Professor Nutbutter 181,255 35
12/06/2002 11:18 AM

Didn't The Great Blizzard of '78 hit Ohio?

salvage: Interweb Surfer Extreme 28,986 12
12/06/2002 11:18 AM

I was born in the worst snowstorm Ottawa had ever seen. The neighbours had to push my Dad's Beetle aboot a half a mile before they hit plowed roads.



I was nearly born in VW Bug.



No wonder I'm such a bleeding heart liberal hippy.

Trae (please return me to my upright position) 156,785 17
12/06/2002 11:19 AM

When I lived in Chicago:



According to the U.S. Department of Commerce Weather Bureau, Chicago's average annual snowfall is 33" and rarely exceeds 40". Since records began to be kept in 1899, there have only been four winters in which total snowfall exceeded 60". But during the winter of 1978-79, the total was a staggering 88.4"! And by the end of January, there was an accumulation of more than 47" on the ground, most of which was compacted ice!





Car 24, with its distinctive paint scheme and bright orange belt rail, acts as a snowfighter against continuing snow drifts. The unit, operated by Superintendent Bruce Anderson, is approaching Davis station on the Evanston Line on January 16, 1979. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the Chicago Transit Authority Collection, reprinted from CTA at 45)



The Blizzard of 1979 started on Friday night January 12 and lasted until 2 a.m. Sunday January 14. On top of 7-10 inches left over from a New Year's Eve storm, 20.3 inches of new snow fell--setting a record for total snow on the ground.





I think that was also the winter that the temperature went down to a -80F with wind chill and we couldn't go outside for any significant length of time.





So, put that in your challenge pipe and smoke it JOHN HARGRAVE!

Trae (please return me to my upright position) 156,785 17
12/06/2002 11:20 AM

Oh..um.. damn cut/paste. Ignore the click on the picture thingie.

Professor Nutbutter 181,255 35
12/06/2002 11:21 AM

'78 was nuts. We were out of school for a whole week. We were lucky and didn't lose power but the people the next street over had none for almost a week.



Took us three days to shovel out our driveway and had my dad not taken back roads home he would have spent the night on Rt. 128 with all the other stuck cars.

salvage: Interweb Surfer Extreme 28,986 12
12/06/2002 11:21 AM

I was siting here thinking "Damn that trae guy is sure a fast typer. He must be one of those crippled guys that use their toes or something."



But then I saw the click thing and knew you were a fraud...



I'm going back to law school.

Trae (please return me to my upright position) 156,785 17
12/06/2002 11:23 AM

I AM NOT A GUY!

Yip Bonk Toad 3,028 13
12/06/2002 11:33 AM

Buffalo. 70s. Nuf said.

That's MRS Crickette to you, bub! 2,472 12
12/06/2002 11:35 AM

John, that was April '97.



It was my first year in Waltham at Bentley..



Being snowed in when you're a freshman and only have a broken microwave in your room sucks.

salvage: Interweb Surfer Extreme 28,986 12
12/06/2002 11:35 AM

See? Your falshoods continue, making me think you were a guy all along...



Lies make the baby Jebus cry.

Sleestack 30,342 13
12/06/2002 11:55 AM

Summer 1984



The snowstorm was so big that everyone died.



Yeah.

Dead Robot 67,630 16
12/06/2002 11:57 AM

Har! Lookit the Amerikuns talk about snow.

Bonky 75,728 15
12/06/2002 11:59 AM

We had some white frosty stuff on the grass this morning. Does that count?

salvage: Interweb Surfer Extreme 28,986 12
12/06/2002 11:59 AM

It's like Eunuchs talking aboot sex... They know the theory...

Bonky 75,728 15
12/06/2002 12:01 PM

OH MY GOD! You're a boy!

shoelace414 10,080 13
12/06/2002 12:05 PM

Mom will cut her/his hair

That's MRS Crickette to you, bub! 2,472 12
12/06/2002 12:06 PM

Someone watched ER last night.

