18 things you should know about the Great Blizzard of 1978

Credit: Dayton Daily News archive

Credit: Dayton Daily News archive

1. The area record for single-day snowfall was part of the blizzard. On Jan. 26, 12.2 inches of snow fell on the region, which remains a single-day record. Second place on that list is 11.5 inches, which fell on Dec. 22, 2004.

2. Record-low pressure. The storm’s severity was driven by a record-breaking barometric pressure drop, which reached 28.22 inches in some areas, a level comparable to a Category 3 hurricane.

3. Many people had trouble doing the most basic things. The massive snowfall of Jan. 26 was part of more than 40 inches of snow in the month, which created snowdrifts up to 25 feet high.

4. Traveling was a significant challenge. As one example, the Miami University basketball team was returning from a game in Toledo and couldn’t make it past Vandalia, so the team stayed in the Vandalia city jail.

5. Dozens died from the events. The death toll from this storm climbed to more than 70 people, with 51 of those deaths in Ohio.

6. Mail couldn’t be delivered for the first time in 65 years. The 1913 flood was the last time the postal service failed to do regular rounds.

7. A total visibility failure. Local police and sheriff’s departments reported that visibility on the streets and highways was zero. This led to thousands of motorists being stranded and nearly all businesses and industries being forced to close.

8.Finding emergency transportation. With standard vehicles and even snowplows stuck, authorities and volunteers had to rely almost entirely on four-wheel-drive vehicles and snowmobiles to reach people in unheated homes and respond to emergency calls.

9. Widespread power outages. The storm knocked out power to entire towns, including Piqua, Covington, and West Milton. In Piqua, the municipal light plant went dark, forcing the police department to operate on emergency generators.

10. Extreme wind chill. Wind chill readings during the blizzard plummeted to between 40 and 50 degrees below zero.

11. State of emergency. Gov. James A. Rhodes declared a state of emergency for the entire state of Ohio and activated the National Guard to assist. More than 5,000 National Guardsmen were on duty throughout Ohio, using specialized equipment to rescue stranded motorists and reach isolated families.

12. Providing shelter. All 90 National Guard armories in the state were ordered to remain open to provide shelter for citizens who were without heat due to the widespread power outages.

13. Bus station shelter. The Red Cross turned the local bus station into an emergency shelter, providing food and cot-style sleeping arrangements for 25 stranded passengers. The youngest person bunking at the station was 18-month-old Jason Tooness, who was traveling with his mother from Chicago to Florida.

14. Airport sleepover. Approximately 150 passengers and airport personnel were forced to spend the night sleeping on the floor of the Dayton International Airport terminal because the storm made travel impossible.

15. Volunteer response. The Dayton Police Department relied on a fleet of 30 volunteer drivers using Jeeps, Blazers, and Broncos to answer emergency calls and transport people.

16. Massive power restoration. Workers managed to restore electricity to approximately 120,000 customers in the Dayton area who had been left in the dark and cold by the blizzard’s peak.

17. Wind velocity. The winds were so powerful—gusting at times over 100 mph in some parts of the state—that they didn’t just drift the snow; they packed it into concrete-like mounds that could support the weight of a person or even a small vehicle.

18. Hospital staff stranded. Many hospital employees were forced to work double or triple shifts because their relief coworkers could not make it through the snow; some staff members ended up staying at the hospitals for three days straight.

Weather reports are forecasting lots of snow and bad road conditions. Stay on top of the latest news with this big storm: