billsfan_34 Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 I do, it was bonkers. This one right now is nothing compared to it. Not even close!!!
BarleyNY Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 Eight years old and living in Cleveland. Bad snow, but the wind creating drifts was what made it so terrible, I remember riding in the car with my mom (front seat, probably a seatbelt on) and BOOM! There'd be a six foot drift in the middle of the road that we couldn't see because of the horizontally blowing whiteout snow. Have no idea how many times that happened to us. People trapped in their houses or having to get out upstairs windows due to drifts against all of the downstairs doors and windows. Crazy.
birdog1960 Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 17 years old. i was the only one in my family that made it home the first day through the storm. everyone else was stranded out and about. i can remember searching for my sister's car later in huge drifts. the smart people had put identifying markers on their radio antennas.
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 Webcam: Where's the blizzard? http://buffalowebcam.com/live-webcams/elmwood-avenue-panos-restaurant
Wooderson Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 See attached. Out front door of my workplace.
Thirdborn Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 My father demanded that I deliver the newspapers on my route. He gave up when we couldn't open our door because of the snow. Fond memories
Wacka Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 The 77 blizzard started a day earlier than usually listed. I was a sophomore at UB and took the bus to UB. We made it to the Amherst campus and the shuttle let us off at the English building. Most of the buildings on the spine weren't open yet. About 10 of us made the hike to the physics building for labs. Got there and about 5 minutes later, got notice that the school was closing and the busses would run for about an hour more. Had to hike through waist deep snow to the Governors dorm to catch the shuttle. When we made it back to Main Street, a friend's father was home and gave us a ride back to Cheektowaga. I remember watching the trucks and bulldozers piling snow on the Golf Course the rest of the winter while waiting for the bus on Bailey.
bbb Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 I think there were a series of like 2 or 3 blizzards that hit the region around that time. Looks like the Ohio one hit in January 78 (which is when I was born): http://www.dispatch....A1_J495SVR.html Got it. Man, that's a lot of deaths. The 77 blizzard started a day earlier than usually listed. I was a sophomore at UB and took the bus to UB. We made it to the Amherst campus and the shuttle let us off at the English building. Most of the buildings on the spine weren't open yet. About 10 of us made the hike to the physics building for labs. Got there and about 5 minutes later, got notice that the school was closing and the busses would run for about an hour more. Had to hike through waist deep snow to the Governors dorm to catch the shuttle. When we made it back to Main Street, a friend's father was home and gave us a ride back to Cheektowaga. I remember watching the trucks and bulldozers piling snow on the Golf Course the rest of the winter while waiting for the bus on Bailey. I was just reading what I thought. We had Thursday and Friday off already from the snow. I think the blizzard hit on Friday. I remember as it was turning up the force, I was shoveling a neighbor's driveway for pay (I was 14). I started out making progress and then the winds start howling and it was turning into what we all know now. Finally, I said this is ridiculous! BTW, if anybody remembers that time - that was the week that Roots was on, and was dominating the airwaves, all the talk between people, etc.................and, the last episode was on Friday, and many Buffalo people missed it, as they were stranded all over the place.
BuffaloBud Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 Was right in the middle of it as a volunteer fireman with Bowmansville VFD.
outsidethebox Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 I remember it well. I was a kid living in the city in Rochester. We lived in a ranch style house then. The snow was higher than the front door. We were unable to get out until our neighber shoveled the front door.
bbb Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 I remember it well. I was a kid living in the city in Rochester. We lived in a ranch style house then. The snow was higher than the front door. We were unable to get out until our neighber shoveled the front door. The snow blew all the way to Rochester,. too? I thought it came off Lake Erie? I just remembered that the first winter I skied was 76-77. Good year to start!
4merper4mer Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 My father demanded that I deliver the newspapers on my route. He gave up when we couldn't open our door because of the snow. Fond memories Firstborn or Secondborn would have probably got the job done.
boyst Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 I remember it fondly. I was very warm and comfortable the entire time as I rest in a small sack awaiting my arrival 4 years later.
Azalin Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 I was 19 and working at the old Charter House hotel on Transit when the storm hit. I got stuck there overnight, wich sucked because I was at work and the place was full of stranded guests....I only slept for about an hour & a half. one couple had decided to brave the storm on the 2nd day, and they actually offered me a ride home (Getzville - Hopkins rd between Dodge & French), which was quite a way out of the way for them. if I remember it correctly, the storm blew in off Lake Erie, swept across WNY, moved out over Lake Ontario (picking up more moisture), and then swept back in the other direction across WNY again.
ExiledInIllinois Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 Chicago got the cold blast too, but they are the good side of The Lakes... Biggest one day storm in the state of Illilnois is only something like 23" and it was somewhere else than Chicago. Illinois doesn't even rank in the top 25 states for one day totals. I think Chicago's one day grand total is only 21" and that may have been their "Blizzard of '67." I still contend that we are so much more organized now. Like this storm, computers enable robo-calls, people don't have to worry about their paychecks (Direct Deposit)... And then back to computers and machines. Fuel injection, computer controlled, turn the key and go! Sure cars still break down, but not as epic as the old carb operated beasts of yonder year! Don't even get me started on rear-wheel drive. We are so better off now, we might get hit with greater storms and never know it... The old ones live in our memory as worse because of som many other factors! BTW, if anybody remembers that time - that was the week that Roots was on, and was dominating the airwaves, all the talk between people, etc.................and, the last episode was on Friday, and many Buffalo people missed it, as they were stranded all over the place. Dominated the airwaves? What planet were you on? Speaking of Roots... My father was PO'd... He was stranded in Sloan w/a bunch of racists that refused to turn the channel to Roots! Really. I think my father quit the Kinght's of Columbus a few years later when somebody was jokingly taking up a collection to buy bullets for The .22 Killer! Pre-VCR days were a hoot... Catch it when it was on or miss it!
realtruelove Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 I was 23 at the time, attending Buff State. I made it home and watched most of the storm from the confines of my parents house. My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, got stuck at Three Guys Restaurant on Harlem Rd with her father and had to spend the night. I remember the snow drifts and piles of snow so high that you couldn't see cars going by. Schools were closed for a couple of weeks. I haven't seen anything close to that anywhere since.
ExiledInIllinois Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 I was 23 at the time, attending Buff State. I made it home and watched most of the storm from the confines of my parents house. My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, got stuck at Three Guys Restaurant on Harlem Rd with her father and had to spend the night. I remember the snow drifts and piles of snow so high that you couldn't see cars going by. Schools were closed for a couple of weeks. I haven't seen anything close to that anywhere since. It was by far the worst in 1977. IMO, it will never happen again... We are far too proactive w/cancellations and predicting what this type of arctic blast can bring! In 1977, it was a perfect combination of so many things, culturally, logistically, mechanically, complacency, etc...
birdog1960 Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 (edited) as i remember, toronto sent big snow melting trucks to help clear the streets. can anybody confirm that? there wasn't any more room to dump the snow in places where the drifts were crazy high. does buffalo have it's own melt trucks now? found it..."metro melters" http://buffalorising.com/2007/01/blizzard-of-77-30-years-after/ Edited January 8, 2014 by birdog1960
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