Ford Prefect 5,475 13
12/06/2002 12:07 PM

One year I was flying my Cherokee (that's the airplane that I own) to my girlfriend's grandmother's house (the girl I dated who was blond and used to be Ms. Lansing and she was really smart and pretty because I only date girls who are almost as smart as I am and non-pretty girls don't deserve guys as smart and capable of providing for them as I am) and a sudden snowstorm came up. A less smart pilot as I would have had to ditch his airplane that he owns into Lake Michigan, but I was able to Mickey Mouse the LORAN and find a path through the clouds, even though I'm not an instrument rated pilot (something which I am fully capable of doing, because I am smart, but I choose not to until my business, the business which I own, gets off the ground) and I put The Cherokee (the one that I own, for I am a pilot) down right on the centerline of the runway even though I could not see the line but being that I am so intelligent I was able to triangulate from the control tower to the VASI (A VASI is a set of lights at the end of the runway that tells the pilot, which I am, that his airplane (in my case, the airplane that I own) is on a proper glideslope) to estimate where the centerline was (something a less intelligent pilot (I am a pilot) would not be capable of doing) and I had the Cherokee in on the ramp ten minutes later.



cont...

Ford Prefect 5,475 13
12/06/2002 12:07 PM

We rented a car (my Corvette, which I lease, was parked back at my home airport in Romeo, MI, where I keep the airplane that I own) and drove to her Grandmother's house in the snowstorm. On the way there my girlfriend, who was amazingly pretty and smart, went down on me (she was required to once a day (that was the deal we worked out where I would provide for her and take care of her and protect her and she would be pretty and smart (but not TOO smart (because I find that very smart women, though never as smart as men, are just not very pretty)))) and I almost drove the rental car off the road, into the snow, which we ended up getting four feet of.



And that was the biggest snowstorm I remember.

Professor Nutbutter 181,255 35
12/06/2002 12:09 PM

Christ. That was harder than I thought.

30,342 13
12/06/2002 12:11 PM

Don't involve me in your sick little life, you weirdo.

salvage: Interweb Surfer Extreme 28,986 12
12/06/2002 12:11 PM

Wow. I worship the Ford. In fact I now declare myself the President for Life of the Prefect Posse Fan Club.



That is the Nuttles version not the real one.

Trae (please return me to my upright position) 156,785 17
12/06/2002 12:11 PM

<action> hands Nutbutter a gatorade.

John Hargrave 128,742 73
12/06/2002 12:17 PM

Ford, the proper form for embedding parenthesis within parenthesis is to use ([brackets] within parenthesis). If you need to nest parenthesis more than two deep, you should alternate parenthesis and square brackets, though for the purposes of readability you may also want to consider curly braces.



The blizzard of '78 was the winter before I moved to Ohio, one of those sad twists of fate that my childhood can never recover.

Chacken of the Interweb 286,208 61
12/06/2002 12:21 PM

Don't we have a Alaska gabber? He should show up and kick all our asses.



My cousins in Anchorage run the snowblower to clear the drive until they cannot shoot the snow high enough to clear what is now piled along the edges. The sliding glass doors in the basement start getting dark and eventually get blacked out.



But we had 6 inches of snow this week (but it lasted overnight only). Whoo-hoo.

shoelace414 10,080 13
12/06/2002 12:46 PM

"it's New Yorks worst snowstorm in 2 years"



wow.. and it all melted. let me know when I'm supposed to care.

Chi-Chi Fellipe 161,353 14
12/06/2002 01:01 PM

In the winter of 85 and 86, when I was but a wee-lad skipping merrily along to school each day, the state of Maine was fist-raped by old man winter. Now, being rugged down-easters and surly lumberjacks, we were not inconvienced in the slightest by the unexpected accumlation of snow that winter. In fact, we merely shrugged it off and said "Well suh, could be worse," and then ate lobsters. But once spring rolled around, we realized what we weren't prepared for was the melting of all that snow and the massive state-wide flooding it caused. Naturally, we Mainers, being people of the sea (like silkes, almost) adapted quickly to the condition of having our trailer homes submerged under two feet of icy cold water. Wicked good, cappy.

Ford Prefect 5,475 13
12/06/2002 02:39 PM

John, I think I know how to use parenthesis. I do have a degree in psychology, after all.

That's MRS Crickette to you, bub! 2,472 12
12/06/2002 05:46 PM

Psst.. Chi-Chi.. That was '86 - '87.



The great flood of '87! I think we still have the newspapers somewhere.

