A survivor recalls the coldest winter of 1977

Storm, January 30,1977, Tonawanda, New York[/caption]

Carol Forsloff---As a powerful winter storm bears down on the East Coast and another is barreling through the Northwest, folks are comparing this great storm with others. But does it match in power, strength and duration the winter storm that hit Pittsburgh and other cities in 1977?

That winter in Pittsburgh the city asked residents to keep their thermostats at 68 or even as low as 65, to preserve power, as there had been many blackouts. The cold and the snow continued, not for days, but for weeks, with almost a month of school closures. Roads became impassable because of the high snow drifts and the fact that the snow plows were unable to reach many of the suburban areas, as more and more snow pushed into the region.

The Pennsylvania – Ohio corridor that year of early 1977 brought the coldest temperatures in the area in modern times. In fact it is the yardstick for weather reporters when they speak of the storms of today.

These were the Ohio temperatures in the 30-day period of January – Feburary 1977:

Coldest 30-Day Avg Temperature Ever (F)	Period	Coldest Minimum Temp During Period
Columbus	10.4	Jan 10th - Feb 8th 1977	-19
Cincinnati	11.4	Jan 10th - Feb 8th 1977	-25
Dayton	10.6	Jan 10th - Feb 8th 1977	-21

A journalist reads the news of the winter storm on the East Coast, sees the television footage of the snow falling and the traffic snarled and remembers being on a stretch of highway during that time, pulled off after three hours of sitting in the car as it idled, unable to move, until there was no more fuel. It was then the trucks came, taking people to a nearby school for shelter from the cold.

Pipes were frozen, electricity sporadic and travel almost impossible, as people survived more than lived through those many cold days.

Those people who suffered through the winter of 1977 were to talk of it for many months afterward. It is a topic of conversation between people who were there at the time, when strangers meet and learn they are each meeting another person who remembers from the storm and the 30-day cold. And as those days are recalled, and the worries remain over the weather patterns of 2013, there is perspective at the same time.

We survived that storm, those of us who remember the painful, cold days of 1977, hoping no one experiences that same cold again for the length of time and with the ferocity it had those many years ago.