Chicago's blizzard of 1967

[greatauntoftriplets]

It will be 37 years ago tomorrow that Chicago was hit with its heaviest recorded snowfall within a 24-hour period. I was a senior in high school, which fortuitously was closed for a few days for semester break. I will never forget that storm and hope never to see its like.

More copy and a photo on the link below.

http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/disasters/snowstorms.html

"1967, 1979: Major Snowstorms

"Severe snowstorms are relatively frequent in Chicago compared to Miami, but infrequent compared to Buffalo and other points east. Chicago's snowstorm of the century occurred in the winter of 1967. After unseasonably warm temperatures, snow started falling at 5:02 a.m. Thursday January 26. Snow continued to fall through Friday morning for a total accumulation of 23 inches, with drifts to 6 feet.

"Cold weather and periodic snowfalls over the next 10 days created more havoc. Although trains continued to run, cars, buses and planes didn't. Almost all schools, offices and other work places were closed for several days. Commuters unable to reach home spent several nights camped out in downtown hotels, O'Hare International Airport and stranded cars. The Department of Streets and Sanitation, which is responsible for plowing streets, estimated that 75 million tons of snow fell on Chicago. Some of it was sent south in empty railcars as a present to Florida children who had never seen snow before.

"Large numbers of fatalities are relatively uncommon in winter storms, but 60 deaths were attributed to the storm--mostly heart attacks from shoveling snow. 273 looters were arrested. One young girl was killed while police were shooting at looters."

more at link above.

[bearfan454]

1. I was there

I lived up there from 1956 to 1984. My appendix burst that night. My neighbor had ice chains on his truck and took me up to Mercy Hospital.

[Southsideirish]

2. Didn't' McCormick Place burn down that weekend, too?

What a wild time. My brother walked 1/2 way across the city to get to his job at City Hall - then it was closed and he had to turn around and walk back. My ex-bosses' dad had a heart attack in Oak Park and the Fire Dept couldn't get through - they sat him in the chair and waited all night and he just died.

[greatauntoftriplets]

7. Close, but it was January 16.

There's a link below about that.

http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/disasters/mccormick_fire.html

[chiburb]

3. I was in high school too...

And working in a gas station part time. We had 30 people stranded there over night, and I kept running pots of coffee to the gas station across the street where they had 20 or so people (but no coffee maker).
I especially remember that the snow was followed by BITTER cold, making shoveling and plowing a miserable experience.

[pmbryant]

4. That was before my time. But I remember 1979 very well.

Of course, I was barely 10 years old at the time of the blizzard of 1979, so for me it was a huge blast.

--Peter

[ajacobson]

5. My father told me stories about that snowstorm

I was 2 years old. He was one of the few that made it into work that day, he worked at the Holsum Bread bakery and figured people were going to need bread. He remembered people jumping into snow banks from second story windows, and cars completely buried by snow.

BTW I was in Pittsburgh on a business trip when they got hit by 27 inches in two days. I was going a site visit to a luxury hotel to sign a convention contract. All expenses paid, and due to the fact that I was a last minute addition to the group going, the hotel put me into the Presidential Suite, which was bigger than my house! It was just supposed to be an overnight visit but when the state shut down the Turnpike, we were stranded for four days. March 1993, I could the St Patricks Day parade from my room. I was snowing like a mo-fo and they still did this parade, it was nuts. Within a couple of hours, the buses stopped running.

[Archae]

6. I remember both storms

I was 7 during the first one, and 19 in the second.

And both times I was living north of Chicago here in Sheboygan county.

We got nailed too.

Takes a lot to shut down Midwest schools and businesses, but these storms did.