Knobatron2k 14,139 11
12/06/2002 05:59 PM

Well, in Auckland here, we had one cm of snow on the top of Mt Hobson, in the 80's and that was the worst snow in auckland in recorded history. Oh, and by the way im basking in the sun right now

Chi-Chi Fellipe 161,353 14
12/06/2002 06:20 PM

Was it 86-87? God I'm so ashamed.

Fronzel Neekburm 15,959 13
12/06/2002 08:46 PM

The only snow I've ever seen has been on TV.

G i b l B e o t n N k u y g g e t 12,005 12
12/06/2002 09:13 PM

Was it the TV that was sitting out on the curb during the blizzard?

G i b l B e o t n N k u y g g e t 12,005 12
12/06/2002 09:15 PM

Cause then it would be real snow, not "TV static snow," unless the TV was plugged in. That's dangerous. You're an Emerson.

Declan McManus 131,867 36
12/06/2002 09:58 PM

I very well remember the blizzard of '78.



It was my senior year of high school, and we had so many snow days I was wondering if we would graduate on time. We did, barely.





The winds were just awful. I remember trying to walk to my next door neighbours, a delightful elderly couple...



It was memorable. We did not lose our electricity, which was good. I had a very full pantry, and I used most of it that winter. Of course, back then I had a gas stove....

Neepneep 35,066 15
12/06/2002 11:21 PM

Here in Paekakariki, north of Wellington, in the same country as Auckland, it has snowed once. But it bounced off the ground and melted.



I've only seen snow twice, once in australia and once when our school caretaker dumped a trailer load of it in the playground when i was little. I have no idea where he got it.

Neepneep 35,066 15
12/06/2002 11:24 PM

Its sunny in auckland? Damn u! this is our first rainy day for a while... but its still quite hot.



BTW... Go NZ'ers!

SalsaShark, PFEA 6,518 11
12/07/2002 12:08 AM

Neepneep...the freezer?



By the way, let's hear it for those of us who were conceived in '78! El Nino! WHOOOOOOOOOO! You da BOY!

Conrad Conk 19,242 12
12/07/2002 01:28 AM

I'm nipping out.

dinesh 24,862 16
12/07/2002 05:20 AM

as yippy says, buffalo has had many blizzards. the most notorious one was the blizzard of '77. Alas, I was only 5 at the time, so my memory of it is limited. Luckily, other people have done the dirty work.



Now, as it turns out, many buffalonians believe that the worst blizzard in modern times was actually the blizzard of '85. But since it didn't get the same press as the '77 one, and since fewer people died, it's largely forgotten to anyone outside of buffalo.



Anyway, this one i remember completely. I was in 8th grade at the time. I remember driving in the car with my dad (i'm not sure if i was coming from school in north buffalo, or whether we were coming home from a sabres game at the aud), and as soon as we turned onto the I-290 it became pure whiteout.



we were literally driving 5-10 mph, hoping that if anyone in front of us stopped, we'd see them in time to stop behind them, and alternately worrying that some bozo might come up behind us too fast and rear end us the millisecond after they saw us.



The car was sliding all over the place (and it was a 4WD jeep). I was scared, but fascinated the whole way. I remember getting one, or maybe two days off from school, but that's it. i remember playing a wicked game of king of the mountain with all the neighborhood kids, since the plows push all the snow from nearly roads into a mound in the middle of the court i lived on. this mount was easily 20 feet high.



ahh, memories.

Feeble, Knight of the Old Code 32,400 15
12/07/2002 11:38 PM

In the town I grew up in, they had a snowstorm about 1990 or so that destroyed a Longs Drug store. Store was only a couple of years old, and they got 2' of snow. That's 2' of Sierra Nevada snow, which has roughly 50x the moisture content of Denver snow. The roof collapsed under the weight.



The worst storm that haShakespeare me while I lived in Denver was Thanksgiving week 1996. I was moving into my newly purchased house (the one I later surrendered due to the divorce) and was driving a 24' U-haul through 2' of powder.



My new house was on a steep hill with the neighborhood swimming pool at the bottom. Approaching from above was rather pucker-inducing.

virnomine 79,386 11
12/07/2002 11:41 PM

Holy Shakespeare, John has turned into Squeamish, we're all doomed.

John Hargrave 128,742 73
12/08/2002 07:56 AM

The thing about the blizzard deaths is it's usually BORING deaths, like some old man shoveling snow and he has a heart attack. Then they're like, "the blizzard has already claimed one life, how many will follow?"



