The Great Blizzard of 1978: What Do You Remember?

Originally published in the Winter 2023 issue of Ohio Genealogy News

January 2023 marked 45 years since the Great Blizzard of 1978. Considered to be one of the worst blizzards in U.S. history, the winter storm was caused by an extremely low pressure system that affected the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions, which encompassed the entire state of Ohio. 

During the evening of Wednesday, January 25, 1978, the storm began as rain and fog with temperatures in the 30s and 40s, but blizzard warnings for the region were issued later on in the evening. The blizzard first reached Cincinnati at 1 a.m. on Thursday and hit Dayton and Columbus about an hour later. By 7 a.m. the winter storm had reached Akron, Youngstown, and Cleveland.

Temperatures dropped 30 degrees in two hours, staying around 10 degrees throughout the day, with wind chills below -50 degrees. Wind speeds throughout Ohio were recorded between 50 to 80 mph. Damaging winds caused 175,000 homes in the state to lose power on Thursday, and many did not regain power until Friday or Saturday.

Snowfall was difficult to measure due to the high winds blowing it around, but weather stations reported between five to 15 inches across Ohio. Enormous snowdrifts suspended highways, railroads, and air travel until at least late Friday. Ohio schools were closed through Monday or Tuesday of the following week, and the Ohio National Guard was activated to help clear roads, assist with fallen electric wires, transport doctors and nurses to hospitals, and rescue those who were stranded. President Carter declared a federal disaster in Ohio on the first day of the blizzard, and federal troops were also deployed to assist. (1)

News Coverage

Given the magnitude of the blizzard and how much disruption it caused to daily life for several days, the winter storm received a lot of media coverage in Ohio. “Blizzard Shuts Down Central Ohio” from The Columbus Dispatch; “Area Paralyzed by Blizzard; Some Drifts 10 Feet High; Winds Gust Up To 50 MPH” from The Blade in Toledo; and “Wind Damage Heavy; Ohio Has Emergency” from Youngstown Vindicator were headlines on Thursday, January 26, 1978.

Many news outlets have also written stories since then, remembering the storm, following up with those who were initially interviewed, and sharing people’s memories and experiences. The photo on this issue’s cover comes from a story in The Dayton Daily News published on January 26, 1988, 10 years after the blizzard. They followed up with the three Northridge teenagers pictured in the igloo, Lisa Jones, Andy Denniston, and James Howard, all from Harrison Township. Jones recalled the trio creating the igloo just before the blizzard hit. It turned to ice after the blizzard and remained standing for weeks before it melted. (2)

What Do You Remember?

The Great Blizzard of 1978 is a once-in-a-lifetime winter storm that’s still talked about today. I was not alive in 1978, but growing up I remember hearing about the blizzard from family members. For this article, I asked them to share their memories from the blizzard.

My mom was 15 and living in Youngstown. She remembers that the power had gone out in their home sometime early in the morning and the house became very cold. Her dad was a plasterer working on a construction project at the time and was expected to be at work, probably to meet a deadline, so he went to work. School was canceled, so she and her two brothers stayed in bed for as long as possible. Once they got up, they remained in their pajamas and put on a robe and slippers to keep warm, but there wasn’t much to do. She remembers they played Monopoly to pass the time. 

At some point, it had gotten so cold that her brothers went outside to look for sticks to burn in the fireplace. They eventually came back and built a small fire. By the afternoon the power came back on, and her dad made it home from work in the evening.

My dad was living in Barberton, Ohio and was nine at the time of the blizzard, so he didn’t remember quite as much. He did remember it being so cold that he wasn’t allowed outside for a few days and that school was canceled for several days. Once it was warmer and he was allowed outside, he recalled digging tunnels in the snow throughout the backyard and building snow forts.

My grandpa remembered that the blizzard came on quickly. He worked for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company at the Seiberling tire plant in Barberton and recalled some of the first shift workers coming in very early at 3 a.m. to work overtime. They came in without coats on because it was not very cold. By the time they left for the day, the temperature had plummeted. The steam lines at the plant had frozen and parts of the roof had blown off. 

Where were you and your family during the Great Blizzard of 1978? What do you remember from that once-in-a-lifetime winter storm? Did any of your family members have memories of the blizzard that they shared with you?

1. Schmidlin, Thomas. Thunder in the Heartland: A Chronicle of Outstanding Weather Events in Ohio. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. 1996. Accessed via archive.org, 60-65.

2. “Frostbitten kitten among little dramas unfolding during blizzard,” Dayton Daily News, January 26, 1988. Accessed via newspapers.com.