp) pay phones. Imagine sticking your ear on some phone that who knows what diseased person had on their ear before you?

Not one mechanical breakdown, other than a few cross links wearing down and splitting on the chains. If you want reliability, belt driven pumps are the way to go.

We had seasonals fixed price as well as per push jobs. The seasonals are set up in pricing to cover seven "per push" events, and that seasonal income is used to put my equipment in order for the winter. Tires, hoses, brakes, U-joints, whatever, so that we don't break down. The money is in the "per push" jobs, but it is nice to have the seasonal income stream so I don't have to go out of pocket to get things ready for winter.

Did we make money? You bet we did, and earned every penny of it. More money than we made in the rest of that year. But I was alot younger then. If I worked those hours under those conditions today, you would probably have to put cones around me and claim my body after the spring thaw!

There will always be a big storm story from generation to generation, the "winter of ought nine", the blizzard of '78, the Nor'Easterner of 1996. You plowmen will have one, and your kids will laugh at you and roll their eyes when you tell it. Make sure you get your kids involved in this business. Let them learn to appreciate the beauty of nature as the sun rises after an all night blizzard. Let them enjoy the freshness of unblemished snow, and the stillness of the night that a blizzard brings. Give them the opportunity to learn to understand how important it is to prepare in advance, to be self reliant, and how to run a business that serves the needs of the public. They will carry these lessons with them their entire lives.

And that, will beat the poop out of any computer game they play today.


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## Tommy10plows (Jan 1, 2001)

*Blizzard of 78*

Thirty one years.... where did the time go?


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## eshskis (Dec 1, 2008)

Tommy10plows;744803 said:


> Thirty one years.... where did the time go?


wow 31 years i was 14 then.....


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## willyswagon (Dec 19, 2008)

Hey Tommy, things that are old are new again. I've left all the new, modern gear, and returned to my old 56 Willys Pick up. Said the hell with the cut throats working for nothing and started taking time with the old truck, teaching my girls how to plow.


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## eshskis (Dec 1, 2008)

.......................


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## IPLOWSNO (Oct 11, 2008)

i dont know they make some good god damn games lol, i was 11 goin on manhood back then lol, i was raised on a farm lol


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## 04superduty (Jan 9, 2004)

we are due for a really bad one here, no real blizzard here so far even though we have had alot of snow so far we still have not gotten hit real bad. like 2+ feet, that would test the limit of everyone and put things into perspective. the last big storm was 96 or 97, not sure exactly how much we got but did shut everthing down.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

04superduty;745700 said:


> we are due for a really bad one here, no real blizzard here so far even though we have had alot of snow so far we still have not gotten hit real bad. like 2+ feet, that would test the limit of everyone and put things into perspective. the last big storm was 96 or 97, not sure exactly how much we got but did shut everthing down.


Jan 2, '99 we had 22" and lots of wind. Not like '78 but it was fun.


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## no lead (Dec 10, 2008)

jan 09' that was a serious event. i worked at B&B then and we were there sunup till sunup for weeks at a time. that was when boss plows would eat the center section horizontal pin and it took a while to repair. as i recall i saw a lot of umpkiss trucks back then.


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## 04superduty (Jan 9, 2004)

Mark Oomkes;745704 said:


> Jan 2, '99 we had 22" and lots of wind. Not like '78 but it was fun.


hmm, we did have over 12+ in 97 now that i think about it. for 99 i was living in nashville, where 4" shut down the whole town, literally, the highways were deserted except for me, and 1 guy that decided to spin around and in the process of doing his roundy rounds he hit each corner of his surburban against the barrier. when i drove past him he was white as a sheet hands clamped on the wheel looking straight ahead frozen.


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## 04superduty (Jan 9, 2004)

no lead;745717 said:


> jan 09' that was a serious event. i worked at B&B then and we were there sunup till sunup for weeks at a time. that was when boss plows would eat the center section horizontal pin and it took a while to repair. as i recall i saw a lot of umpkiss trucks back then.


i didnt think mark ran to many bosses, like only 1 or maybe 2.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

04superduty;745724 said:


> i didnt think mark ran to many bosses, like only 1 or maybe 2.


We would have had 4 or 5 at that time.

Just not that many at B&B because most of our welding was done by Ebling and that was the majority of the issues with Boss.

So no lead would be mistaken.


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## no lead (Dec 10, 2008)

i could be mistaken. i know a few new ones were installed for you guys back then. i remember bill buekema pronouncing your name that way. why i remember that i couldn't tell you.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

no lead;745745 said:


> i could be mistaken. i know a few new ones were installed for you guys back then. i remember bill buekema pronouncing your name that way. why i remember that i couldn't tell you.


Could be, Bill B and my dad are cousins.

Last Boss we bought was '96.


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## no lead (Dec 10, 2008)

thats what i thought. what blades are you running now?


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Mostly Blizzards.

1 Western

1 Monroe

1 Viking

1 Daniels

All Ebling back blades

4 ProTechs


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## no lead (Dec 10, 2008)

the ebling blade is sooo nice. i remember the first ones. they were slick, but the new ones,:salute:.