If the snow is going to claim lives, you kind of want it to be more exciting, like the accumulation of snow collapsing in the roof of an elderly home, smothering its residents while they scream desperately for rescue.

Yodish 1,800 12
12/08/2002 01:50 PM

A more exciting snow death for John. Christmas morning 1985 or 86 can't remember for sure, it snowed nearly 4 inches in Tucson. An elderly man slid his car off the road and hit a huge cactus. The cactus didn't kill him; he had a heart attack as a result of the crash. The tow truck driver however was killed when the damaged cactus fell as he tried to remove the elderly mans car.

Slim Shady Lila 78,550 13
12/08/2002 02:04 PM

We never get snow, we get ice instead. Ice Storm '94 is STILL talked about by locals. Every time the temp. dips below 32 and the sky gets cloudy every grocery store in town sells out of everything and the weather people are screaming that the end is near in the streets. Someone from the utility company is always interviewed saying that THIS TIME, dammit, THEY ARE PREPARED!

We had power a day or 2 into it until a branch broke off and knocked our transformer completely out. We lived in the living room with a fire constantly going in the fireplace and I ate more fast food than I've ever eaten in my life.

The neatest part was early one morning when I walked outside and heard the strangest noises all around me of trees breaking in half and collapsing. Nature is brutal but she sure is beautiful. Seeing everything covered in a layer of ice was an experience. If memory serves, the university was shut down (something that hardly EVER happens) but some professor was killed by a falling tree on his way home.

We finally got power back a few days later when the ice began melting and a live wire went nuts in our back yard. It was THEN that we became "priority" on the fire department's list and they hooked us back up again.

AmyPoo and her black waterbra 2,710 12
12/08/2002 02:28 PM

being as i have lived most of my life in florida, i don't have too many snow stories. but one i do have is this.



i had driven from maine to maryland in early november 97. on my way back, i hit a freaking snowstorm, which went from oh, like conneticut on up to maine. so here i am driving 5 mph on 95 with everyone else. i decide to stop and use a payphone to tell my husband why i'm running late, and i have BIRKENSTOCKS ON because it was about 70 degrees in maryland. so i'm up to my ankles in snow in sandals.



and that was my first time driving in snow. in a chevette.

Conrad Conk 19,242 12
12/08/2002 02:29 PM

you wear sandals with socks?





FREAK!

AmyPoo and her black waterbra 2,710 12
12/08/2002 02:32 PM

i don't believe in voodoo....







BUT I DO BELIEVE IN THIS



</dogma>

AmyPoo and her black waterbra 2,710 12
12/08/2002 02:32 PM

who said i had socks on?

Slim Shady Lila 78,550 13
12/08/2002 08:53 PM

Birkenstocks? Amy, I didn't know you were a lesbian! Finally, a soulmate for onion.

jellytot 3,504 11
12/09/2002 05:49 AM

Well the best snowstorm we ever had was in the middle of June during my final exams at University. I walked out of an exam in a T-shirt and it was snowing hard.

None of us could believe it. The storm lasted about 35 minutes, then the sun came out and melted it.

It made the evening news because some guy had a running bet and made about 25,000 off it.

Chacken of the Interweb 286,208 61
12/09/2002 12:07 PM

Went to Charlotte yesterday to do some Christmas shopping (one of the downsides of living in the sticks is you have to make trips to find good stores). They had major ice while we just had the major snow.



Half of Charlotte is still dark. The upside of this is we stopped by one of our favorite restaurants which seemed to be one of the lucky ones from the outside. All lit up. But once inside, it was dark as hell. Turns out they were running a generator for the kitchen and the outside lights, but the tables could only be lit by candlelight.



It was great. We used the light from my cellphone to read the menu, had some terrific linguini and clam sauce, Rat Pack martini's and Calzone. We had so much fun in the dark, the manager of Frankie's Grill (a Frank Sinatra tribute italian restarant which is a must if you ever find yourself in Charlotte) is planning on Candlelight Sundays from now on.

Marilyn 12,471 13
12/09/2002 12:09 PM

I find it funny that people in North Carolina are without power.



I hope black people use this to their advantage.

