The Great Blizzard of 1978

We started the week off with a blanket of snow and below freezing temperatures that made travel a bit dicey and kids happy to have been able to sleep in. Typically in late January, we start to see some snowfall in Kentucky, but the year 1978 in particular stands out to most of us who were around for the Great Blizzard.

The winter of 1977-78 started out as being brutally cold in some places, but starting in November 1977, the Bluegrass Region was experiencing a typical winter season. The first measurable snowfall was Nov. 26 and averaged about four inches. In December, temperatures dipped to single digits and snow fell around mid-month, averaging three and a half inches. Another snowstorm hit the Midwest and into parts of Kentucky Jan. 16-17, dumping considerable amounts of snow into northwestern Kentucky.

An area of low barometric pressure formed in the Gulf region of the United States late Jan. 24, 1978. This system was packed full of moisture that had been pulled in from the Gulf of Mexico. At the same time, another low-pressure system formed in the Upper Midwest. The Gulf system moved northward, while the Jet Stream pushed the midwestern system southward. Within twenty-four hours, the two low-pressure systems merged and created what meteorologists call an explosive cyclogenesis. Barometric pressures dive-bombed as the weather system barreled northeast. Low pressures commonly seen during hurricanes were recorded along the path of this winter storm system. The lowest recorded barometric pressure in the mainland of United States was recorded at near Cleveland, Ohio at 958 millibars. The arctic air from the northern weather system turned the moisture of the Gulf system into snow, and the explosive cylcogenesis effect caused blizzard conditions with wind gusts upwards of 100 mph in some places.

The storm encompassed the entire Midwest, Central United States and into Canada. Racing up into the Ohio Valley early on the morning of Jan. 26, heavy snow fell at a rapid rate and white out conditions were reported in several locations. The National Weather Service called this “a storm of unprecedented magnitude” and rated it as a rare severe blizzard. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Wisconsin were the worst states hit by the blizzard. Homes were buried under thirty-plus inches of snow in some places; highways were shut down and for the first time ever, the entire state of Indiana was under a blizzard warning. Temperatures plummeted to zero and below, with wind chills up to -40 to -60 degrees.

In Kentucky, wind chills reached -20 in places. Snowfall was recorded at 31 inches near LaGrange during this storm. Louisville had been buried under 15 and half inches just a week before due to a snowstorm. With that snow event and the blizzard, Louisville was inundated with a total of 28.4 inches of snow (total) for the month of January 1978. Nearer to Bath County, snow amounts ranged between 8-12 inches with drifts as deep as nearly 20 inches. Roadways were completely buried as the road crews were unable to keep up with the blizzard until it was over. My dad, Tommy Kiskaden, worked for Southern States at the time and was subject to service calls for heaters that became inoperable during this storm. At my parent’s home on Wyoming Road, the snowdrifts were nearly two feet deep; I have pictures of myself stranding against the towering snow piles.

Snow depths in Lexington were recorded at a foot deep, shutting the city down. Further north, the Ohio River froze over enough that people walked, or in some cases drove, back and forth from Covington to Cincinnati. Airports all across the Midwest and Central U.S. were shut down, including Cincinnati’s International Airport. Homes were buried in snowdrifts north of the river, and near Dayton, Ohio, cars were covered up to their rooftops. The National Guard was activated in all affected states, providing transportation for essential personnel and rescuing hundreds who were stranded in cars or homes. After the storm, the Guard troops were used in a relief effort to help clear roads, restore power and transport food to stranded people.

The storm eased Jan. 27, 1978, but the Governor of Ohio compared the widespread damage to a ‘nuclear strike’. Schools were shut down for the remainder of the month in most all places. Kids spent their snow days sledding or building igloos in the deep drifts. The region was economically crippled due to the roadways being shut down. Trucks weren’t able to make deliveries in the areas buried under the snow. The IGA parking lot in Mount Sterling was full of semi trucks, stuck with no place to go. Dairy farmers resorted to dumping their milk because trucks used to transport it to dairies were stuck in the snow.

Sadly, the blizzard claimed the lives of 70 people across the region; 51 of those in Ohio. The deaths were due to people being trapped in covered vehicles, in their homes after losing heat and power, two being killed by roof collapses, and others from falls or heart attacks while clearing snow. The death toll in Kentucky was five. It would be months before all the snow finally melted in some places, but years for people to regain their lives.

The year 1978 started with a natural disaster, and ended with one. In December, heavy rains caused widespread flooding throughout the state. The Kentucky River crested at 47 feet, covering most of downtown Frankfort with several feet of water. Locally, that flood affected Sherburne and Salt Lick the hardest. There have been other crippling snowstorms since the Great Blizzard, but none that has left such a lasting memory with people. Storms in 1987, 1993 and just last year have dumped over a foot of snow across Kentucky, but with less widespread devastation as the January, 1978 event. In March 1993, Interstate 64 from Ashland to Lexington was shut down for two days during the storm, leaving motorists stranded. The snowstorm in April 1987 caused widespread flooding from the melting snow, affecting Bath and surrounding counties greatly. An ice storm that was more destructive and deadly crippled Kentucky statewide in 2009, killing 35 people and knocking power out for days and, in some cases, weeks.

They say Kentucky weather is so unpredictable, you can experience all four seasons within one day. For those who remember the Great Blizzard and the winter storms that followed, we would like to prefer the warm seasons within any given day.