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## Nascar24 (Feb 11, 2006)

Hi

I was senior in High School ( trade school) when the Blizzard hit, My neighbor was one of the few guy's who had 4wd truck with a plow, He also had a five year old Jeep Wagoneer with a 7.5' Meyer plow sitting in his driveway for a back up truck. The Jeep was in pretty tough shape, rear 1/4's and floor rotted out , needed a battery , tires and exhaust, A couple days before the blizzard he told my brother and I if we wanted to fool around with it, it was all ours!, 

My brother and I dragged it across the street into my Fathers one car garage, started up the wood stove and went to work. Since I was in the welding fabrication program and my brother was in the auto shop this was going to be a walk in the park. We dragged an old fridge up from the back yard ( Mom got a new one just a week before the storm) and used all the sheet metal to rebuild the 1/4 panels, rear wheel houses and rear floor, with the Jeep being white and the fridge being white , really could tell where we fabbed in all the pieces, lol. We got in my old Mustang and went down to my BIL tire shop and scrounged two pairs of almost new bias snow tires all the same size ( everyone was trading them in since with radial tires ,snow tires were going to be a thing of the past! ya right! lol), we also hit him up for his repair plate! So we headed back home and by then Dad was home from work and wanting to know what we got into? So he realized that we were so far into it, he just rolled up his sleeves and started on the gummed up carb, he rebuilt it , then started on tuning it up with an a set of plugs and wires I had bough for my Mustang, oh well, lol. , My brother and I re did the exhaust sytem with some pipes and muffler my brother tore off of his Corvette and I took the brand new battery out of my car and by 9pm we had this Jeep ready to take on the storm!

We had a blast! Plowing out the neighborhood, my BIL Tire shop, getting groceries for the neighbor's and driving my Dad back and forth to work. On the second day, the neighbor who owned the Jeep broke his axle in his truck, he came looking for the Jeep, I wasn't't about to give it up! So instead we took over his route while he slept. While he was sleeping my uncle who lived down the street , took the broken truck, loaded it with sand and drove it 50 miles to get a replacement axle, brought it back and my father installed it, only to find out it was the wrong axle ratio. By this time the neighbor came over from his six hour nap, said forget it I just borrow another truck. He took off and a few hours later Dad had everything swapped over ring , pinion and all dialed in. He no sooner pulled the truck out and in come the neighbor with another truck with a busted up plow. I got a call on the CB radio ( prehistoric cell phone), better get home you got some welding to do! I headed home and started doing my thing! A few hours later I took the truck down to the DPW garage for the owner to pick it up, then I got recruited to start patching up the Towns plows!

It all seemed to be surreal , the Blizzard to me was not watching the news for three days but doing some plowing for the first time ,and repairing trucks with plows.

Will this type of devastation hinder us again? Certainly, as far as the time to get it under control, I really don't think with the quantity of 4x4's with plows, large construction equipment, and the willingness to just stay home , I think if it happened tomorrow we could get the upper hand in one third less time than it took back in 1978. JMHO


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## no lead (Dec 10, 2008)

hate to burst our bubble guys. there will never ever be a storm like 78' again. global warming will make january feel like july. saw it on the internet. has to be true.


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## eshskis (Dec 1, 2008)

no lead;745792 said:


> hate to burst our bubble guys. there will never ever be a storm like 78' again. global warming will make january feel like july. saw it on the internet. has to be true.


dam right global warming is kicking us hard it was 4 degrees last night today it was 6


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## 04superduty (Jan 9, 2004)

Mark Oomkes;745734 said:


> We would have had 4 or 5 at that time.
> 
> Just not that many at B&B because most of our welding was done by Ebling and that was the majority of the issues with Boss.
> 
> So no lead would be mistaken.


lol, you didnt see the date he posted you having issues, jan of 09. maybe in 99 you had more bosses, but now i thought you had atlest 1.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

04superduty;746957 said:


> lol, you didnt see the date he posted you having issues, jan of 09. maybe in 99 you had more bosses, but now i thought you had atlest 1.


Yup, figured it was a typo just like his ability to spell my last name.


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## snowgod2 (Feb 9, 2009)

Today is not any different then then.If you really are a proffesional snow plower,then there is never any amount of snow that you can't handle no matter what equipment you have.


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## eshskis (Dec 1, 2008)

snowgod2;748024 said:


> Today is not any different then then.If you really are a proffesional snow plower,then there is never any amount of snow that you can't handle no matter what equipment you have.


3 things,,,,

1, either you have none, or limited snow plowing experience.

2, your jokeing to begin with.

3, That is the silliest thing I ever read........


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

eshskis;748064 said:


> 3 things,,,,
> 
> 1, either you have none, or limited snow plowing experience.
> 
> ...


In a way, he's right, but on the other hand, he's also very naive.

Just look at his username.


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## SuperdutyShane (Mar 6, 2009)

grapeford;742854 said:


> Yeah, In those days we would walk around apartment buildings, knock on peoples doors and shovel out cars. We made a ton of money. Kids don't do that anymore.


Hey hey hey hey....
Im out every storm, plowing with my atv and then shoveling the spots around cars and the walkways I cant get with the atv. But I do agree to that, I have a couple kids in my neighborhood and they dont even shovel their own driveways  And I know of no one in my school who shovels...? I see it as the easiest money out there. And of course, the exercise is great. I dont understand kids though, haha that almost sounds funny coming from a "kid."


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

grapeford;742569 said:


> Just got back from another night of plowing, and can't think of a better way to wind down by having a beer and checking out plowsite. Just wondering, I'm from Mass. and was a teenager back in the blizzard of "78" Everything shut down here for about a week. No school. no work, people died on the highways, you could barely drive on the roads. My question to you guys, do you think with the equipment we have today *(trucks, sanders etc..), technology *(radar etc..) that that would happen again ? Still look back on it, as one of the best times of my life.


"People died on the highways" Ahhh......Good times......Good times! What the hell?


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