That's MRS Crickette to you, bub! 2,472 12
12/09/2002 12:12 PM

There are schools around here that still had 1 or 2 hour delays this morning.



It's now been five days since the storm!





We're going to bitch to our landlord because absolutely nothing has been done to our parking lot since about hour 3 of the storm. It's currently a nice bumpy sheet of ice.



Personally, I think one of us should take a fall and sue.

Vex 5,948 11
12/09/2002 12:13 PM

But during the winter of 1978-79, the total was a staggering 88.4"! And by the end of January, there was an accumulation of more than 47" on the ground, most of which was compacted ice!



Hey,kids, I was born in Ohio on the 16th of January in 1979. My mother almost didn't make it to the hospital-- apparently it took about four hours to get her there, including my dad ditching his car, banging on a stranger's door to get them to call an ambulance, and creeping through impassable roads in the ambulance to get to the hospital.



I was an uruly, impatient child. I wanted the hell out of there.

Gonzo 20,522 17
12/09/2002 12:17 PM

I vaguely remember the blizzard of '77. (Come on! I was 4!)



The only thing I remember was that the snow in the backyard was deep enough for my brother to build a snow-fort that was a scooped-out bowl shape in the ground, and it had a tunnel that led into it (so it must've been at least 4 feet deep, packed).



Then he surrounded it with snow-blocks. Unfortunately, it was in the back yard, so there wasn't anyone to battle.

Squeamish 38,986 14
12/09/2002 12:18 PM

I think this was the worst snow storm in Shreveport history.



We got about 3 inches thus C said it was like being on our honeymoon again.

jellytot 3,504 11
12/09/2002 12:19 PM

I just love the idea of Chickens and the mrs sitting at their romantic candlelit dinner table lighting up the menu with the glorious image of the goatse man's gaping arse.

Professor Nutbutter 181,255 35
12/09/2002 12:21 PM

Squeam, that house looks like it's owned by a gay couple.

General Dan 502 10
12/09/2002 12:24 PM

We don't get much snow down here in Louisiana. The water vapors simply come to rest on our skin and freeze there. I have talked to a lot of people from northern part of the US, and they said that because of the humidity down here, it gets a lot colder. But for some reason, it still doesn't snow. I think that last time it snowed was in 1990. Yeah. 3 cm of snow. I remember when I was little, all of the kids in the neighborhood would get frost off of the cars and ground and throw it at each other like they were snowballs. So sad.

Squeamish 38,986 14
12/09/2002 12:26 PM

You should see it now that it has a gingerbread man flag out in front (very left edge of the photo).



Like my white trash neighbors and their trailer?

Squeamish 38,986 14
12/09/2002 12:27 PM

Where in LA do you live, Dan?

General Dan 502 10
12/09/2002 12:30 PM

I live in a place called Saint Rose. It is a burb of New Orleans.

Squeamish 38,986 14
12/09/2002 12:36 PM

Do you want to be on THE LIST?

Professor Nutbutter 181,255 35
12/09/2002 12:38 PM

Does Hank Hill mow your lawn?

Vex 5,948 11
12/09/2002 12:39 PM

I want to be on the list.



Vex, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

salvage: Interweb Surfer Extreme 28,986 12
12/09/2002 12:40 PM

Me too!

salvage

Ottawa, Ontario

Canada

Squeamish 38,986 14
12/09/2002 12:41 PM

Heh, you could putt on my lawn.

shoelace414 10,080 13
12/09/2002 12:41 PM

I noticed in Squeamihs's first picture.. someone shoveled.



unless the concrete was just too warm and it melted.

shoelace414 10,080 13
12/09/2002 12:42 PM

I think he photoshopped that lawn into the picture.



he's way to sloth-like to put that much work into his yard.

Professor Nutbutter 181,255 35
12/09/2002 12:43 PM

That's what negros are for, Shoelace.

Squeamish 38,986 14
12/09/2002 12:45 PM

Nobody shoveled, the snow melted on the concrete.



I don't even know where I could buy a snow shovel here.

salvage: Interweb Surfer Extreme 28,986 12
12/09/2002 12:47 PM

Gah frost you all!



It's minus 20 here, snow everywhere...



Hate snow...

Miss Trixxie (the Bleached Blond Bimbo) LeMay 65,021 15
12/09/2002 02:55 PM

What is this snow of which you speak ?